- Loan Open For Subscriptions Until 12 Dec 2025
Inclusive Rural Enterprise Scale-Up Loan
Digigram Ventures Ltd
- Bangladesh
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- 20,000 USD
Amount committed of 100,000 USD target. This loan will be funded as long as it raises between 75,000 USD and 125,000 USD.
DigiGram Ventures empowers rural women smallholder farmers in Bangladesh through quality inputs, training, & market access, operating on a profit-share model that raises household incomes by 20–25%. This loan will support 1,000 farmers in cattle-rearing projects, financing inputs, resources, & field operations. Partners such as Heifer International Bangladesh will provide training, while local banks will co-finance livestock purchases – advancing inclusive entrepreneurship nationwide.
- 2 Lenders
Committed
- 36 months
Loan Period
- 12%
Interest Rate
- BACKGROUND
Loan summary
DigiGram Ventures works at the intersection of rural livelihoods, micro-entrepreneurship, and sustainable agriculture to ensure financial inclusion and empowerment of smallholder farmers, especially women. In partnership with Heifer International Bangladesh, DigiGram has designed a performance-linked profit-share model that enables rural women farmers to generate additional income through sustainable cattle rearing. We are also working with BRAC Bank who has committed to financing of the cattle purchase costs (70% of the total costs).
This loan will cover the remaining expenses related to inputs, feed, logistics, resources and field operations. The financing will help DigiGram build on previous successful pilots and initiate commercial scale to at least 1,000 within the loan period.
This loan directly supports DigiGram’s mission to build inclusive rural livelihood programs by increasing women’s income by 25% (US$30–50 per month) and enhancing their capacity for enterprise-scale cattle rearing, driving sustainable, gender-responsive economic growth in rural communities.
Borrower's mission
DigiGram Ventures has been actively pursuing its impact mission by building an inclusive ecosystem that integrates finance, capacity building, and market access for rural smallholder producers – particularly women and persons with disabilities (PwD).
The name of DigiGram’s flagship program — Shathi, meaning “companion” in Bengla — reflects their core philosophy: they view the rural producers as partners, not beneficiaries. Through Shathi, DigiGram connects producers to investors and markets, providing training, digital tools, and performance-linked finance for agriculture and livestock-based enterprises. To date, DigiGram has trained 100 smallholder producers (70% women, 15% persons with disabilities) and provided finance to 50 producers, resulting in an average 15% increase in household income at pilot scale.
Over the long term, DigiGram aims to reach 20,000 rural producers and benefit 1 million lives by 2030 through sustainable agriculture, livestock, and eco-friendly value chains. Commercially, the company targets becoming Bangladesh’s leading inclusive agri-livelihood and care economy platform, achieving profitability by Year 3 and maintaining growth through its digital marketplace (Shathi Mart) and impact-linked financing model, while ensuring measurable social and environmental impact aligned with the UN SDGs.
The activities funded by this loan are helping to achieve the above Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN.
Intermediary's experience with impact enterprises
For more than 9 years, Red Hat Impact has helped impact enterprises by raising capital and providing other kinds of business and strategy support. We have raised more than $3M from our network of impact investors, and loaned this capital to support 30 enterprises. We use a crowd-lending model to raise loan capital. As of May 2024, we maintain a 98% success rate on loan repayment. We establish close working relationships with all of the impact enterprises we raise debt capital for, and co-manage risks with them during the loan term.
- IMPACT
Impacts and how they are measured
DigiGram Ventures has developed an Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) framework to systematically track and assess progress toward its impact goals on a regular basis. The proposed loan will create strong social and economic outcomes by enhancing financial inclusion, income growth, and resilience among rural women smallholder farmers engaged in sustainable cattle rearing. Based on DigiGram’s Theory of Change, the project will achieve the following measurable results over 1–3 years: 1. 1,000 farmers trained in improved cattle management and market access. 2. 800 active producers (80% women) participating in DigiGram’s profit-share model. 3. 300 new farmers (30% women) achieving institutional financial inclusion through local banks. 4. 800 farmers (80% women) increasing household income by 25% (US$30–50/month) with improved financial resilience. 5. 600 women farmers reporting higher self-worth and decision-making influence at home. Progress will be monitored through DigiGram’s IMM framework using baseline and endline surveys, production and income data, and self-reported empowerment indicators, validated via partner field visits and digital monitoring tools.
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