Advans receives a €10 million funding from Finnfund and University of Helsinki

The Advans Group is happy to announce its renewed partnership with Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and impact investor. University of Helsinki participates in this investment with Finnfund.

Through this funding, Finnfund and University of Helsinki aim to generate funding for micro and small businesses and promote responsible business practices and gender equality within microfinancing. Finnfund has been financing Advans since 2019.

“We are grateful to Finnfund for its renewed commitment to supporting the Advans Group’s development. This new facility will enable our subsidiaries to continue to provide tailored and innovative financial services to small businesses so as to foster growth and economic and social development in our countries of operation, which is especially critical in a post-Covid world where our clients need funds to resume activity”, said Steven Duchatelle, Advans' CEO.

“We are very pleased to make this investment into Advans together with University of Helsinki. Advans has been our investee since 2019. There are many interesting impact investment opportunities with an attractive risk and return profile, and we are increasingly looking for new partnerships to both strengthen our role as an investor and to contribute to sustainable development and climate actions,” said Markus Pietikäinen, Chief Investment Officer at Finnfund.

“We are very excited both about the opportunity to finance Advans and the opportunity to work with such an experienced impact investor such as Finnfund. In terms of investment activities, we aim to be at the forefront of sustainable development and responsibility. Through this investment, we can increase the social impact of our investments and we can contribute especially to gender equality, which is one of our core values at the university,” noted Teresa Platan, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at the University of Helsinki.

Read the full press release here.