In emerging markets, private debt is often structured for scale or collateral, leaving a missing middle of companies that hold local economies together without appropriate growth capital.

These are companies that are too big for microfinance and still too small for traditional investment and impact capital. They already have revenues and cash flow, but lack collateral and operate in markets with limited exit options.

In Latin America, that missing middle doesn’t just slow firms down. It narrows the middle class and turns a financing gap into a structural problem.

This is where good intentions aren’t enough. If capital isn’t designed for the local context, it simply doesn’t work. Capital designed around exits struggles in markets with limited exit options. Cash-flow aligned structures reflect how businesses really grow and repay.

Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter is the founder of IMPAQTO and Managing Partner of IMPAQTO Capital, where she uses revenue-based financing to support missing-middle companies across the Andean region.

We talk about:

• Why the missing middle is overlooked
• Why VC risk models break down here
• How revenue-based finance supports financial inclusion
• Why local capital matters in emerging markets
• What a hundred coffees taught Michelle about founder pain and growth limits

Hear how private debt actually works for the missing middle. Tune in.

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Additional Resources:

IMPAQTO Capital website

IMPAQTO Ecosystem Builder

Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter website

Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter LinkedIn