NextBillion - A WDI Publication

A Network to Help Start-Ups With a Cause

By DEEPTI CHAUDHARY OF MINT BANGALORE - A social-sector advisory firm has launched a platform to bring together rich individuals, foundations and companies keen on investing in businesses that cater to the poor. Intellecap Impact Investor Network (I3N), launched ear...

Source

Livemint.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

D.Light Launches An Ultra-Cheap Solar Lantern For Studying

A few years back, D.Light , a startup that began as a Stanford design school project, announced that it had created the world’s cheapest solar lantern. For you, with your electric lights, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. For everyone who relies on kerosene (and all of its associated fumes) for lighting, it’s a life-changer. It’s ...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Gift Establishes Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Wesleyan University is establishing the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, which will support students who want to create programs and organizations serving the public good - anywhere in the world. The Patricelli Center and its programs are supported by a generous $2 million leadership gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Robert E. Patricelli ’61 is chairman and chief executive officer of Evolution Benefits and of Women’s Health USA and an ...

Source

Wesleyan University (link opens in a new window)

Bill Drayton Sees a World Where ’Everyone is a Changemaker’

If you want to find out what’s happening in the world of social entrepreneurs, you can’t do better than ask Bill Drayton : especially since he’s the person who first coined the term "social entrepreneur" and is an acknowledged pioneer in the field. Mr. Drayton is well-known as the founder and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, which now has about 3,000 social entrepreneurs in the field a...

Source

Christian Science Monitor (link opens in a new window)

Socially Responsible Investments Yield Dividends

Investing money to make a difference goes by several names, with "ethical", "impact", "green" and "socially responsible" among the industry favourites. But the definition is generally the same: returns are usually sacrificed in the name of doing good. This view is set to change, according to a report titled Impact Investing in Emerging Markets, by the consultancy Responsible Research. The report has found impact investing in emerging markets is becoming more attractive to fu...

Source

The National (link opens in a new window)

IFC to Invest $45M in Listed Non-Banking Indian Finance Co

International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to invest $45 million as equity in an unnamed public-listed mid-size Indian non-banking finance company (NBFC) for expanding access to finance for the micro, small and medium entrepreneurs. Although the name of the target company stands undisclosed, its primary business is ’asset-backed financing’ - focused on providing funds to the bottom-of-the-pyramid stratum in rural and semi-urban areas. The NBFC has significant presence in the ...

Source

VCCircle (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Dell to Give $5 million for UT Social Innovation Competition

Dell Inc. will give $5 million to the University of Texas over the next five years to expand a competition that encourages college students worldwide to come up with creative solutions to social problems. The company already is the title sponsor for the Dell Social Innovation Competition. The competition is operated by UT’s RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, which is part of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The competition focuses on how technolo...

Source

Austin American-Statesman (link opens in a new window)

Dalberg: W. Africa Needs to Attract $65 Billion In Next 5 Years

Nairobi - West Africa needs $65 billion worth of invested capital over the next five years to meet its growth expectations in sectors that have economic, social and environmental impact, a new report has indicated. According to the report by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategic consulting firm, such sectors include agriculture, which accounts for more than half of the demand for capital, as well as renewable energy and water supply and sanitation. These sectors stand o...

Source

AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)