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A VC for VCs: New Seattle accelerator hopes to launch investing firms in emerging markets
The same team that launched the do-good venture capital firm Unitus Seed Fund in 2012 is at it again, announcing a new accelerator program that plans to help launch venture capitalists in developing parts of the world.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- venture capital
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Founder of Newly Licensed Payments Bank Paytm Plans to Bring Half a Billion Indian Users to Platform by 2020
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, was one of the two individuals, besides nine other entities, to be granted a payments bank licence. He believes that being a payments bank, Paytm can now provide its customers with a three-step life cycle comprising pay, buy and save.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Gates Foundation to Help India’s Payments Banks with Tech, Innovation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help newly licensed payment banks in technology sharing and innovation as it expects India to become a global showcase for digital payment systems in the next three to five years, Daniel Radcliffe, senior officer at the financial services for the poor (FSP) programme at the foundation, said in an interview on Friday.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Indian MFIs Face Legal Hurdles in Plans to Track Borrowers’ Credit Histories Through National IDs
Microfinanciers’ plans to check Aadhaar numbers to ensure potential borrowers aren’t already loaded with loans may come undone after a recent interim ruling by the Supreme Court restricted the use of Aadhaar data to ration shops and cooking gas.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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FMCG Giant Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever Slug It Out in Swachh Bharat Drive
Global FMCG giant RB is taking the fight to HUL through its Banega Swachh India campaign. Both companies have high stakes in PM Narendra Modi's clean India initiative as they believe they can drive change in con sumer behaviour through the programme, which will eventually lead to higher sales volumes of soaps and cleaners.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- public policy
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Funding for Indian Startups Won’t Dry Up: Omidyar’s Roopa Kudva
Roopa Kudva, 51, took charge of the India operations of New York-based impact investor Omidyar Network in early July.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Will India’s New Focus on Financial Inclusion Pay Off?
When India launched the Jan Dhan (people’s wealth) program a year ago, many observers regarded it as an experiment that would fail. But while the program may not have measured up to the claims of its proponents, evidence shows it has had some positive impacts.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Muhammad Yunus’ Firm in Talks for Social Business JVs in India
Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, is all set to roll out his flagship social business, in a joint venture with corporates in India soon. Yunus’ social business marketing company — Yunus Social Business (YSB) India —is in talks with a slew of corporates in India who can be joint venture partners in the social business venture, a model where profits are ploughed back to the company. These profits can be then used for employment generation and affordable healthcare.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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