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Making the Case for Early-Stage Impact Investing
In many emerging markets, social entrepreneurs are financing their ventures with personal funds and high-interest loans - mainly because it's so tough to grow out of the startup phase without being able to show financial returns. The nonprofit Beyond Capital Fund provides pro bono advisory services to help investee enterprises establish and implement operating procedures and regular impact reporting systems, writes CEO Eva Yazhari. She explains how these formalized structures lend credibility and stability to sustain the businesses and attract potential investors - functions that are often lacking in the impact investing ecosystem.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Cutting Edge Agriculture: How Artificial Intelligence, Satellites and Big Data are Transforming Farmers’ Access to Finance
There are many reasons for the $450 billion global agricultural finance gap. But much of the challenge stems from lenders' inability to monitor farmers' output, estimate their income and assess their risk of default, says Ruchit G Garg of Harvesting Inc. He explores how artificial intelligence and satellites are addressing that data imbalance, helping lenders reach many of the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers for the first time.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology, Telecommunications
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Hardware Innovation is … Hard: How These Entrepreneurs Overcame the Challenges
Compared with the creators of app-based products, hardware-focused innovators face a much more difficult and expensive journey, says Villgro CTO Arun Venkatesan. The resources and time required to perfect hardware iterations are larger, the lack of a mature ecosystem is a problem, and the buyer is often distinctly different from the user or beneficiary. Venkatesan profiles four hardware innovators in agriculture and health care, discussing how they worked through these obstacles.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Show Me the Money: How Much Do Accelerators Really Help Entrepreneurs Raise?
Do accelerators really help social entrepreneurs raise more money for their businesses? Studies from the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative suggest the answer is yes, in both emerging markets and high-income countries – but their effectiveness varies greatly. Stephanie Buck of ANDE explores valuable insights from the research that can help optimize accelerators' impact.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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More College = Less Poverty: The Impact of Peer-to-Peer Lending
More than 57 million students globally are qualified but have not enrolled in higher education, mostly because they lack the money. Yet banks often don't want to lend to them, due to their lack of collateral, uncertain earning potential and long repayment periods. That’s why Ryker Labbee and Kirk Acevedo launched peer-to-peer student lender Zomia, targeting nearly 1 million potential college students in Myanmar and Cambodia. They explore how the model could scale into other markets and reduce poverty.
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Your Customers Aren’t Data Points: How Social Enterprises Can Avoid Three Impact Investor Red Flags
Villgro President PR Ganapathy has met with hundreds of early-stage social entrepreneurs – and he's noticed that they keep making the same mistakes when seeking impact investing. As part of NextBillion's “Survival Guide for Raising Capital” series, Ganapathy shares three essential tips to help entrepreneurs avoid some common red flags when pitching impact investors.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Established Social Enterprises: Have You Outgrown Business Accelerators?
Before joining established social enterprise TaroWorks as its CEO, Brent Chism spent two years earning an MBA degree and worked at three tech startups. So when a friend suggested he enroll in a business accelerator, Chism scoffed: "Did I really need to go back to school to learn how to raise the investment capital needed to fuel growth? Hadn’t I checked that box already?" Chism admits it was partly his ego talking; with some new research on their benefits, he advises business leaders not to overlook the benefits of accelerators.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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A Recipe for Understanding: How Food Entrepreneurship and Gastrodiplomacy are Bringing Syrian Refugees and Turks Closer
Nearly 6 million people have fled Syria's brutal civil war, with many settling in nearby Turkey. These refugees, as well as millions of other migrants around the world, often open restaurants and other eateries, drawing upon their cultural heritage to earn a living. The Livelihood Innovations through Food Entrepreneurship (LIFE) project was created to help these business owners – some 240 entrepreneurs will receive business support services offered at two food incubators.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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