SME stories

Story of Maha al Mady - GroFin in Jordan

Maha Al Mady is an education entrepreneur from Sabha in North Badia, a region in Jordan. She has worked as a teacher and a principal for over 32 years in different areas of Jordan and as a teacher of Arabic in the United Kingdom. She is an active civil society member, participating in community groups that encourage families to send their children to school and participates in activities that target women empowerment in the Badia region. Want to know more about Grofin?

Story of the owners of Degusto - Gazelle's investment

Degusto has a strong set of owners comprised of two young, educated, and business-minded Georgians who were among the original company founders and also serve as senior managers of the company and two other Georgian financial investors who more recently joined as partners. Before founding Degusto, the original set of partners gained experience working in and investing in the food retail industry, successfully launching and ultimately selling a prominent local convenience store chain. As a result of this experience, the founders identified that existing food outlets were leaving a major gap in the market. With Tbilisi’s rapid growth of a busy, mobile, working middle class that demands affordable prepared food, the partner’s saw an opportunity to build a well-managed company that could offer affordable, healthy, on-the-go food. In just two years, the partners have built a company with ISO certification, 200 employees (of which 57% are below 35 years), a good reputation in the market, and a local brand that has strong growth potential, both domestically and internationally.

Gazelle’s investment will allow the company to achieve sufficient scale to offer an even more cost competitive product in the Georgian market and establishes a platform for the company’s next phase of development. Want to know more about Gazelle?

Story of Armine - SEF Armenia

 Armine, 42, is a married business woman from Ijevan town in Armenia. Armine has been running a furniture sales business on the first floor of her house for 9 years already. Wood refinement is also a part of Armine’s business. Her whole family (her husband Andranik, 45, and sons, Erik, 23, and Hakob, 18) is involved in the furniture manufacturing business. Armine’s husband is responsible for wood distribution. He distributes refined wood in his personal truck to furniture manufacturers in Yerevan and barters it with ready-made furniture, which is later sold in their house-based store.

Armine is a client of SEF Armenia, a financial institution DGGF has invested in. With a loan of SEF Armenia, Armine is able to purchase 30 cubic meters of log wood to make new furniture. Want to know more about SEF Armenia?