-
Red Bull Announces Final Participants for First-Ever U.S. Social Entrepreneur Program
Sexual violence, food deserts, education equality, public transportation, and gender equality are just some of the issues being addressed by the social innovators selected for the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy, a global program for social entrepreneurs - taking place in Baltimore, MD on August 11-20.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- North America
-
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
- Entrepreneurship, Environment, Financial Inclusion
-
First Impact Report on Economic, Environmental and Social Performance of Clean Technology Companies Released by Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
"Measurement of social and environmental impact beyond financial metrics provides investors with a broader understanding of the true risks, costs and opportunities involved, thus enabling more informed investment decisions," states UBS Managing Director, Andrew Lee, Head of Impact Investing.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Environment, Impact Assessment
- Region
- North America
-
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, Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion
-
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
- Entrepreneurship, Health Care, Investing, Technology
-
Full Financial Inclusion in India? How the ‘JAM Trinity’ Can Help Businesses Make it a Reality
Changes in India’s financial inclusion ecosystem in the past 10 years have increased access, writes Prabhat Labh, CEO of Grameen Foundation India, but that's only part of the equation. More must be done to ensure poor families can actively use these services. Fortunately, the JAM trinity – Jan Dhan accounts, the Aadhaar ID system and mobile technology – has enabled completely new business models that scale processes for customer acquisition.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion
-
Village women transform into clean energy entrepreneurs in Nepal initiative
Since it began operations in 2012, Empower Generation has created over 20 women-led businesses, employing 300 female distribution agents who go from village-to-village, selling, maintaining and collecting repayments for products.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship, Environment
- Region
- South Asia
-
African startups slowly realize value of informal economies
The company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Vahid Monadjem says as one of the largest and least well-served parts of African economies there are numerous opportunities for companies offering solutions to informal markets. “The two areas that I see the most immediate opportunities are in financial services and logistics. Within financial services, payments is still a massive opportunity, and increasingly there are new opportunities becoming possible as payments rails go deeper such as micro-insurance, savings, on-demand products…” he said.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
LIMITED TIME OFFER: Subscribe to NextBillion's E-Newsletter, Get a Free Gift
Subscribe to NB Notes in July, get a free chapter of Jonathan Lewis' new book on social entrepreneurship.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.