August 19, 2021

Gojo issues a private placement bond through online platform “Siiibo”

Gojo & Company, Inc. (Gojo) is pleased to announce the issuance of a 1st Series Unsecured Corporate Bond (Ranking pari passu among bonds and private placement with restrictions on splits) (hereinafter, “private placement bond”) on the online investment platform operated by Siiibo Securities (Siiibo).

Gojo has successfully raised debt financing from Japanese individual investors in the form of a private bond placement through Siiibo, an online securities company specialized in corporate bonds. The solicitation for investment into this private bond was open only for a small number of investors registered with an online investment platform “Siiibo”, operated by Siiibo Securities. 

The fund raised will be used as working capital for the group companies’ business expansion, or inter-company loans to group companies. 

For inclusive financial service providers in developing countries, high funding cost is one of the major challenges. Gojo continues to work on optimizing funding cost by pursuing global scale and risk diversification, building strong relationships with Japanese financial institutions and individual investors, and diversifying financing methods. 

About Siiibo Securities:

Siiibo Securities is a Tokyo-based independent online securities company specialized in corporate bonds. Driven by the mission to create free, transparent and impartial direct finance, their aim has been to unleash the potential of private placement bonds since their establishment in 2019. They provide an online investment platform and offer financial advisory services for business customers.

Company Name: Siiibo Securities Co., Ltd.
Location: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Establishment: January 11, 2019
Capital: 434 million yen
Website: https://siiibo.com
Founder & CEO: Kazuki Komura

About Gojo & Company: 

Gojo was founded to extend financial inclusion to everyone in the world, beginning with developing countries. Gojo encourages the formalization and growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Our long-term goal is to enable the provision of high-quality affordable financial services for 100+ million unserved and underserved people in 50+ countries by 2030. Six years since our establishment, we work in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India with USD 353 million gross loan portfolio, 5,000+ employees, serving more than 716,000 clients.

Vision: Create a world where everyone can determine their future
Mission: Extend financial inclusion to everyone
Long-term Goal: Enable provision of high-quality affordable financial services for 100+ million unserved and underserved people in 50+ countries by 2030
Address: Tokyo, Japan
Founder & CEO: Taejun Shin
Establishment: July 4, 2014
Inquiries: info@gojo.co
Website: https://gojo.co/

July 9, 2021

Gojo publishes its 2020 Impact Report

Gojo is excited to share our 2020 Impact Report

This year’s report focuses particularly on sharing Gojo and our partners’ responses to Covid-19, as well as our clients’ experience of the pandemic. In addition, we share key indicators, as well as updates on our impact measurement and research and innovation efforts. We have also added a new section on Gojo’s corporate governance to this year’s report, to provide visibility into the structures which help to ensure accountability for achieving our mission and goal of providing high-quality financial services to underserved and unserved people.

Although some of the impact research we had hoped to launch in 2020 was delayed due to the pandemic, we nonetheless managed to make progress on our savings and small digital loan initiatives, as well as the development of Gojo’s own Digital Field Application. We hope to be able to report on our upcoming field research projects and the continuing progress of our technology initiatives next year.

We hope you enjoy our impact report, and welcome any feedback on it.

About Gojo & Company

Gojo was founded to extend financial inclusion to everyone in the world, beginning with developing countries. Gojo encourages the formalization and growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Our long-term goal is to enable the provision of high-quality affordable financial services for 100+ million unserved and underserved people in 50+ countries by 2030. Seven years since our establishment, we work in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India with USD 376 million gross loan portfolio, 5,000+ employees, serving more than 730,000 clients.

March 11, 2021

Arnaud Ventura joins Gojo as Managing Partner

Gojo & Company, Inc. (Gojo) is pleased to announce that Mr. Arnaud Ventura, Founder and CEO of Baobab Group until end of 2019, has joined Gojo as Managing Partner.

Before joining Gojo, Arnaud founded and led two of the foremost European financial inclusion groups active in Micro & SME digital finance.

Between 1998 and 2008, Arnaud co-founded and led PlaNet Finance with the support of Jacques Attali (Chairman) and Muhammad Yunus (Chairman Advisory Board). It was one of the most successful European financial inclusion groups, providing mainly advisory services in the sector and operating in more than 30 markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

In 2008, Arnaud then went on to found Baobab (formerly MicroCred), the leading Micro & SME digital bank in Africa & China. In 2019 alone, Baobab lent $1 billion to 1 million clients, generating around $200 million total revenues and more than $40 million pre-tax profit.

Since he left Baobab in December 2019, Arnaud has served as an advisor to Gojo and we have built trusting relationships. Arnaud will support the organization and development of Gojo by establishing an optimal group governance system, supporting the digital strategy of the group and fundraising activities, as well as leading Gojo’s initial entry to Africa. With over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience in microfinance and a global network, Arnaud is expected to further accelerate Gojo’s fundraising, digitalization, investment, and geographic expansion strategy immediately into Africa and beyond. 

Arnaud is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He also co-founded the French China Foundation, the leading network of Young Leaders between France and China, and Share Africa, a platform to promote Africa's innovation and creativity. Arnaud graduated from EFREI, Paris, in Computer Science, and La Sorbonne in Philosophy. He speaks French, English and Spanish fluently and loves reading history & philosophy. He loves skiing and hiking in the mountains (particularly in the south of France), and has 2 young boys.

Arnaud states, “Since advising Taejun Shin, Founder & CEO, and Gojo’s team for more than 1 year, I have been impressed by the quality of the team and the ambition of the company. I am happy to be able to support its development and transform Gojo’s vision into reality in the coming years”. 

Gojo extends a warm welcome to Arnaud and looks forward to extending financial inclusion further!

About Gojo & Company

Gojo was founded to extend financial inclusion to everyone in the world beginning with the developing countries. Gojo encourages the formalization and growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Our long-term goal is to enable the provision of high-quality affordable financial services for 100+ million unserved and underserved people in 50+ countries by 2030. Six years since our establishment, we work in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India with USD 310 million gross loan portfolio, 5,000+ employees, serving more than 627,000 clients.

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