This month, Grameen America, the fastest growing microfinance organization in the United States, celebrates its 10-year anniversary of empowering low-income women entrepreneurs in underserved areas in the U.S. through affordable microloans. In tandem, the organization announced that it has expanded its investor base through impact investing after closing out its first Social Business Fund, which included both new and existing investors.

In its past 10 years of U.S. operations, Grameen America’s highlights include:

  • Disbursing more than $820 million dollars in microfinance loans to low-income women
  • Expanding to 20 branches across 13 cities in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico
  • Serving over 98,000 low-income female entrepreneurs
  • Creating or maintaining 100,000+ American jobs
  • Facilitating more than 490,000 hours of financial literacy training
  • Achieving a 99% loan repayment rate

The organization’s adoption of impact investing as an additional means of funding comes at a time when impact investing—defined by the Global Impact Investing Network as “investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return”—is on the rise.

Read the full article about impact investing by Api Podder at My Social Good News.