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Social Business Incubator Villgro Completes First Round of Fundraising
Social business incubator Villgro has completed the first round of fundraising for its impact fund Menterra Venture Advisors that it has launched for making early-stage investments in healthcare, energy, agriculture, education and skilling startup companies.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Five Minutes With Entrepreneur Christine Souffrant, Founder And CEO, Vendedy
“Instead of creating another charity company or e-commerce websitewith static images of products that are only bought during [the] holidays,” Christine Souffrant was keen on thinking differently when creating her social enterprise, Vendedy. The founder and CEO says that the core motivation behind her startup, which connects street sellers with consumers, was to try and meet the challenge of creating a stable consumer base for those forced to turn to touristic, traffic-heavy streets to sell their wares in cities around the world that are rife with economic challenges.
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- Uncategorized
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- fintech
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Seven Wishes from Seven Thought Leaders for Financial Inclusion in 2016
2015 was an important year for the world of financial inclusion. To better understand and build on the year's successes, BRAC approached the Microfinance CEO Working Group to inquire about their wishes for financial inclusion over the coming year. Here’s what seven industry thought leaders shared with them.
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Report: Nigerian President Planning to Offer Government Microloans to 1 Million Artisans, Market Women
More details are emerging about the social protection programmes of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, including a scheme to grant soft loans to about one million artisans and market women in the proposed 2016 budget.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kanpur Startup HelpUsGreen Wins Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16
Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16, a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), received 210 impact proposals from aspiring early-stage social entrepreneurs.
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- Uncategorized
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- South Asia
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62 People Own the Same as Half the World, Reveals Oxfam Davos Report
The Oxfam report An Economy for the 1%, shows that the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010, a drop of 41 percent. This has occurred despite the global population increasing by around 400 million people during that period. Meanwhile, the wealth of the richest 62 has increased by more than half a trillion dollars to $1.76tr. The report also shows how women are disproportionately affected by inequality – of the current ‘62’, 53 are men and just nine are women.
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Viewpoint: Why Microfinance Is Becoming a Bad Word All Over Again in India
Just when everyone thought the microfinance industry – which almost collapsed after the Andhra Pradesh crisis in 2010, when more than 60 persons committed suicide due to indebtedness – is resurgent and poised to touch new heights in lending to the poor, the spectre of another crisis looms on the horizon.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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- microfinance
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Remitly Nears $1B Mobile Money Transfer Mark
Remitly, a U.S.-based mobile payments service, is nearing its next milestone. The company announced yesterday (Jan. 12) that its money transfer growth grew more than 400 percent in 2015, giving it close to $1 billion in annualized mobile money transfers. The company noted that December was a record month for the company.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- remittances
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