Supported by UK aid and GET.invest, this cutting-edge research is based on interviews with 21 high performing LMDs. The research dives into the efficiency of local LMDs vs international LMDs, the types of capital raised by LMDs on different growth trajectories, and the three main financing gaps faced by LMDs.
Five key take-aways from this research
1. LMDs are achieving substantial impact.
On average, each LMD has raised over $5m and is reaching 42,000 new customers/year.
2. Faster-growth and international LMDs have raised more capital, in particular equity.
They tend to focus on expansion including international replication.
3. Slower-growth and local LMDs have achieved more sales per $ of capital raised.
They tend to focus on achieving profitability firs
4. Successful LMDs have shown they need….
- Start up capital ($100-400k) in their first 2-3 years of operations
- Rapid, continuous and growing access to working capital debt (from $50k to a few millions)
- Equity ($1-5m) to expand rapidly, or as a way to access more debt
5. …But even successful LMDs face barriers to access capital, including:
- Need for a long track record
- Loan amounts contingent on equity / Access to large working capital facilities
- Being investor ready
- Finding growth equity
Download the full study.