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| Formerly | Small Enterprise Assistance Funds |
|---|---|
| Industry | Impact Investing |
| Founded | 1989; 35 years ago (1989) |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Number of locations | 20+ offices (2017) |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Hubertus van der Vaart (Executive Chairman) |
| AUM |  $600+ million (2017) |
| Number of employees | 145 (2017) |
| Website | seaf |
SEAF (Small Enterprise Assistance Funds) is an international investment management group that provides growth capital and business assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging and transition markets underserved by traditional sources of capital.
History
Founded in 1989 as the private equity investment subsidiary of the international development organization CARE International, Small Enterprise Assistance Funds ("SEAF") evolved in 1995 into an independent organization specializing in the sponsorship and management of investment funds targeting growth-oriented, emerging enterprises located in countries underserved by traditional sources of capital.
SEAF has managed or is managing 36 Funds across more than 30 countries with over US$1 billion in aggregate committed capital, of which over US$600 million has been invested through over 400 investments in SMEs, with more than 300 completed exits (through December 31, 2017). Investors in SEAF-sponsored funds represent a cross-section of public and private institutions, including multilateral financial institutions, private foundations, pension funds, insurance companies, family offices, banks, and other independent financial institutions.
SEAF employs over 140 investment professionals worldwide within a network of 20+ regional offices.
Impact on development
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often overlooked and referred to as the "missing middle" in the developing world. Data results, analysis, and case highlights (reports can be found below in the "Publications" section) demonstrate how SMEs can generate employment opportunities in their local communities, serve as links to regional and international markets for smaller local suppliers, and address market deficiencies and customer needs that would otherwise go unaddressed.
Funds
Below is a list of SEAF's active and historic funds and the countries in which they operate:
Global
- SEAF Flex Fund
- SEAF SME Debt Facility
- SEAF Global SME Fund
Central and Eastern European Funds
- Caresbac Polska (Closed)
- Poland
- Baltics Small Equity Fund (Closed)
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- SEAF Macedonia (Closed)
- SEAF Macedonia II Fund
- Central/Eastern Europe Growth Fund
- SEAF Trans-Balkan Fund (Closed)
- Bulgaria through the Trans-Balkan Bulgaria Fund (Closed)
- Romania through the Trans-Balkan Romania Fund (Closed)
- Croatia through the SEAF Croatia (Closed)
- SEAF South Balkan Fund
- Serbia
- Montenegro
- Macedonia
- Georgia Regional Development Fund
- SEAF Impact Serbia Fund
- SEAF Caucasus Growth Fund
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Georgia
Latin American Funds
- SEAF Colombia Agribusiness Fund (Dual Fund Structure)
- Trans-Andean Fund (Closed)
- Peru through the Fondo Transandino Peru Fund (Closed)
- Colombia through the Fondo Transandino Colombia Fund
- Latam Growth Fund (Closed)
- Latam Peru Fund (Closed)
Asian Funds
- Central Asia Small Enterprise Fund (Closed)
- Uzbekistan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyz Republic
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Sichuan Small Investment Fund
- China
- SEAF India Investment Growth Fund (Closed)
- SEAF India Agribusiness Fund (Dual Fund Structure)
- SEAF Bangladesh Ventures LLC
- SEAF Blue Waters Growth Fund Limited
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Afghan Growth Finance
- Afghanistan
CEED
In 2006, SEAF set up the Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED), a legacy institution of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and SEAF, born out of USAID grant funding in SME equity investments made by SEAF throughout the Balkans, and EBRD in Slovenia. CEED centers provide business development training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
Notes
As of this edit, this article uses content from "Our history", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.
References
- "SEAF- Who we are". 20 August 2021.
- "UN's ESCAP and SEAF join hands to 'catalyse' women empowerment through 'impact investment' in Asia". International Business Times. March 5, 2020.
- "The SEAF Mission". SEAF. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- "Welcome to SEAF". Archived from the original on 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2009-10-27. SEAF History
- "SEAF" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2009-10-27. SEAF Report on Development Impact
- Gibson, Tom; van der Vaart, H.J. (September 2008). "Defining SMEs: A Less Imperfect Way of Defining Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries" (PDF). Brookings. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
- "USAID's Description of SEAF's Work in Serbia and Montenegro". August 2, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02.
- http://www.peru.com/finanzas/idocs2/2009/2/6/DetalleDocumento_541131.asp Peru.com Report on SEAF's Work in Peru (Spanish)
- Kumar, John Satish. "SEAF India to Launch Agribusiness Fund". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- "If you can take the heat invest in Afghanistan - report on SEAF's Work in Afghanistan" (PDF). Reuters. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-29.
- "CEED - Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development -". Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2009-10-27. CEED Homepage
- "CEED has launched its first training in Varna and Burgas". September 20, 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-09-10.