The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Bamboo Capital Partners invite you to a breakfast roundtable on the BUILD Fund. This event will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.

In December 2018, UNCDF partnered with impact investing fund manager Bamboo Capital Partners to launch a new blended finance vehicle to connect larger flows of private capital to SDG-positive investment opportunities in last mile communities, primarily in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

This new investment vehicle, the BUILD Fund, will target a gap in the international financial architecture left by development finance institutions and local banks: the “missing middle,” where entrepreneurs launching small and medium enterprises in LDCs and other markets cannot access the finance they need to grow their businesses.

The BUILD Fund will be structured as a tiered, permanent capital blended finance vehicle, with three layers of capital at different risk-return levels: a first loss tranche protecting a mezzanine tranche, which in turn protects a senior tranche. The investors targeted for the BUILD Fund include UN Member States, foundations, family offices, corporate social responsibility and strategic venture arms, and development finance institutions.

The event will be moderated by Judith Karl, Executive Secretary of UNCDF. It will feature as panelists Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, Founder and Managing Partner at Bamboo Capital Partners and Anders Berlin, Head of the LDC Investment Platform at UNCDF.

The event will explore commitments to this innovative financing vehicle after its announcement at the High-Level Summit on Financing for Development Sept. 26 at the United Nations.