As a first-time fund manager, setting up a private equity fund focused on sustainable and high impact small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia was challenging. We went through a lot of ups and downs during our fund-raising efforts to reach first close. Andrea Bode and Martin Cremer believed in our approach and our team from very early on. This enabled us to get access to crucial financing from the Seed Capital Assistance Facility. Thanks to their continued support we were able to close our fund at USD 75 million in early 2018 and reimburse all grants, to be re-used for other start-up funds. The hands-on and flexible approach by the whole FS Impact Finance team was pivotal in getting us off the ground.