As a fund can give cheap credit to companies that “nobody wants to lend”

The reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul After the climate tragedy that victimized 183 people and left thousands of homelessness has mobilized the federal government, NGOs, companies and – why not – the financial market. One of the initiatives comes from a fund that offers cheap credit to entrepreneurs from the region. With the success of the model since business assistance affected by Covid-19 pandemic, the stimulus now plans an exclusive fund for the Amazon.

Since October last year, the social impact investment manager lends from $ 10,000 to $ 200,000 to gauchos entrepreneurs who had flooded stores, breaks in the supply chain due to logistics difficulties or reducing revenues as a result of floods. No guarantees are required to hire credit with interest from 0.99% per month – well below the 4% that companies would get in traditional loans, says the CEO.

In addition to the cheaper credit, companies with monthly revenues of $ 10,000 to $ 400,000 eligible for financing have six months of reduced installments.

The background resume rs is new, but the model does not. He follows the example of his older brother, Estimulo Brasil, which began in 2021 to assist micro and small entrepreneurs affected by Covid-19 pandemic with rates from 1.69% per month.

The manager has already lent money to more than 5,000 companies considered risky, as they need money to rebuild their business or pay other more expensive debts and have no assets to deliver as a guarantee. Even so, default over 90 days is 8% in Brazil stimulus: “The expectation was to lose half the money,” says Vinicius Poit, CEO of the stimulus.

Bleneded Finance

The key to low interest rates is in the Bleneded Financewhich combines donations and impact investments. The history of Estimulo Brasil helps explain the concept: the fund was the result of an emergency action at the beginning of the pandemic, when entrepreneurs joined to make donations. Abilio Diniz and FEFFER (from Suzano), Mattar (Localiza) and Menin (Inter and MRV) families are part of the group of 50 co -founders who lent $ 60 million for MPES who needed cheap credit not to break.

When entrepreneurs gathered to investigate the results of the campaign, they saw a 3% default and were convinced by Diniz not to take the donations back. With this, a FIDC (Credit Law Investment Fund) was born. The co -founders entered subordinate shareholders – who only receive the money referent after the redemptions of the senior quotas. The manager has captured investors for quotas with the highest priority – they expect return on investment.

“It is a mix between philanthropy, which serves as the base of the backgrounds, and impact investments; with the methodology, the Brazil Fund turned R $ 60 million into R $ 320 million of credit originated,” explains Poit.

In the background that serves RS, the initial investment was R $ 40 million and was attended by Gerdau, Itaú, Banrisul and other companies. The next step in the south is to raise investments via senior quotas.

Even for investors who expect some profit from the operation, the return is not as robust as offered by other FIDCs, according to Poit. He says the funds will operate with 50% subordinate quotas when the market usually works with the proportion of about 20%. “We want to show the investor that it is a new business, has a lesser return, but he receives the measured impact on society and has much greater protective mattress.”

Among the impacts of the manager is the average annual growth statistics of 38% on the revenues of companies served, 54% female participation in corporate frameworks, 90% of the volume borrowed to companies located in low -income regions and 13% exposure to the Legal Amazon region.

Expansion

According to Poit, credit for legal Amazon companies “takes pressure from the forest in a context of much illegal activity happening there”. He recalls that the micro and small ones were responsible for most of the job vacancies created in Brazil in 2024 and “if there is no job, people will work in illegal mining and irregular extractions.”

For this reason, the stimulus decided to launch a fund to serve the region that covers nine Brazilian states. The manager is capturing interested in entering the subordinate quotas. The Amazon Fund is due to be launched before mid -year.

Impact and High Selic Investments

The volume of credit granted by the stimulus has been growing in a context of caution in the financial market. With the basic interest rate of 14.25% – and rising – many investors prefer not to risk and apply to government bonds or large companies.

Poit admits that the macroeconomic scenario is challenging and that “entrepreneurs give some extra job to pay.” He sees even greater demand for cheap credit, but says they need to be more selective. Entrepreneurs who have pre-approved credit need to go through interviews and provide business information to the manager, which lends to about 8% of the companies looking for it.

The initiative, however, was born to be countercyclic, says the CEO: “The stimulus was made to lend when no one lendsit was made for moments like the current one. ”

One of the manager’s objectives is to be seen as a global reference in Bleneded Finance. The presentation of the model in an impact investment course in Harvard was one of the steps for the achievement, according to Poit. “We want people to need to look at Brazil by analyzing impact investments around the world,” he concludes.