Grameen Koota
Director: Vinatha M. Reddy
Number of Active Clients: 2,196
Active Portfolio: $572,466
Average Loan Balance: $260.70
Statistics as of December 2009
Vision: The vision of Grameen Koota is to impact poverty by bringing mainstream financial and capacity-building services to poor households in a sustainable manner.
Mission: To constantly deliver need-based financial services in a cost effective manner, and to become a sustainable microfinance institution.
History: Grameen Koota was founded in 1997, and based on ideas in the book ‘Give Us Credit’, by Alex Counts, which gives an account of the impact of microcredit on the lives of the poor in Bangladesh and the United States.
Inspirational stories of large numbers of individuals rising above the poverty line through the use of microcredit inspired the trustees of the T. Muniswamappa Trust to replicate a similar program for the benefit of the poor in Avalahalli and the surrounding villages – where Grameen Koota is located. Thus Grameen Koota was born and started its operation on May 30, 1999 with the help of seed capital funding from Grameen Trust. Since then Grameen Koota has built its knowledge and expertise in the Indian microfinance sector. This factor, along with a clear mission and a dedicated team has allowed the Bangalore-based microfinance institution (MFI) to serve over 100,000 clients who lack access to formal financial services. Through the provision of small loans – approximately US $166–830 – Grameen Koota has helped women who typically earn less than or between USD $1–2 / day to start income-generating activities such as trading, animal husbandry, agricultural production and transportation.
ACCION's Role: ACCION signed a technical assistance agreement with Grameen Koota in late 2007 to help the institution launch an individual lending program. The technical assistance areas include market research, business planning, product design, training of all individual lending staff and related HR issues, adjustment of the management information system for individual lending, internal control and marketing.
Individual lending, through Grameen Koota's Maarg Financial Services program, now provides the institution with the opportunity to retain mature group-lending clients, attract new client groups and offer a more customer-focused service.
Grameen Koota is also now a licensee for ACCION's Dialogue on Business program that teaches business skills to low-income entrepreneurs.
Borrower Profile: Grameen Koota focuses on providing loans and other financial services to women because they are the most marginalized members of society and tend to use resources more productively than men. Grameen Koota’s microfinance services enable socio-economic empowerment by strengthening women’s financial management skills and making the women knowledgeable participants in their community activities. While primarily serving women, Grameen Koota's individual lending program does cater to male microentrepreneurs as well.
|
Year |
Active
Portfolio |
Active
Clients |
Average
Loan
Balance |
|
2009 |
$572,466 |
2,196 |
$260.70 |
Where They Work: Grameen Koota’s headquarters are located in Bangalore, and they have a network of 44 branches in 13 districts in Karnataka, northwest of Bangalore. Grameen Koota operates in both rural and urban limits. Slums form a large part of the latter.
Contact Information:
Grameen Koota Micro Finance Institution
Avalahali
JP Nagar, 9th Phase
Bangalore-560 062
India
Tel: +91 80 28436237
Fax: +91 80 28436577
E-mail: info@grameenkoota.org
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