-
Monitor and Acumen Research Highlights Why Impact Investing Needs Philanthropy
Today, we are thrilled to release From Blueprint to Scale: The Case for Philanthropy in Impact Investing, a new study by Monitor Group, in collaboration with Acumen, on the role of philanthropy in impact investing. From Blueprint to Scale is based on Monitor’s deep expertise, 60+ expert interviews and 10+ years of Acumen Fund data; it shows how grants are needed to bridge the gap when developing new business models that serve low income customers.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Investing in Social Enterprise: Lessons from the 2012 Sankalp Summit
Imagine you have devoted the last three years of your life to coming up with a new innovative enterprise to meet the needs of the poor. You came up with the idea, worked tirelessly to prove the concept and put together the best team that you could find. Now imagine that you have 3 minutes to pitch years’ of work to a panel of impact investors who could help you take your business to the next level. This is exactly what a group of four budding social enterprises had to do at the Fourth Annual Sankalp Impact Investing Summit
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
-
FEATURED EVENT: SOCAP: Designing the Future – Amplifying the Impact
May 8-10, we will gather in the Scandinavian city of Malmö, Sweden for SOCAP: Designing the Future. We welcome you to join us and are happy to offer NextBillion readers a special 30 percent off with registration code NextBillion30.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- impact investing
-
NexThought Monday: Changing Consumer Behavior Via Financial Literacy
After last year’s microcredit crisis in India, many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have reconsidered not only how they lend to customers, but also what responsibilities they have to educate their customers in financial literacy. I recently interviewed Samit Ghosh, founder and CEO of Ujjivan Financial Services, who explained how an innovative financial literacy program developed by nonprofit Parinaam Foundation in collaboration with Ujjivan, seeks to change borrowing behavior.
- Categories
- Education
-
Weekly Roundup: Brewing Inspiration (and Respect)
Two stories this week in the New York Times and Fast Company present arguments against paternalistic tendencies of linking aid to trade and advocate viewing and treating African entrepreneurs as you would any business hopeful.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
-
Novogratz on Patient Capital Potential in Latin America
At last month’s United Forum for Social Innovation in Bogotá, I had the opportunity to talk with Jaqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund. We asked her about what she considers the main challenges of innovation and social entrepreneurship in Latin America, the role of the public sector in promoting social innovation, the underlying logic of the approaches to overcoming poverty, and about Acumen’s intentions in Latin America.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
136 Firms, 19 Countries, GIIRS Releases First Impact Investing Analytics Report
The Global Impact Investing Rating System Ratings & Analytics has published the first impact investing industry report to provide comprehensive and verified data on social & environmental impact across a broad range of investments on a global scale. The inaugural GIIRS Quarterly Analytics Report provides a snapshot of key findings and trends in data collected from GIIRS rated companies & funds, covering sector, size and geography.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
-
Mapping the Agriculture Sector
In Sub-Saharan Africa, relatively large tracts of arable land are attracting investors seeking to establish large-scale mechanized primary agriculture production while smallholders’ productivity remains relatively low. But there is real innovation accelerating smallholder farmers’ ability to close the production gap and improve their ability to achieve real market returns.
- Categories
- Agriculture
