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The Other ‘Shark Tank’: A High-Stakes Effort to Find Solutions to the Global Water Crisis
You've probably seen the TV show "Shark Tank," in which small-scale entrepreneurs compete for funding from a panel of wealthy investors. The Securing Water for Food Grand Challenge for Development took a similar approach – but the stakes were far higher: The goal was to generate solutions to water shortages that already affect over 2 billion people, before population growth escalates these shortages into a perpetual global crisis. Ku McMahan, team lead for the Challenge, discusses its unique approach and surprising impact.
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- Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, Environment, WASH
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A Financial Lifeline for Tech Startups: The Value of Bridge Funds in Social Enterprise
Social entrepreneurs working in next-gen tech startups are often well-versed in the intricacies of acquiring early-stage investments. But according to Sahaj Desai, they may be less aware of another type of financing that can be equally vital to their growth: bridge funding. Desai explores the uses and advantages of this funding, and why it can be uniquely valuable to social startups.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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A Closer Look at The World’s Largest Unaddressed Disability: Leveraging Inclusive Business to Eradicate Poor Vision
Uncorrected poor vision affects some 2.5 billion people, costing the global economy $227 billion a year in lost productivity. Yet though 90% of these people live in developing countries, the problem ranks low on the global development agenda – even though it can often be fixed by a simple pair of glasses. Jayanth Bhuvaraghan at Essilor explores the issue, and discusses an innovative solution: the Eye Mitra program, which trains youth in emerging countries to become micro-entrepreneurs, providing primary vision care and selling low-cost eyeglasses in their communities.
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- Entrepreneurship, Health Care
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Good News for Microfinance: Grameen America Discusses Promising New Research on its Anti-Poverty Impact
In an atmosphere of considerable skepticism about microfinance's anti-poverty impact, Grameen America recently released some positive findings: Early results from an RCT on its group lending model show solid impacts on areas ranging from members' credit scores to their business operations. NextBillion spoke with Marcus Berkowitz, VP of Technology & Innovation at Grameen America, to discuss these results and their implications for microfinance in the U.S. and globally.
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- Entrepreneurship, Finance, NextBillion Originals
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Four Reasons Kenya’s Economy Might Not Be as Inclusive as You Think
When it comes to building inclusive economic systems, Kenya is often held up as a global standard. And with 73% mobile money penetration and 82% financial inclusion rates, it's easy to see why. But as Brigit Helms at DAI points out, the “Silicon Savannah” isn't always as inclusive as it seems. She explores four reasons why the country is still falling short in serving its most excluded communities and customers.
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- Finance, Technology
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Putting Energy to Work: Community and Business Partnerships for Sustainable Local Futures
Most attempts to create energy access without considering its social impact will simply end up as a checked box on a list, without moving the needle on any of the SDGs, writes Saurabh Biswas, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. He explores a new study where researchers were embedded with companies and non-profits in Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda and Bolivia. The research points to the value of “multi-dimensional partnerships” that bring together not only energy companies and consumers, but other diverse stakeholders.
- Categories
- Energy
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The Social Innovation Paradox: Why it’s Hard to be Both Innovative and Scalable
Feeling good about using an organic cotton tote bag for groceries, instead of disposable plastic bags? Research suggests that you'll need to use it 20,000 times to offset the high water costs of growing the cotton. That's just one example of the unseen web of impacts behind seemingly positive interventions, says Bright Simons, president of mPedigree. Interventions with more concrete impacts are more often penalized for their negative side effects, he says – but they're also more likely to scale. Simons explores the resulting paradox: The most scalable interventions become risk-averse, sacrificing innovation for growth.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment
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Paycheck, Please: Why Jobs Are Better Than Charity
Those of us who “won the zip code lottery” by being born in a prosperous country often take for granted something that’s out of reach for many people around the world: a stable and satisfying job. Suzanne Skees explores how the Skees Family Foundation leverages the power of dignified, secure jobs to fight poverty – and highlights what they've learned from partner organizations about how to maximize the impact of job creation efforts.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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