Jan 29, 2018

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion’s Frontier Investments Invests Equity in Britain’s Eseye, Provider of Machine-to-Machine “M2M” Services That Can Facilitate Utility Service to Low-Income Households Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, a venture-equity initiative that seeks to invest in companies serving financially excluded populations, has invested an undisclosed amount in Eseye Limited, a UK-based machine-to-machine (M2M) technology provider, during Eseye’s series-B financing round, which raised a total of USD 9 million. The identities of the other investors have not been disclosed. Eseye seeks to employ M2M technology, which allows for wireless and wired devices to communicate with each other, to reduce the lack of access to basic utilities due to lack of credit. The new model can minimize the risk for utility companies in serving low-income populations because, by using the M2M system, they will be able to remotely enable and disable services such as electricity and products such as solar lamps. M-Kopa, a Kenyan solar energy provider, has already incorporated Eseye’s M2M system to give it remote control to grant and block access to its devices when 100,000 of its customers do and do not make payments. According to Jonathan Whittle, the managing director of Frontier, “Eseye’s M2M solutions are enabling exciting new…models that give the poor in emerging markets access to critical, life-enhancing goods and services they would not otherwise be able to afford” [1]. Frontier Investments is an affiliate of US-based NGO Accion, which reports total assets USD 326 million and, in association with its partner MFIs, has an active loan portfolio of USD 7.1 billion serving 6 million borrowers as of 2012. Financial information for Eseye, which was founded in 2007, is unavailable. By Benjamin Krupp, Research Associate About Frontier Investments Group Frontier Investments Group is a venture equity fund focused on microfinance. Frontier Investments invests in new technologies and business models that can enhance the way financial services are delivered to poor people. Frontier Investments seeks innovations that will improve the efficiency, reach and scope of financial services at the base of the economic pyramid. Frontier Investments Group is an affiliate of Accion. The size of the fund is not available. About Accion Accion is a private, US-based nonprofit organization with the mission of alleviating poverty by offering financial products such as microenterprise loans and business training. Accion was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. Accion’s partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide loans to men and women entrepreneurs through 62 MFIs in 31 countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. As of 2012, Accion reports total assets USD 326 million and, in association with its partner MFIs, has an active loan portfolio of USD 7.1 billion serving 6 million borrowers. More recent financial information is unavailable. Sources and Additional Resources [1] Information provided to MicroCapital by Accion International