Our Approach







“As an investor in and beneficiary of its ‘green’ lending activities, our company remains grateful for Root Capital’s work, as we believe its lending model addresses an important need that comes from the coffee producers themselves.”

Michael Dupee
Director of Social Responsibility
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters












"Root Capital goes well beyond the delivery of credit to promote financial capacity in the countryside in a way that comprehensively builds rural enterprises into “bankable” businesses."

Maria Teresa Villanueva
Project Team Leader
Inter-American Development Bank

Our Vision

We envision thriving rural communities where small-scale producers have access to markets and financial services to lift themselves out of poverty while strengthening the health of our planet. We pursue this vision through a three- pronged strategy:

Finance: Innovating Rural Finance

We lend to small grassroots businesses that are locked out of the local banking system and have few alternatives for affordable credit. We provide financing for both short-term working capital loans and longer-term investments.

For many of our loans, we use future sales contracts from companies like Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Marks & Spencer, Starbucks, and Whole Foods as a form of collateral. When natural products are shipped, the buyer pays Root Capital directly for interest and principal payments. Because of this factoring model, we can be confident that a loan will be repaid (indeed, our repayment rate is over 99%.) By moving beyond traditional approaches to collateral, we are proving the business case for lending to the rural “unbankable”.

Root Capital’s Model


1. Order goods
2. Make loan with purchase order as collateral
3. Ship goods
4. Pay for goods
5. Remit payment, net of loan principal and interest

Advise: Building Local Capacity

Our financial education program trains leaders of grassroots businesses in financial management and works with prospective borrowers to prepare loan applications. The goal is to equip these leaders with the skills they need to build their businesses and become attractive clients to local banks. We also advise local financial institutions on how to enter rural markets by sharing our model and demonstrating compelling lending opportunities.

Catalyze: Fostering the Field

We are leveraging our experience, knowledge, and industry relationships to catalyze the creation of a new capital class bridging the “missing middle” between microfinance and corporate banking. We collaborate with global buyers, banks, and like-minded development entrepreneurs to spread finance innovations and social business practices throughout the developing world.