India-based venture capital firm Elevar Equity Advisors, which is backed by philanthropic investors, has invested in the nascent micro-finance company Vistaar Livelihood Finance.
Elevar, which is headquartered in Bangalore and with US offices in Seattle and San Francisco, has teamed up with SVB India Capital Partners, the local subsidiary of US-based lender SVB Financial Group, to invest R400m ($8.6m) for what was reported in local press as a "substantial minority" stake in Vistaar.
Sandeep Farias, founder and managing partner of Elevar, and Ash Lilani, president of India and China for SVB Financial Group, joined the board of Vistaar, which is a Sanskrit word for "expansion".
Vistaar was founded in March and began hiring for its first two branches in April.
Elevar makes investments in development-focused ventures in India, Latin America and Southeast Asia and closed its Elevar Equity II fund in 2008 with Dubai-based investment group Legatum and US-based Omidyar Network, which was started by the founder of the eBay auction website, each committing $20m.