On October 24, 2017, the Dutch development bank FMO announced that FMO and the Shell Foundation, in cooperation with the U.K. Department for International Development, will cocreate a fund to provide growth capital to social entrepreneurs.

According to a press release by FMO, FMO and the Shell Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to cooperate in the field of access to energy in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. This will include investing in financial institutions with specific goals of increasing access to finance, reducing inequality, and promoting green financing and agribusiness. The growth capital fund is planned to launch in the first quarter of 2018.

The press release is available here.