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Press release: IIX Supports India-based ERC Eye Care in Securing US$1 Million Investment
ERC Eye Care (ERC), an impact enterprise that delivers accessible, affordable and inclusive eye care to low-income persons in Northeast India, has raised a US$1 million pre-Series A round. A consortium of five investors was brought together by Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), led by existing investors Ankur Capital and Ennovent. Amongst the round’s investors was a strategic investment from the North East Development Finance Initiative (NEDFi), a Government of India initiative making its first impact-focused investment. Two international investors from Japan and Europe also participated in the consortium.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
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Helping Low-Income Patients Breathe Easier: Three Solutions to Oxygen Market Failures
For a child with severe pneumonia—and every other patient struggling for breath—access to oxygen is a matter of life or death. And even though oxygen is just as important to hospitals and clinics as electricity and water, market failures stand between oxygen and the people who need it. While medicines and vaccines are its primary focus, the global NGO PATH recently zeroed in on how to improve oxygen supplies in low- and middle-income countries.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Bill Gates Says Private Sector Can Profit From Public Health
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants corporations to join its efforts in advancing public health, not just because it’s the right thing to do -- but because it can be lucrative too.
- Categories
- Health Care
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As Africa grows more prosperous, obesity grows as a problem
A World Health Organization survey last year found that 15.3% of African women are obese, up from 11.4% a decade earlier. The rate for men more than doubled to 5.6% from 2.5%.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- nutrition, public health
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What was the Most Influential NextBillion Post of 2017? Vote for Your Favorite
“Fast away the old year passes.” That lyric from “Deck the Halls” always hits home this time of year – and in 2017, it resonates particularly strongly. Across the social sectors, the year often felt like a race against time (or against competing societal forces) and many of our most popular posts reflect that sense of urgency. Here are the most influential posts from the last twelve months, one from each month, in our sixth annual holiday contest. Vote early, vote often.
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Hobbyist Makers vs. Global Manufacturers: Is 3D Printing Really the Solution to the Prosthetics Gap?
Be they startups or tinkerers, 3D printing innovators are trying to fill in the gaps in traditional health care, particularly in resource-constricted countries where prosthetic devices are scarce. For those who struggle through life without a limb, 3D printing offers hope. But are hobbyist makers and their 3D printers really the stopgap the limb-loss community needs? Certified prosthetist Jason Bender wades into the debate.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Supplemental Safety Net: An Innovative Model Paves the Way for Inclusive Insurance in China
Hundreds of millions of people in China still remain outside the formal financial system, and insurance is one of their biggest unmet needs. Yet the country's insurance industry tends to focus on more affluent customers, and its public safety net isn't adequate for lower-income people's needs. YiBao, an insurance research, development and marketing consultancy, takes an innovative (and award-winning) approach to making the commercial insurance market work for the country’s low- and moderate-income households.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Perspective: A Digital Finance Prescription for Universal Health Coverage
There are some obvious opportunities for financial services to play a role in achieving universal health coverage. Savings accounts can help people plan for health expenses, access to credit can mean the difference between getting needed care and not, and insurance can help mitigate against health shocks that too often push people deeper into poverty. Offering these products to low-income customers is traditionally risky and expensive, but that picture is quickly changing with the growth of digital financial services (DFS), which leverage digital channels to reach more remote customers at lower cost.
- Categories
- Finance, Health Care
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, SDGs
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