Unitus, a company that focuses on the reduction of poverty across the globe by accelerating growth of micro-finance, is bullish about the micro-finance sector in India, a top official said.

The organisation and its partners have added 10.42 crore clients so far. “Our model focuses on partnering with young, high-potential micro-finance institutions (small banking organisations that serve the poor, often called MFIs), helping them build capacity, attract capital, and unite with our network to achieve sustainable growth,” Ganesh Rengaswamy, India country director of Unitus said.

On an annualised basis, Unitus and its partners have seen an 80 per cent growth in number of clients added by its partner network in the last three months. “Our model is similar to that of a venture capital fund, however we don’t look to exit a company, rather we believe in long term partnership,” he added. Unitus focuses on a range of client-supporting products and services such as business skills training, savings programmes, and basic insurance plans.

Unitus and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation had recently launched the social performance management implementation project to increase adoption of social performance practice by MFIs. The project would be first implemented in India and expand to MFIs in other countries.

“We target our efforts in high-need regions of the developing world where micro-finance has promise but is struggling to grow. Once MFIs reach critical milestones and demonstrate sustainability, we shift our resources to where they can be used most effectively,” Rengaswamy added.