Posted on February 21, 2010 - by James

WSJ: Microfinance has The Makings of An Industry…

Opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid are driving the buzz today. One of the most significant areas in this category in India is Microfinance – both in what it has been able to achieve over the past couple of decades, as well as in its unrealized potential. Besides the scale of business that is possible in microfinance, what is even more exciting is the scale of impact that is possible through microfinance, in enabling other businesses in that segment.

One of the most significant aspects of microfinance over the past 5 years has been the talent and capital it has been able to attract. From socially-focused entrepreneurs and grants, the industry has moved to attracting the best consumer finance professionals (with an equally compassionate outlook) and large scale institutional financing. This, coupled with the experience that early Microfinance Institutions provided, has led to emergence of this opportunity at an unprecedented scale.

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