WASHINGTON & ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–RENEW’s Impact Angel Network (IAN), one of the most active equity
investors in Ethiopia with an expanding presence in East Africa, have
successfully exited two investments to a regional private equity fund
and a family office. RENEW and the IAN provided two rounds of angel
financing to support the launch of an Ethiopian production company that
exports to international markets. With the recent buyout of these
positions, these investments realized gross internal rates of return
(IRR) of 26.70% and 17.58%,* respectively.
The IAN’s investments helped a start-up company become a leader in its
industry in Ethiopia. The company has received international awards and
certifications on account of a superior product and exceptional
processes. It now purchases from thousands of smallholder farmers and
employs hundreds of Ethiopians in permanent and temporary positions. The
company’s success can be attributed to the strong leadership and
disciplined management of a visionary entrepreneur and committed
contributor to the well-being of the communities in which he operates.
“At RENEW,” says CEO Matt Davis, “we aim to back companies with strong
leadership and good market position or potential. The companies we
invest in are often overlooked due to their size as SMEs and their
location in countries in East Africa that are promising but not yet
seeing significant inflows of capital. We cannot expect all investments
to follow the trajectory of the two exits we are announcing. Today,
though, I celebrate these wins for the IAN, for Ethiopia and for SMEs
providing good jobs to a lot of people.”
About the Impact Angel Network and RENEW
Members of the Impact Angel Network seek to realize both social impact
and financial returns through investments in small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) that are engines of economic growth and job creation
in Africa but that often lack capital due to their size. IAN members
believe that targeting employment through SMEs, dollar-for-dollar, can
help reduce poverty in a more sustainable way than charity.
RENEW, with its largest office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, manages the
IAN’s investment operations and provides investment advisory and
consulting services in support of its investments. RENEW’s work in
Ethiopia was piloted with USAID and is currently undertaken with
financial support from the Government of Canada provided through Global
Affairs Canada for a project entitled Accelerating Business Growth
(ABG). This project targets sustainable job creation for low-skilled
workers, including women and young adults, through a dynamic and growing
small and medium business sector in Ethiopia.
To find out more, please visit www.renewstrategies.com
Legal Disclaimer
*We maintain documents in our files supporting the IRRs stated above.
The IRRs were realized for the two investments discussed in this press
release and does not represent results achieved by other IAN portfolio
companies or the portfolio as a whole. There is no guarantee that such
results will be achieved by other IAN investments or those of other
investments managed by RENEW.
Contacts
MEDIA CONTACT
Victoria Odinotska
KANTER
+1 703 685
9232
RENEW CONTACT
Erin O’Connor
[email protected]
+1
416 998 0058
