Capria, a global impact investment firm, has announced that the Capria Accelerator Fund has reached its final close at $5.2m and is slightly over-subscribed. 

Capria is focused on the missing middle finance opportunity by advancing the next generation of impact fund managers in emerging markets.

Capria Accelerator Fund is the first global business accelerator for impact fund managers.

Investors in the Capria Accelerator Fund include Bill Gates, Ceniarth, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Aarin Capital Partners, and the International Finance Corporation.

“We are excited to be oversubscribed for our Accelerator Fund from world class impact investors,”  Will Poole, Managing Partner of Capria, told Africa Global Funds.

Capria Accelerator Fund supports the firm’s fund acceleration program in two ways – investing seed capital into GPs, and backing companies via a warehousing facility with either equity or equity-linked debt.

Capria Accelerator, which was launched in September 2015, partners with the best early-stage equity and debt fund managers, provides initial investment capital, and engages in significant hands-on support to help these managers launch and operate their new investment funds.

Capria announced its initial fund manager partnerships in April 2016: three impact fund management teams from Zimbabwe, Uganda and Guatemala.

The fund is a stepping stone towards Capria’s $100m Emerging Manager Fund, targeting first close in the first half of 2017. 

In the next five years, this fund plans to invest in at least 15 impact funds, significantly expanding Capria Network’s global reach. 

By 2025, Capria’s efforts are expected to unlock over $500m in local and global capital to invest in businesses that will cumulatively serve more than 5 million low-income people across diverse emerging economies.

Capria is now accepting applications from emerging market fund managers for Capria Accelerator “Cohort 3” scheduled to start in Q1 2017.

The deadline for submissions is November 11, 2016.

The firm expects fund management teams to have previous investing, an initial investment thesis, and a proposed fund structure.

The team must also show traction identifying and engaging with both potential funders and portfolio companies.

Capria Accelerator is backed by Unitus, a pioneer in incubating financial services firms that address global problems with innovative, market-driven solutions. 

“Capria’s goal is to empower the next generation of fund managers in emerging economies by leveraging nearly two decades of Unitus’ institutional knowledge, data and networks in successfully generating market returns while creating impact,” said Poole.

Capria Accelerator is managed by Capria Ventures and is based in Seattle.