EMIA invests Cambodia unit of iCare Benefits
Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA) has acquired a significant minority stake in the Cambodia division of iCare Benefits, a Singapore-based company that provides employers with worker benefit programs.
EMIA is investing via its Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund (CLMDF) II, which is targeting a raise of $50 million. The fund achieved a first close of $36 million in 2015 and a commitment of an additional $7.5 million from the International Finance Corporation last year.
Founded in Vietnam in 2012, iCare is a free membership-based social benefits provider focused on delivering employee health packages for companies in emerging markets. The company also offers a digital payment platform that enables workers to accumulate assets and increase their purchasing power while protecting them from debt through automated spending limits. It claims to have provided thousands of workers with access to low-cost instalment finance to purchase essential products and services.
“By going for an employee-only benefits package, iCare forms partnerships with employers to facilitate their operations such as data verification and instalment payments,” Joshua Morris, CEO of EMIA, said in a statement. “This diminishes the business risk that is inherent in other traditional consumer finance companies.”
To date, Singapore-based EMIA has invested in 10 businesses across a range of sectors, including education, financial services, food and beverage, and agriculture. CLMDF II targets small to medium-sized enterprises across transport, logistics, professional and support services and IT, as well as agribusiness, financial services, and retail.
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