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The State of the Art in Impact Investing: People and Planet Returns in All Asset Classes
The impact investor community Toniic recently released a report on the growing number of Toniic members who have committed to a 100 percent impact portfolio. The 76 portfolios in the report represent $2.8 billion in capital committed to impact – a 9 percent increase from its 2016 survey. Toniic CEO Adam Bendell discusses the trends revealed in the report, and what they suggest about the sector's evolution.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Making Agritech Work for Smallholders: What Tech Companies Can Learn from Development Organizations
Agritech proponents argue that technology is the key to helping the world's 500 million smallholder farmers. Yet despite countless ‘ICT for development’ companies and projects, these solutions often fall short of their intended impacts. This raises an important question: Can the methodologies that have proven successful for many tech startups work for the complex, interrelated challenges faced by smallholders? Wouter Vink of GreenFingers argues that there's a better approach.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Before the Handshake: How to Make Corporate-Social Enterprise Partnerships Work
At first glance, value chain partnerships between corporations and small enterprises in developing markets appear to benefit both parties: Corporations gain financially while creating social and economic benefits for low-income communities. On closer inspection, however, these partnerships' results can vary. The Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership and Intellecap have learned lessons from serving as intermediaries in these relationships. James Jenkin and Lindsay Clinton address the most common questions from organizations hoping to build similar partnerships.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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The Future of Work is Coming: MIT Seeks Tech Solutions to Adapt to the Impending Transformation
High-tech innovations like artificial intelligence, automation and the cloud are dramatically changing the nature of work. Some believe these changes will lead to massive job losses, while others imagine a future with plentiful and satisfying careers in industries we’ve yet to imagine. MIT’s Solve initiative is looking for solutions that ensure that no one is left behind by technology. Hala Hanna encourages innovators and entrepreneurs to enter Solve’s Work of the Future Challenge, which is open until July 1.
- Categories
- Technology
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Meat Every Day: How a Rwandan Entrepreneur Aims to Satisfy Africa’s Changing Appetites
Some predict that, by the end of the century, 13 African cities will surpass New York City in population. As African economies grow and their citizens become more urbanized, their standards of living and meat consumption are also likely to increase. This shift will reshape the continent's agriculture industry – and entrepreneurs like Herve Tuyishime are responding. Tuyishime explains how his two interrelated businesses are helping satisfy Africans' growing appetite for meat, and bringing Rwandan farmers into the supply chain.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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The Path to 100 Gigawatts: How India Has Emerged as a Global Leader in Solar Energy
India has displaced Japan as the third-largest market for solar power and is poised to bump the U.S. from the No. 2 spot, as it works toward boosting its renewable capacity to 100 gigawatts by the end of 2022. Though it still relies on coal plants and has dangerous air pollution levels, the landscape is changing fast, with 14 new solar parks planned – including one that's set to become the world’s largest. Sahaj Desai outlines the momentum and challenges behind India's renewable energy revolution.
- Categories
- Energy
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Up to 2.5 Billion People Need Glasses: Can This Hardware Innovation Deliver?
Roughly 25 percent of the global population needs glasses, but lacks access. The problem isn't cost: Affordable glasses are readily available in emerging markets. What's lacking are trained eye care specialists. The social startup PlenOptika is tackling that issue with a device called the QuickSee: a binocular-sized autorefractor that non-specialists can use to scan a patient’s eyes and produce an eyeglass prescription within seconds. Paul Scott, director of engineering for ASME, discusses the innovation, and the challenges and rewards of running a social hardware startup.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- partnerships
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Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation: How Design Thinking Can Build Robust and Sustainable mHealth Ventures
Design thinking can help mHealth ventures develop their value propositions and potential impacts, meet customer needs, and shape business models that stand the test of time. In the final post in his series on making mHealth businesses sustainable, Khanjan Mehta provides a structured framework that helps these enterprises determine their viability, particularly in the early conceptualization phase.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
