Micro venture capital

Micro venture capital financing invests in projects too small to attract the attention of more traditional venture capitalists but too big or risky to attract capital from traditional lending sources. See venture capital.

Micro venture capital is one of the approaches adopted in Islamic economics as a substitute for interest-bearing loans, or riba, prohibited by the Qur'an.

It is also viewed by some as a promising sort of developmental aid. At the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, for example, Professor Anil Gupta has espoused a search for marketable inventions among India's poor. He believes their ingenuity is a resource that MVC can unlock.

In Latin America, micro venture capital is growing as a field as development professionals and investors realize the importance of helping entrepreneurs start formal economy companies. One of the first micro venture capital funds is sponsored by Agora Partnerships, a not-for-profit organization, and invests $25,000 to $250,000 in early stage socially responsible companies in Central America.

Another prominent MVC is the Inventure, a social enterprise that invests between $1,000 to $15,000 in micro-enterprises in developing communities. It currently has operations in India, Mexico and Mali.