Victory Park Capital (“VPC”), a leading investment firm focused on providing flexible debt and opportunistic equity solutions worldwide, announced today that it has launched a new fund together with the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group.
The new fund will invest in financial technology companies in emerging markets. The partnership aims to improve access to debt capital for financial technology companies that lend to small businesses and consumers in emerging markets.
The new fund will combine VPC’s decade-long expertise in investing in financial services and financial technology with IFC’s leading role in investing in these sectors in developing countries. VPC and IFC will target growth investments in technology-driven companies across emerging markets with a focus on financial infrastructure, products and services.
“Our partnership with IFC, the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector and a leading investor in financial technology in developing countries, opens a world of opportunities to fill the growing need for capital in emerging markets and scale our existing exposure,” said Brendan Carroll, senior partner and co-founder of VPC. “We are a long-standing investor to companies that provide innovative financial solutions, often overlooked by traditional investors despite generating attractive returns, and we are eager to continue identifying high-quality opportunities alongside IFC.”
Kai Schmitz, Principal Investment Officer of IFC, said: "Over the past few years, IFC has become a leading investor in financial technology companies in emerging markets which offer new solutions that expand access to finance. At the same time, we have seen a lack of growth capital available to these companies, both debt and equity financing to support new lending solutions. Partnering with Victory Park Capital allows us to bring the expertise of one of the leading specialized investors in this area to emerging markets and will encourage other investors to follow. We look forward to combining our more than 60 years’ experience in developing countries and financial services with Victory Park’s leading edge in this new sector.”
As one of the largest and most active financial technology investors in the industry, VPC has made over 40 investments in this sector globally.