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The End of a Debate? India Highlights the Dominance of For-Profit Capital in Impact Investing
Can impact investing be as commercially viable as mainstream investing – or does it work better as a nonprofit model, or as a less-profitable niche in the broader investing space? This question remains widely debated, even as more empirical evidence has demonstrated the commercial success of impact investments. Disha Gandhi of Aavishkaar asserts that the long-running global debate over for-profit vs. nonprofit models in impact investing may be winding down, and India is a key case in point.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Coming of Age: Why Consolidation in the Impact Investing Industry is a Great Thing
With over $114 billion deployed into impact investments in 2017 and the total U.S. market at well above $8 trillion, the sector has gone decisively mainstream. And when that happens, industry consolidation is not far behind. In light of a recent wave of eyebrow-raising mergers and acquisitions, Stephanie Cohn Rupp at Tiedemann Wealth Management – which recently completed a merger of its own – says this trend should spark more excitement than concern.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Do You Speak Social Finance? Helping Entrepreneurs and Impact Investors Overcome their Language Barrier
Social entrepreneurs and impact investors often speak different languages: Entrepreneurs are fluent in the dimension of impact, while investors are more focused on the bottom line. A new education platform called the Social Finance Academy strives to bridge this gap via free, online learning packages that enable investors and entrepreneurs to reach common ground. Christina Moehrle and Maxime Cheng of Roots of Impact explore the platform's early success and potential impact.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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Solar + Housing = Impact: Why Investors Should Boost Renewable Energy in Affordable Housing
When it comes to off-grid solar energy, we tend to think of market extremes such as rural poor people in developing countries without any electricity or well-off people in developed countries looking to charge up their Teslas. But Lori Chatman of Enterprise Community Loan Fund and Ismael Guerrero of the Denver Housing Authority detail a project to bring green power to public housing residents in the Mile High City. The project could serve as a model for impact investors looking to improve health, expand green jobs and earn a return.
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Seeing Beyond Silos: A More Holistic Approach to Supporting Social Entrepreneurs
If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes an entire ecosystem to shepherd a social enterprise from inception to scale. But that ecosystem too often is splintered with investors, accelerators and other advisors sorting themselves into silos. Alex Pan and Mark Correnti, with the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, advocate for a "structured collaboration," with accelerators taking the lead as honest brokers.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Announcing the Most Influential NextBillion Posts of 2017
As we welcome 2018, we'd like to pay a final tribute to the top posts of 2017. In their own way, each of these insightful pieces introduced a novel concept, approach or argument that captured our readers' attention – and in some cases, provoked their ire. Here are the winners of 2017's Most Influential Post Contest.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Investing
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A Milestone in Innovative Finance: Exploring the First-Ever Outcome-Based DIB for Poverty Alleviation in Africa
The graduation approach to poverty alleviation has been effective in helping raise incomes and savings over the long term. But traditional funding models don't provide enough flexibility or performance incentives to boost this impact, since funding is typically tied to activities rather than outcomes. To address this challenge, Village Enterprise and Instiglio have partnered with USAID and DFID to launch the first-ever outcome-based development impact bond for poverty alleviation in Africa.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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An Impact Investor Urges Caution on the ‘Energy Access Hype Cycle’
Ceniarth, an impact investor, has been actively engaged in the energy access sector since 2014. But now it's reducing its exposure to the venture-backed, solar home system segment of this market while shifting its strategy toward enterprises – for-profit, nonprofit and hybrid – that are finding the most capital-efficient ways to reach rural customers. Here, three principals in the firm candidly explain why they are reassessing their approach.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing