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

Monday, September 22, 2014

There’s a dearth of seed-stage funding for social enterprises in developing countries, a situation known as the “pioneer gap.”

That’s why Will Poole and Dave Richards co-founded Unitus Seed Fund about two years ago and, recently, announced an agreement with the U.S. Global Development Lab, a new enterprise within USAID, to jumpstart the early-stage impact startup ecosystem in India.

The arrangement aims to focus on three areas:

• finding more startups targeting low-income populations throughout India by using “startup scouts”; 10 of the fund’s 13 investments are in Bangalore alone
• working with the five top incubators in India
• providing access to mentors, as well as lawyers and other specialists.