Investor Profile: MicroVest Capital Management — Thesis, Scale & How to Engage

Institutions tracking MicroVest funding are looking at one of the earliest dedicated microfinance asset managers: MicroVest Capital Management works on the principle of "using sustainable finance to create development through entrepreneurs" — identifying and investing in responsible microfinance and SME finance institutions that can scale with integrity, extending credit, savings and insurance to households and small businesses excluded from the formal financial system. It screens for social responsibility and impact potential as rigorously as financial potential.

Thesis and focus areas

MicroVest provides private debt to responsible MFIs and SME finance institutions in emerging and frontier markets — short- and medium-term debt and term deposits (e.g., the MicroVest Short Duration Fund, launched 2010). It is an institutional lender, not a startup investor; there is no explicit stage focus beyond institutional lending.

Scale

Current AUM is not publicly disclosed on the official site. Publicly reported figures: USD 222 million AUM as of September 2013, USD 385 million in 2018, and over USD 1 billion disbursed to ~200 financial institutions across 60 countries (DAI acquisition announcement, 2021).

Vehicles and track record

MicroVest names no investee companies publicly — it lends to 200+ financial institutions across 60+ countries without naming them. Its verifiable vehicles: MicroVest I, LP (the first North American private equity vehicle focused on microfinance), MicroVest II, LP (IFC project disclosure), the MicroVest Short Duration Fund (liquid financial-inclusion debt), and MicroVest Plus LP (a Calvert Impact Capital partnership). In December 2021, MicroVest was acquired by DAI, becoming the core of DAI Capital (DAI's investment-management arm). It is a Certified B Corporation.

People behind the firm

Gil Crawford founded MicroVest in 2003 and stayed on through the DAI acquisition; Jim Boomgard is President and CEO of parent company DAI.

How to apply for funding from MicroVest

There is no public application or investment-inquiry route on the official site — MicroVest is an institutional asset manager dealing with financial institutions, and it publishes no application form. Responsible MFIs and SME lenders should approach via the contact page at microvest.com, framed as an institutional debt relationship: audited financials, portfolio quality metrics and social-performance data.