Instituição Comunitária de Crédito Blumenau Solidariedade

Reaching out to informal micro entrepreneurs in Blumenau

Brazil

Instituição Comunitária de Crédito Blumenau Solidariedade (Blusol) is a civil institution that provides loans to micro and small entrepreneurs in the state of Santa Catarina and the southern part of the state of Paraná. Blusol is headquartered in the city of Blumenau from where it manages a network of branches serving more than 10,000, mostly informal, micro entrepreneurs (2016).

Blusol was founded in 1997 as an initiative to strengthen civil society participation in the public sphere. In response to a textile crisis which hit the area during that time triggering an explosion of small informal economic activities, the institution decided to launch microfinance services.

Throughout its history, Blusol has been a firm promoter of responsible microfinance.

Instituição Comunitária de Crédito Blumenau Solidariedade has been an Oikocredit partner since 2016.