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

Orb Energy, Acumen Fund Announce Partnership to Address Energy Needs for Millions in India

Mumbai, India, June 20, 2011 - Orb Energy Pte Ltd. (Orb) , one of India’s leading providers of solar energy systems, and Acumen Fund , a nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty in South Asia and East Africa, today announced a partnership to address energy needs for millions of Indians without reliable electricity. Acumen Fund is making a significant e...

Source

Acumen Fund (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

NextWealth: Creating a Next Wave in India’s IT and BPO Industry

During the early days of the Indian information technology outsourcing industry, Sridhar Mitta’s biggest challenge was convincing American companies that India was a viable destination to send their work. Mitta was with Wipro, at the time a fledging IT division of a vegetable oil company. He was, in fact, the very first employee of the company’s IT business and later went on to become its chief technology officer and president of the global research and development business. During Mi...

Source

India Knowledge@Wharton (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Stirred, But Not Shaken

Vikram Akula ’s SKS Microfinance , once the showcase company of the Indian microfinance sector, is having to re-design its business as well as salvage its reputation. Less than a year ago, in August 2010, the company w...

Source

Business Today (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Tata Nano Enters Sri Lanka Taxi Market

COLOMBO: Tata Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car , entered Sri Lanka’s taxi market on Thursday, billed as a more comfortable and safer alternative to rickety three-wheel auto rickshaws. A local company said it was launching a service with 45 cabs with plans to increase the fleet to 200 within six months. Sri Lanka became the car’s first foreign market late last month. The service is pitched at a lower price than air-conditioned cabs and as a bette...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

In India, Dynamism Wrestles With Dysfunction

GURGAON, India - In this city that barely existed two decades ago, there are 26 shopping malls, seven golf courses and luxury shops selling Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs shimmer in automobile showrooms. Apartment towers are sprouting like concrete weeds, and a futuristic commercial hub called Cyber City houses many of the world’s most respected corporations. Gurgaon, located about 15 miles south of the national capital, New Delhi, would seem to have everything, ...

Source

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

Region

South Asia

The $300 House: A Hands-On Approach to a Wicked Problem

When the New York Times printed " Hands Off Our Houses ," an op-ed about our idea for a $300 House for the poor, we were both delighted and dismayed - delighted because the $300 House was being discussed, and dismayed because authors Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava, co-founders of the Institute of Urbanology , didn’t seemed to have read the series of blog posts about our id...

Source

Harvard Business Review (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

South Asia

Paper Gains on Early Investment in SKS Microfinance Largely Evaporate for Sequoia Capital

Since its initial investment in SKS Microfinance, an India-based microfinance institution (MFI), Sequoia Capital, a US-based venture capital firm, has experienced significant gains on paper followed by partial losses of those gains. Before other venture capital firms were investing in SKS, Sequoia invested USD 11.5 million in the MFI [1]. By the end of 2008, venture capital firms had invested a total of USD 75 million in SKS [1]. SKS went public in July 2010, and its share price reached...

Source

MicroCapital.org (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

From Victims to Entrepreneurs

JAIPUR: A 23-year-old victim of domestic violence, Sudha Sharma, (name changed) of Jaipur is learning basics of social entrepreneurship at a workshop organised by an NGO - Centre for Social Development (CSD) in the city. Until a few months ago, she was physically assault by her inlaws but now she lives separately and is planning to open a small tailoring unit here. Like Sudha, there are 29 other ...

Source

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

Region

South Asia