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UBS Raises $110 Million Fund to Invest in Woman-Led Firms
UBS Group AG’s American wealth management unit has helped raise $110 million for a U.S. venture capital fund that will invest in companies in the health, education and environmental areas that are led by or co-managed by women.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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High-Pressure Spray Delivers Vaccines Directly into Cheek
As good chefs stress, presentation matters. The same holds true for vaccinemakers, who know that how you deliver the ingredients powerfully affects potency. Now, researchers have devised a gel pill that can painlessly spray vaccine into the cheek and reach cells in the underlying tissue, potentially triggering what’s known as a mucosal immune response. This, in turn, might help thwart infections with pathogens like HIV, human papillomavirus, influenza, and gonococci that enter the body through the mouth, nose, or genitals.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- vaccines
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New Technique Uses Gold Nanoparticles to Rapidly Detect Ebola
Researchers from the University at Albany have developed a test that can detect the presence of Ebola virus from a urine sample, much faster and more cost-effectively than current methods. The technique, developed by biochemist Mehmet Yigit, relies on biomarkers and gold nanoparticles, which if triggered turn the sample red to indicate infection, or purple to indicate no infection.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- research
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Jay Z Launching Venture Capital Fund to Invest in Startups, Including Impact Investments
Jay Z is launching a new venture capital fund, as Rolling Stone points out. It’s called Arrive, and it is a collaboration between Jay’s Roc Nation, Primary Venture Partners, and GlassBridge Asset Management. According to a press release, Arrive will invest in startup companies, “providing them with brand services, business development, advisory and capital to drive growth in their organizations.”
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- venture capital
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Impact investing in the age of President Trump
If implemented, the president's policies could have a profound effect on issues that resonate with a growing number of investors: the environment, social issues and corporate governance.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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US State Dept thinks Africa’s leading mobile money platform is vulnerable to money laundering
Mobile money providers like M-Pesa have disrupted traditional financial systems in many countries in ways conventional banks could only dream of. But, despite the significance of such services in the lives of millions of people, they remain vulnerable for use by money launderers, says a US Department of State report (pdf, pg.116).
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North America
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This Idea for Fighting Global Poverty Keeps Getting Hotter, Especially in Silicon Valley
Interest keeps growing among funders in the idea of fighting global poverty by making direct cash transfers to poor households and letting the recipients spend that money as they see fit. And nowhere is this interest stronger than in Silicon Valley, where GiveDirectly—the lead nonprofit promoting cash transfers—has found some powerful allies.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North America
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Does Social Activism Divert Funds From Investments To Philanthropies?
Throughout the last three months, as activists resisted policy changes on immigration, trade and the environment, donations to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Sierra Club and other nonprofits reportedly spiked. But the trend wasn't entirely unexpected.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America