Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) is a global impact private equity manager focused on providing growth capital and operational support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets. Utilizing an ESG+ investment approach, SEAF selectively makes structured debt and equity investments in locally-owned enterprises with high growth potential to actively build resilience within SMEs themselves and more largely within their communities, focusing on climate, food security, and inclusion.
SEAF is a global organization headquartered in Washington D.C., with 15 offices in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past three decades, SEAF has managed more than 40 Funds and across 33 countries. SEAF’s on-the-ground presence in our countries of focus, coupled with our proactive and responsive business model, enables us to source opportunities and work closely with local entrepreneurs, providing the capital, hands-on operational support, knowledge, and networks they need. SEAF also supports ten Centers for Entrepreneurship and Development (CEED) worldwide to provide training, mentoring, and global access to professional networks and entrepreneur-run businesses.
Purpose
SEAF uses an ESG+ investment approach to provide growth capital and operational support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets that are underserved by traditional sources of capital. SEAF’s global reach and proactive business model enable entrepreneurs to accelerate their businesses’ growth and profitability while achieving meaningful and measurable impact. Our more than 32 years of experience have shown that impact investing and maximizing performance complement each other—we can do good and realize strong financial returns. We envision a sustainable and inclusive world where entrepreneurs everywhere have the capital, tools, and support they need to transform their businesses and increase the shared prosperity of their communities.
Alignment with Guiding Principles
At the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, we invite companies of all sizes, industries, and geographies to champion our Guiding Principles for Inclusive Action and demonstrate how they contribute to meaningful change. To ensure alignment with our principles, our members are assessed by at least one reporting body, sustainability-related certificate, benchmark, rating agency or similar organization.
