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Press Release: Lightrock Closed USD $900 Million Global Growth Fund, Investing In People, Planet and Productivity in Europe, India and Latin America
Lightrock, a global impact private equity firm closed its Lightrock Growth Fund I with investments from LGT and its private clients.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology, Transportation
- Region
- Global
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Making This Year Better Than the Last: A Recent Survey Assesses the Pandemic’s Impacts on Micro and Small Businesses
Micro and small businesses dealt with massive challenges during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even those that adapted and survived still face major struggles. Juan Carlos Thomas at TechnoServe shares the results of a recent study on COVID-19's impact on these enterprises, and explores how his organization has been supporting them – including through a crisis toolkit that helps them weather the pandemic's challenges, and through digital tools focused on business training and access to finance.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology, Transportation
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Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Around the World: Leveraging Partnerships and Technology to Optimize Medical Supply Chains
Effective vaccine distribution is key to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries. Similar vaccination efforts for routine childhood diseases have been widely successful, but targeting an adult population presents unique challenges, say Wade Warren at Deloitte Consulting and Marian W. Wentworth at Management Sciences for Health. They explore four challenges that vaccine distribution efforts will face – and four tried-and-proven ways to improve the process.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Transportation
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South African Mobility Startup WhereIsMyTransport Raises $14.5 Million for Expansion
South African Mobility startup WhereIsMyTransport has raised a $14.5 million Series A extension round to continue its expansion across emerging markets.
- Categories
- Technology, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- startups, transportation
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Learning From India: How Low- and Middle-Income Countries Can Scale up Access to Oxygen During a COVID-19 Surge
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial importance of medical oxygen. And as India has shown, it has also revealed health systems’ limitations in supplying it – and the global supply chain’s inability to respond to the massive need that can arise during a crisis. PATH has worked for the past five years to sustainably improve access to oxygen in low- and middle-income countries. Analysts at the organization explore the current oxygen crisis in India, and share lessons that can help other countries avoid similar shortfalls if they experience their own COVID-19 surges.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Transportation
- Tags
- COVID-19, scale, supply chains
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Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: A Microfinance Network Responds to the Devastating Reality of COVID-19 in India
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a disastrous toll in India, with over 27 million confirmed cases and 311,000 reported deaths. In the face of this emergency, Opportunity International is leveraging its network of microfinance partners to provide crucial assistance to hard-hit communities. CEO Atul Tandon explains how the organization is working with microfinance providers to convert their offices into emergency response and triage centers, while educating clients about pandemic-related health risks and providing them with food and supplies.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Health Care, Transportation
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Mobility Company Africa’s First to Become Carbon Neutral
South African-based Planet42 has become the first mobility company in Africa to be certified carbon neutral.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Back in the U.S.S.D.’: Most Smartphone Owners—Especially Women—Don’t Use Apps for Financial Services
The global transition from basic mobile phones to smartphones has impacted nearly every sector, including financial services. Bryan Pon from Caribou Data considers whether this shift will help or hinder access to mobile money and digital finance for women in emerging markets — a group already less likely to be using these services. He shares the findings of a comprehensive study on how payment system design could impact gender bias in digital finance, and discusses the ongoing popularity — and under-recognized advantages — of old-fashioned USSD codes in mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion, fintech
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