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Social Impact Incentives: A New Solution for Blended Finance
In just six years, social enterprise Clínicas del Azúcar has grown into the largest private provider of specialized diabetes care in Mexico, but faces an almost constant challenge to balance its financial and social performance. That's where social impact incentives (SIINC) come into play. A new solution for blended finance, SIINCs align profitability with social impact by paying social enterprises directly for proven social outcomes.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Entrepreneurs Are the Same Person All Over the World. And That’s a Good Thing.
Steven R. Koltai, an entrepreneur and international development expert, believes the U.S. and other powerful nations should give to seed funds and invest in accelerators for foreign startups because "entrepreneurs are the same person all over the world." They aren't interested in socio-political and religious grievances that lead to violence and war, he says, but are a "bridge" class of people, capable of linking nations and cultures.
- Categories
- Investing
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Managing Trade-Offs Between Impact and Profit – Finding the Formula for BoP Business
Eugenia Rosca's study of small enterprises in BOP markets reveals that many of them have similar characteristics and are founded to respond to highly pressing local issues. The businesses usually identify a social need and develop a market to address it; then, in time, around one-third of them reported an increased orientation toward economic goals. To be successful, they should acquire skills, resources and capabilities for both social and economic activities.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise
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From Extremely Poor to Entrepreneur: A Starter Asset Combined with Mentorship Forges Pathway Out of Poverty
Today Arfa Bibi runs a successful vegetable farming business in India. Only a few years ago, however, Bibi and her husband struggled to feed their family and she even resorted to begging. Her transformation into entrepreneur came thanks to Kolkata-based nonprofit Bandhan-Konnagar's graduation model program Targeting the Hardcore-Poor, whose success was cited in a six-country MIT study of 21,000 of the world's poorest people.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Addressing Eye Care in Emerging Markets with Blended Finance
WHO estimates that 39 million people suffer from blindness, more than half of them due to cataracts, and more than 90 percent of blind people live in the developing world. Cataracts are often curable but the traditional surgery is expensive. Convergence is supporting GlobalVision's plan to build on the affordable eye model that Aravind pioneered in India and establish a network of 60 eye care hospitals in emerging markets over the next 10 years, borrowing techniques from the microfinance sector.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Three Ways Entrepreneurs Can Tackle Climate Change (Hint: It’s Not Just About Scale)
There are ways entrepreneurs can make sizeable impacts on climate change without Facebook-like growth curves. Jean-Louis Racine says investors should follow the lead of the venture capital sector and support startups that won't grow or be profitable. Traditional impact metrics such as goods sold, customers served, revenues generated or jobs created no longer apply. The best way to catalyze a climate technology market is to help ensure that innovative high-risk, low-growth ventures don't fall through the cracks.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
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The Dirty Secret of Social Enterprise: Scale is Overrated
Author Jonathan C. Lewis writes that for some staggering societal problems – like deaths from child poverty and modern-day slavery – scaling solutions is an urgent necessity. However, for social entrepreneurs, he says the important thing is not organizational size, geographic coverage or budget, but progress toward social justice. He urges leaders to focus less on size and more on striving to maintain balance.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Clearing the Way for Clean Energy Investment in Emerging Markets
Investment in renewables in emerging markets is growing, helped by the combination of high energy demand with declining prices, and banks in OECD nations are playing a larger role in financing the projects. Still, despite the growth opportunities, there are several key obstacles confronting those looking to invest in clean energy. Ankit Mishra discusses ways to reduce some of these challenges.
- Tags
- renewable energy