-
Why Khosla Impact Is Investing Nearly $2M in This Plug-and-Play Solar Firm
Off-grid applications are cleantech's next big market. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where the International Energy Agency predicts population growth will outstrip grid expansion to leave 645 million people without power.It’s predictably tough for companies in this vast market to stick out from the pack. In order to get a sense of how companies can achieve success in this space, I sat down to chat with Mansoor Hamayun, the CEO of U.K.-based BBOXX, on the eve of a Series A investment from Khosla Impact.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing, solar
-
A new focus for USAID: Ending extreme poverty
On Thursday, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah is set to give a speech at the Brookings Institution on the goal of ending extreme poverty, planned to put a bit more policy oomph behind U.S. President Barack Obama’s call in the State of the Union address earlier this year for America to join with its allies to end $1.25 poverty in two decades.
-
Bill Gates Can’t Build a Toilet
IN addition to eradicating polio in India and starting the personal computer revolution, the Seattle Superman of our age has managed to make going to the bathroom a cause célèbre. Five years ago, if I’d told people I worked on toilets, they would have surely assumed I was a plumber. Now, they exclaim: “Oh! Isn’t Bill Gates into that?”
- Categories
- Health Care
-
EU seeks ways to make vaccines resistant to hot weather
Half of the vaccines sent to developing countries are lost as they deteriorate during transportation, but a new EU-sponsored project may solve the problem.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
Africa: Technology Meets Health and Spurs Invention
Young African entrepreneurs are taking giant steps forward in addressing some of the continent's most pressing health issues.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
World’s First Heath Conference on Social Marketing and Franchising begins Dec 3
The Government is keen to explore the potential of social marketing (SM) and social franchising (SF) as effective tools to reach out to the rural population and scale up healthcare delivery under its flagship programmes, said Ms Anuradha Gupta, Additional Secretary of Health and Mission Director of National Rural Health Mission.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
Five Reasons Washington Should Leave Bitcoin Alone
This afternoon the Senate Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on virtual currencies, followed by a Banking Committee hearing Nov. 19. Judging from the witness lists, lawmakers will hear the usual warnings about how Bitcoin and other digital monies facilitate money laundering, online underground drug bazaars, Internet gambling and worse.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Impact investors now tap urban poor market
Impact investment funds and social entrepreneurs are now targeting social ventures that cater to the urban poor segment. There is a visible departure from earlier practice where the focus of most impact funds was on funding micro finance institutions, catering largely to the rural poor, and similar base-of-pyramid ventures in a rural set up.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- impact investing
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.