Grameen Foundation : Where we work : South Asia : India : Grameen Koota
Grameen Koota
| Status snapshot as of March 2008 | |
| Active clients | 139,114 |
| Loan portfolio (USD) | $20,713,330 |
Grameen Koota was established in 1999 with the help of seed capital funding from the Grameen Trust. The vision for the program began when Vinatha Reddy, Grameen Koota’s Founder/CEO, was inspired by the Grameen Bank story in Grameen Foundation President Alex Counts’ book Give Us Credit. Grameen Koota’s mission is to help poor women in rural areas and urban slums through microcredit, to constantly deliver need-based financial services in a cost-effective manner, and to become a financially sustainable microfinance institution for the poor.
Operating in Bangalore, ranked as the 13th poorest of 20 districts in Karnataka, Grameen Koota serves an area where an estimated 38 percent of the district’s 1.7 million people live below the poverty line. The microfinance program is also integrated with other social development programs including health, family planning, sanitation, literacy, nutrition, income generation skills, and enterprise development.
Outreach:
Grameen Koota has grown from two branches and 445 clients in March 2001 to 36 branches and 91,478 clients as of December 2006, for an annual average growth rate of 163 percent, and it continues to grow. Cumulatively, the organization has loaned its clients more than $13 million since its inception, and Grameen Koota plans to reach out to 450,000 clients by 2010
Grameen Foundation support:
Grameen Foundation has provided Grameen Koota with financial support to the tune of $110,000, supplied as a combination of grants and guarantees (leveraging more than $1 million) to support commercial bank loans. Grameen Koota is also the chosen pilot site for Grameen Foundation’s path breaking initiative in providing a MIS solution to the microfinance industry – Mifos.
Learn more at: www.grameenkoota.org
Grameen Foundation : Where we work : South Asia : India : Grameen Koota
Grameen Foundation uses microfinance and innovative technology to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world's poorest people. With tiny loans and financial services, we help the poor, mostly women, start businesses and escape poverty. Our global network of 55 microfinance institution (MFI) partners including our Growth Guarantee partners has touched more than 34 million people in 24 countries. In addition, we introduced and now sustain technology initiatives (Mifos and Village Phone) in Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, bringing our total country outreach to 28.
+1-202-628-3560 www.grameenfoundation.org
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