NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

’Poverty Pushes People Towards Entrepreneurship’

BANGALORE: More and more people are getting into an entrepreneurial mode and setting up their own businesses. This is not necessarily out of choice, but mostly because they do not really have many other options open to them. Speaking at a lecture on ’Economic Lives Of The Poor’, Prof. Abhijit Banerjee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said this diversification into business and entrepreneurship is not necessarily due to choices or lack of it, but because the poor do not have acc...

Source

Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Aakash Ganga: Saving Water for a Rainy Day

The Ganga (or Ganges) is one of India’s mightiest rivers, flowing from the Himalayas in Uttarakhand to the Sunderbans in West Bengal. It is nowhere near the arid northern state of Rajasthan. It is equally remote from Guiyang Municipality in the People’s Republic of China. But Aakash Ganga – a rainwater harvesting project that literally means "river from the skies" -- is making a mark in both places. In Rajasthan, the project -- backed by the World Bank -- has already been ...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

CK Prahalad: A unique combination of strategic vision and financial acumen

Renowned management thinker CK Prahalad has been watching Devi Shetty for the last six years now. Back then Narayana Hrudyalaya was still a relatively small facility. But even then Prahalad believed that the model held immense promise. “My job has always been to look at models that are different, models that are scalable. And it was clear to me, even at that time, while talking to him that this model is going to grow and he is going to be able to execute it because he is not only a ...

Source

Forbes India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

A phone is not just a phone

A cellphone is not just for calling, texting and taking pictures anymore. Several startup business ventures spawned by MIT students, sometimes as class projects and sometimes as independent work, are exploring new ways to harness the increasingly ubiquitous devices. They are using phones to help people, especially in developing nations, to raise their incomes, learn to read, get where they’re going and even diagnose their ailments. Some of these projects will be field-tested this su...

Source

MIT News (link opens in a new window)

The Poor Deserve World-Class Products and Services

C.K. Prahalad, author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid; Eradicating Poverty through Profit (Wharton School Publishing, 2004), has long championed the notion that business -- rather than government handouts -- represents the most effective solution to poverty. In a keynote speech at the recent TiE Entrepreneurship Summit in New Delhi, he noted that India must pay more attention to entrepreneurship, which he described as "the essence of development." "We need to connect the poo...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

IGNIA Fund I Invests US$3 Million in Pro-Organico

IGNIA Fund I, LP announced today that it has committed US$3 million to Pro-Organico S.A.P.I. de C.V. in the Company’s first round of equity financing. Pro-Organico is a leading grower and exporter of a broad line of USDA-certified organic produce. Pro-Organico links Mexican farmers to the rapidly-growing North American organic produce market by managing agricultural operations and coordinating logistics with distributors and retailers across the United States, Canada and Me...

Source

Earth Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Rice Power: Cisco, DFJ Award Seed Money to Husk Power Systems

We first wrote about Husk Power Systems, a startup that turns rice husks into energy, back in November 2008. Now the startup, which already powers an entire small town in India, has beat out over 1,000 competitors to win the Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Cisco-sponsored Global Business Plan Competition. As a result, Husk will receive a $250,000 seed round. Husk Power Systems, founded in 2007 by University of Virginia business students Chip Ransler and Manoj Sinha, operates 35 kW to 100 kW...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

India?s New Retailers

I n a dry and dusty fair in Osmanabad, a small town tucked away in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, a thousand women have just spoken. Their verdict is loud and clear. CANDY RED. Consumer durables firm Godrej & Boyce is parading several colours of its new breakthrough product, ChotuKool, a nano refrigerator. A few fluorescent colours come first. The women vote this out with a cacophonous show of hands. They know what they want. Candy Red. ...

Source

Outlook Business (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia