Google Partners with EIF, Inter-American Development Bank & Kiva to Invest $75 million in COVID-19 Hit Small Businesses 

Google has partnered with European Investment Fund (EIF), Inter-American Development Bank(IDB) and Kiva, an organisation that crowdfunds loans to unlock capital for the underserved around the world to invest  $75 million(about Rs. 545 crore) to small and medium-sized companies outside U.S who are suffering from the impact of COVID-19.

i.The funds are part of $800 million (about Rs. 5,820 crores)commitment announced by Google in March 2020 to support small businesses in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

ii.Google also plans to invest $15 million in India to support the small and micro enterprises across the country.

Investment:

European Investment Fund(EIF):

i.In Europe, Google will invest in EIF

ii.Google will invest in two EIF funds and becomes the 1st company to do so.

EIF funds

i.$15 million(about Rs. 110 crores) in loan capital- Will support over 1000 European small businesses

ii.$10 million(about Rs. 73 crores) in EIF’s Life Sciences Fund, a venture capital fund- Will support about 200 life sciences companies

• The European Commission’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) also supports this Life Sciences Fund.

What is EIF?

It  is a part of the European Investment Bank group.

Its central aim is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance.

Chief Executive– Alain Godard
Headquarters– Luxembourg

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):

In latin America, Google allocates $8 million (about  Rs. 58 crores)  to enhance the capital available in the region for small businesses.

This is done with the help of  a long-term partnership with the IDB through its innovation lab.

Headquarters– New York, Washington, D.C.
Presidency– Mauricio Claver-Carone

Kiva:

In Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia, Google has established a $26 million(about  Rs. 190 crores)  loan initiative with Kiva.

Separately, Google is giving a $1 million grant to Kiva to build its capacity for their local partnerships and research the impact of this program.

CEO– Neville Crawley
Headquarters– San Francisco, California, US

Recent Related News:

On 13 July, Alphabet Inc. & Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai had announced an investment of $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India through the “Google for India Digitisation Fund” at the 6th Annual, Google for India Event 2020 and also a First virtual event of Google in India.

About Google:
Headquarters– California, United States
CEO– Sundar Pichai