Hello 2021 from our CEO
We have been living with the pandemic for more than a year now and previously unimaginable changes have become part of our daily lives. Purpose-driven organisations have shown incredible resilience throughout the entire period. Those amongst Sefa’s borrowers that benefited from a temporary repayment holiday have found their feet again. We are proud to be working with organisations who demonstrate the strength to regroup and show agility in a time of uncertainty.
To underpin our focus of capability alongside capital to build overall organisational capacity, we were successful in our application as a pre-approved provider to the IIA Resilience Grant. We are hoping that together with IIA’s Growth Grant, this critical support program will be extended as part of Department of Social Services’ current Sector Readiness Fund.
Another opportunity from the pandemic has been the Federal Government SME Scheme. The deadline for the Scheme is 30 June and fast approaching, please contact us if you would like to discuss your eligibility. Sefa is also looking to also participate in the successor "SME Recovery Loan Scheme" that runs from April to December 2021 and targets organisations experiencing continued financial hardship and receipt of JobKeeper payments.
Social finance transactions take patience to ensure that we are going through a personal, yet diligent, process with potential clients. We are delighted to announce a $1m loan to Indigenous construction business, Kardan Construction, with a potential collaboration with two co-investors.
Sefa continues to build momentum across our professional services offering with our collaborative approach towards delivery. We meet organisations where they are at, accompany them on their long-term journeys, and embed our critical learnings. These approaches are built on Sefa’s values of togetherness, integrity and champion. With this focus we can extend our reach and impact across a variety of partners, clients and engagements: investment readiness, capital structuring, capital raising support and investment management. Sefa’s Head of Engagement, Renee Martin, who is spearheading these pieces of work, shares her reflections and showcases relevant examples in the March newsletter. To learn more, don’t hesitate to connect with the social finance and engagement teams.
Hanna Ebeling, CEO