Revolutionizing Financing for Small and Medium Enterprises in Emerging Markets.
Athena Global is an impact finance company. We offer venture debt and niche advisory services to promote access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets.
Athena’s Core Services
We leverage our practical experience deploying capital to provide capacity building and technical assistance to impact investors and development projects.
Athena Advisors
Athena Advisors leverages decades of hands-on experience in 50 countries lending to SMEs in emerging markets to deliver highly technical strategies for inclusive impact investing.
Athena Capital
Athena Capital addresses the Missing Middle finance gap through venture debt. We work to ensure that every viable early-stage business owner has no constraints to capital.
Recognized by
Athena applies private sector financing approaches to solve traditional development challenges.
We are a woman-owned firm with a team of experienced, technical professionals, bringing a breadth of private sector and emerging markets experience into the entrepreneurial financing space.
Athena Capital
Through BIDUK, Athena Capital’s venture debt brand in Indonesia, we are designing financial solutions that meet the specific needs of SMEs, helping them get to their next stage of growth.
Partnering to Build Mutual Trust for SME Growth
Learn more about how Athena’s innovative approach is fostering enterprise growth, driving returns for financial institutions and contributing to the evidence base, in this Frontier Brokers video.
Designed for Growth
Learn about how Athena’s brand BIDUK fills the Missing Middle financing gap through bespoke, uncollateralized loans that meet the specific needs of SMEs in emerging markets.
Athena Advisors Works to Embed Gender Equitable Outcomes with Impact Linked Carry
Case Study from Athena’s work with a Gender-Leading, Tech-Focused Impact Fund. This includes synthesis of current impact-linked carry practices, identification and selection of gender impact metrics, and the development of a quantitative carry model.
Athena Capital Venture Debt – Evidence-Based Results
Investing at the nexus of gender and climate, BIDUK, Athena’s lending model in Indonesia, intentionally incorporates gender and climate lenses into our investment practices and decision making process. Our data driven approach yields results. Learn More
Gender Equity
>70% of loans to Women-Owned/Led Businesses (Average, by volume) 100% investees with representative gender balance and equal pay practices
Climate Impact
74% of capital deployed to firms with a positive environmental impact
Loan Losses
<10% loan losses under COVID
Repeat Clients
100% of clients who have completed one loan cycle successfully have come back for follow-on loans
Evolution
40% of clients secured VC/Angel funding after 1-2 loan cycles that smoothed cash flow volatility and stimulated growth. Another 40% are ‘main street’ businesses that won’t ever seek VC funding. And we’re okay with that.
*Data as of June 30, 2022
Our Partners and Clients
News and Insights
Connecting Women-Led and Gender Equity-Focused SMEs with Potential Financiers and Investors in Guatemala
Athena Global is pleased to partner with the Technical Mission of Taiwan in Guatemala (TECRO) and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (USDFC) to host an event, NexWomen in Guatemala City. The event will be held around the Latin...
Social Impact Pulse Podcast Episode Release Featuring BIDUK!
"One of the fundamental drivers of our business model is acknowledging and recognizing that small and growing businesses are the backbone of any healthy and resilient economy." On May 11, 2022, The Social Impact Pulse Podcast, together with Artesan Gateway and...
For Every $1 invested in Women, $25 goes to Men in African Startups
Securing funding is one of the many challenges female African entrepreneurs face. This Bloomberg.com article is a great resource to understanding these obstacles as it highlights the issues women-led companies encounter as well as the pioneers in the...