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From the Valley of Death to a $14 Million Series A: Sokowatch, Quona and the Role of Philanthropic Capital
The e-commerce company Sokowatch recently raised a $14 million Series A round, enabling it to expand its digital financial services to more merchants in Africa. But just two years ago, the company was in danger of going under. Malika Anand and Maelis Carraro at BFA’s Catalyst Fund discuss how the fund's philanthropically-funded acceleration approach has helped Sokowatch – and other promising fintech startups – survive the “valley of death” and position themselves for commercial investment.
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Finally Some Good News On Coronavirus From Sustainable Investors In New York City
Domini Impact Investments, Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and Office of the New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer are leading a group of 195 institutional investors and investor networks with over $4.7 trillion of assets under management to urge the business community to consider five steps to limit the damage that coronavirus is causing to the global economy.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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54gene’s Fund to increase coronavirus testing in Nigeria hits $500,000 in 24hrs
54gene, the African genomics research, services, and development company, has launched a fund to tackle the current challenges around testing for COVID-19 in Nigeria. To support the ongoing efforts of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC], 54gene opened the fund by donating $150,000 and within 24 hours of launch, had already secured an additional $350,000 from partners including Union Bank. The money raised will help increase COVID-19 testing capacity in the country by up to 1,000 additional tests a day, by buying testing instruments and the required biosafety materials such as biosafety cabinets and personal protective equipment needed to keep frontline healthcare workers safe.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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Press Release: Blue Planet Raises US$25 million from Nomura
This strategic engagement by Nomura's Loans and Principal Investments Area in Asia ex-Japan will help Blue Planet continue its efforts to develop integrated, inclusive and sustainable waste management solutions around the region.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Matt Damon’s Impact Investing Fund Backs CreditAccess Grameen
Mumbai-listed CreditAccess provides group lending products as well as retail finance products. It also offers access to non-financial services such as customer awareness and education programmes and sanitation efforts.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: MCE Social Capital Receives $3.7 Million Grant
Capital infusion will fund more loans to small and growing businesses in rural Africa and other emerging markets, and serve as a match to attract new guarantors.
- Categories
- Investing
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Closing in on the SDG Home Stretch: A Q&A with Florian Kemmerich and Lucica Ditiu at SDG500
Six new funds comprise the new SDG500 initiative – a first-of-its-kind, $500 million investment platform aimed at accelerating progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Florian Kemmerich at Bamboo Capital Partners and Lucica Ditiu of the Stop TB Partnership spoke with NextBillion to share a behind-the-scenes look at how the initiative aims to reach its goals by 2030.
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Social Enterprise Ghana begins advocacy for impact investing policy
Social Enterprise Ghana with funding from BUSAC, DANIDA and USAID has begun advocacy to ensure policymakers and government pass and adopt the social enterprise and impact investing policy. According to Edwin Zu-Cudjoe, the Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana, the policy will enable the over 28,000 social enterprises operating in the country to be recognised as such and be able to register as social enterprises with the Registrar General's Department.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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