NextBillion - A WDI Publication

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Indian Pyramid

Companies can tap a market of Rs54.25 lakh crore (or Rs54.25 trillion, well above the country?s Gross Domestic Product) in India by catering to the needs of people who earn less than $3,000 (around Rs1,23,000) a year according to a study by World Resources Institute (WRI), a think tank that works on environmental issues, and the International Finance Corporation, the private lending arm of the World Bank. The study, titled The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of...

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LiveMint.com (link opens in a new window)

How Developing Nations’ Business Can Influence Established Markets

At a Gartner consulting conference in San Francisco last week, analyst Mark Raskino gave a presentation on technology trends, and one of his main themes was influenced by the The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, by business strategist C.K. Prahalad. The idea of the book is that the developing world presents many more business opportunities than commonly are imagined, including for First World companies. Mr. Raskino explained how work in developing countries can influ...

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Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Making a Profit While Helping the Poor

During a recent visit to the U.S. from India, Vikram Akula walked into a downtown restaurant to talk to a group of well-heeled Seattle philanthropists about how they could help end poverty. Confident and articulate, he held a microphone and paced in front of the crowd like a talk-show host. As one of the new mavericks bringing banking to the poor, Akula didn’t mention Mother Teresa, the World Bank or the U.N. His guiding lights are Starbucks, Coke and McDonald’s.

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Seattle Times (link opens in a new window)

Bottom of the pyramid market stands at $1.2 trillion

The base of the economic pyramid (BOP) in India representing the masses is an over $1.2-trillion market, making up the biggest chunk of the global $5-trillion BOP market excluding China, says a study by IFC and World Resources Institute (WRI). The term ?bottom of the pyramid? was coined by management guru CK Prahalad to describe the poor and the underserved section of the market. The BOP market in India, about $1.205 trillion, in purchasing power parity terms, makes up 84.8% of the to...

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Economic Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Green Business Attracts Rs. 100 Crores Investment From Venture Capitalists

There is a need to get a structured plan in a sustainable ecological mode to attract venture capitalists to India, said Dr. Nachiket Mor, Chairman, New Ventures India Steering Committee and Deputy Managing Director, ICICI Bank at a seminar on Emerging Business Opportunities in India and Venture Capital Finance. Dr. Mor also announced Rs.100 crore investment towards the innovation and development of green businesses in India. The burden of climatic changes ...

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New Kerala (link opens in a new window)

Toronto will host a conference May 2-4 of 30 leading North American health biotechnology firms with over 30 counterparts from developing countries - the biggest-ever known assembly of emerging market biotech companies to focus on global health problems. The goals are to: * Foster potential collaborations between the North American and emerging market health biotech industries through company presentations and partnering events; and * Help global health community ...

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Medical News Today (link opens in a new window)

Entrepreneurs Can Earn Their Stripes in the Minor Leagues, Too

It became a model for Thomas S. Lyons, a professor of entrepreneurship at Baruch College?s Zicklin School of Business in New York, and Gregg A. Lichtenstein, a business consultant in Margate, N.J., who were searching for ways to develop entrepreneurial talent. ?We kept coming back to baseball?s farm system,? Professor Lyons said. ?It is one of the best talent-generating systems in the world.? The pair had an ambitious goal: to build a system in underserved and overlooked regions of ...

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The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Base of the Pyramid – Where Business Growth and Needs of the Poor Converge

The World Resources Institute, working with the International Finance Corporation, has released a study that estimates the ’Base of the Pyramid’ (BOP) consumer market - which includes four billion people worldwide with incomes below US$3,000 in local purchasing power - is worth US$5 trillion. Following a recent consultation that IBLF held with support from McKinsey & Co and Unilever, IBLF has produced a set of guidelines showing how companies can develop successful base ...

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IBLF