International
BiD Network is an investment advisory firm, established in 2007 with the mission to contribute to sustainable economic growth in emerging countries through entrepreneurship. They have done this by facilitating 230 investments for emerging market SMEs for a value of around $34M.
Close the Gap has joined as an anchor investor into BiD Network’s recently launched impact investment management & advisory firm. This investment allows BiD Network to meet the increasing demands on providing more comprehensive services into the impact investment management & advisory space in Africa, while accelerating its growth ambitions into the region. Since its inception in 2007, BiD Network has been a reputable player in facilitating access to finance for over 240 SMEs in emerging markets. In the last few years BiD Network has transitioned from a donor-driven foundation in The Netherlands into the current commercial, purpose-driven enterprise with African offices in Uganda and Rwanda.
“For Close the Gap this investment is a perfect fit of having more local embeddedness with an established investment management & advisory firm and also move towards providing more in-depth support to an increasing number of tech4development companies in the region.” Olivier vanden Eynde.
“In Close the Gap we found a perfect strategic impact investor for achieving our ambitions. We both have a long track record, a dual presence in Europe and Africa and a strong drive to grow our impact in the region by accelerating impact investments for local African entrepreneurs. Besides our mission alignment, we believe that having Close the Gap on board will also bring more synergies by actively collaborating in the East African region. This brings significant additional opportunities to just the financial investment.” Gert van Veldhuisen, Managing Partner BID Network.