SSE Best One For Social Enterprises To Raise Funds
Hyderabad: The National Stock Exchange’s Social Stock Exchange (NSE SSE) organised an awareness seminar in Hyderabad on Monday. Under SEBI’s guidance, NSE SSE has been organising pan India seminars with the theme, “Accelerating Social Impact with Social Stock Exchange,” to raise awareness about the electronic fund-raising platform for non-profit organisations (NPOs).
SVMD Rao, Executive Director, Sebi, who was the Guest of Honour for the seminar, explained about the modified framework of SSE, a separate segment under the existing stock exchanges. Speaking about SSE, he said, “None of the global social stock exchanges are under the capital market regulator. India is the only capital market regulator which has developed the working of SSE, which is beyond a directory and allows social enterprises to seek funds. We look forward for more NPOs to come forward for listing their projects and raising funds or donations from interested investors.” More than 80 NPOs are registered on Social Stock Exchange. NPOs have listed 10 projects on the platform to support UN Sustainable Development Goals. The amount raised for the 10 projects listed by different NPOs is Rs 22 crore. The first listing was witnessed in December 2023. The first NPO from Telangana to raise funds on SSE is Ekalavya Foundation. The orgainsation, focused on agriculture, livelihood and training of tribals, has raised Rs 85 lakh. The Stock Exchange said that “NSE has been proactive in ensuring the success of the Social Stock Exchange. The event in Hyderabad is another step forward towards building a robust ecosystem for social finance and impact investing in India.”
About the highest size of fund raised on SSE, Vivek Harlalka, vice president – Investor Awareness, NSE, said that, as of now, Swades Foundation, has raised the highest funding of Rs 10 crore, wherein, 70 retail investors donated Rs 45 lakh and 54 non-institutional investors donated Rs 9.55 crore. eIPO is another mechanism enabled by NSE in March 2024, which was used by Swades to mobilise funds, wherein Rs 24.82 lakh was raised through applicants, he added. An inaugural plenary and a panel discussion on ‘SSE empowering social enterprises and strengthening partnerships for social impact,’ was held, during which the attendees were urged to tap SSE for social good. The panel discussion was centered around regulatory frameworks, future outlook, government support, NPO and donor
engagement.