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$100 Million Innovation Fund to Fuel African Tech Investments
The Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), an investment vehicle for early-stage tech start-ups, has established a new fund to invest in early-stage tech innovation start-ups across Africa.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- entrepreneurship, innovation, startups, tech, technology
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The Pandemic is Not Over for Social Enterprises: Here’s How Impact Investors and Other Funders Can Help Them Survive COVID-19
Social enterprises are developing innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to the world's deepest economic and social issues, but many of these businesses are at risk of disappearing due to COVID-19. According to Alethia Kang at Acceso and Luke Seidle at Kiva, impact investors and other funders must step up to keep the social enterprise field afloat. They share five steps funders can take to bolster these businesses, and discuss how the partnership between their two organizations illustrates the value of flexible funding support during a crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Investing
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How to Solve Clean Cooking for 4 Billion People: The Disruptive Potential of the ‘Impact Flywheel’
Roughly 4 billion people lack access to clean cooking technology. This leads to almost four million annual deaths, particularly among women and girls, and costs the global economy approximately $2.4 trillion each year. But though these challenges have persisted despite many high-profile efforts to address them, Ben Jeffreys of ATEC* International argues that clean cooking is uniquely solvable with the right technology and business models. He discusses how the flywheel model could unlock the disruptive potential of clean cooking technologies to create sustainable change.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Under-Skilled and Outdated: Why India Could Lose Out on Nearly $1 Trillion in GDP if it Fails to Upskill its SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around $700 billion – roughly 27% – of India’s $2.6 trillion gross domestic product. But impressive as those numbers sound, Samir Sathe at Wadhwani Foundation points out that they're nowhere near the 40% of GDP that policymakers hope SMEs will generate in the coming years. He explains why India could lose out on around $0.75 trillion in SME contributions to GDP by 2027 if it fails to prioritize and fund skill development efforts, and discusses what the public and private sectors can do to train entrepreneurs more effectively.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship
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Meaningful Employment for Autistic People: A Social Startup in India Seeks to Transform Lives
Autism affects tens of millions of people around the world, and the vast majority of adults with the condition are either unemployed or underemployed, despite their ability, desire and willingness to work. Parag Ghosh of Auspice Social explores how the company is addressing these challenges by providing hands-on training and skill development to adults with autism in India, and lays out its four-phase plan to boost employment among autistic people around the globe through an inclusive business model based on human-centric design.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Indonesian E-Grocer Pasarnow to Expand to New Cities With a US $3.3 Million Funding Led by East Ventures
Pasarnow aims to streamline Indonesia's complicated fresh products supply chain and deliver quality food products to customers through its multi-channel platform
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- South Asia
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Village Commerce Startup 1Bridge Raises $2.5 Million From C4D Partners & Others
1Bridge is a village commerce platform that provides a wide range of aspirational products & digital services at the doorsteps of village consumers.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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LoftyInc Capital Launches Third Fund at $10 Million for a More Diverse Portfolio of African Startups
LoftyInc Capital, a pan-African VC firm, announced that it is launching its third fund for tech startups in Africa.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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