December 1997, Akula returned to India to set up Swayam Krishi Sangam (SKS) as a vehicle to implement the plan. Initially set up as a non-profit, SKS converted to the for-profit SKS Microfinance in 2005. SKS Microfinance secured a round of equity investment of $11.5 million in March 2007, led by Sequoia Capital. In November 2008, SKS raised an equity investment of $75 million, the largest equity investment raised by an MFI to that date. SKS raised additional equity from Infosys founder Narayan Murthy and Bajaj Allianz, which represented the first-ever microfinance investment by an insurance company. In mid-August 2010, SKS Microfinance had an initial public offering (IPO) on the Bombay Stock Exchange, which raised $350 million and was oversubscribed 14 times and which included anchor investors such as George Soros. According to the company's website, SKS Microfinance has disbursed more than $15 billion in micro-loans. Akula resigned from the role of Executive Chairperson on 23 November 2011 and he relinquished his role as a promoter of SKS on 3 May 2014. Influences When founding SKS, Akula drew inspiration from the work of Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, one of the world's first microfinance organizations. In a face-to-face debate with Yunus at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative, Akula insisted that going public is the only way for an MFI to raise sufficient funds to provide micro-loans for billions of poor people in need worldwide. Controversy In late 2010, the state government of Andhra Pradesh accused microfinance companies, including the then market leader SKS, for the suicides of poor, debt-ridden residents of the state that year. Two investigations into the incident, the first an independent investigation commissioned by SKS, and the second commissioned by an industry umbrella group, both pointed to SKS involvement in the suicides, and said that SKS employees had engaged in illegal practices like verbal and physical harassment, coercion, and public humiliation, in order to recover debts. In an investigative article, Erika Kinetz of the Associated Press, wrote,"a profound shift in values and incentives at SKS began in 2008" when Akula left the CEO role. "Boston-based Sandstone Capital, now SKS' largest investor, made a major investment. It joined U.S. private equity firm Sequoia Capital, which funded Google and Apple and is SKS' largest shareholder, on the board of directors. Akula, who had been chief executive in the company's early