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Growth on Your Own Terms: Three Tips for Scaling Your Social Enterprise – Without Selling Your Soul to Investors
Every development-focused organization faces the challenges of funding, but the issue is especially acute for social entrepreneurs seeking to scale. Funding an expansion often means incorporating the opinions and vision of investors – some of whom may not be aligned with the enterprise’s mission or business plan. Sam Alhadeff at Finding Impact shares some essential advice on how to acquire funding that lets you scale without selling out, based on conversations with several prominent social entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Courage, Optimism, Defiance: Impact Investment Exchange Founder Durreen Shahnaz Discusses her Journey of Empowerment
Growing up in Bangladesh, Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) Founder Durreen Shahnaz tended to rebel against tradition, preferring boys’ clothes to saris, and exploring the streets on her bike rather than staying indoors. Yet she never rebelled against her family's core focus on charity. Her long and distinguished career in social business and investing has been defined both by her maverick spirit and by her humanitarian values. NextBillion caught up with Shahnaz to discuss her inspiring story and IIX's ongoing work, as the company celebrates its tenth anniversary.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Pitch Perfect: Five Tips for Designing Effective Business Pitch Competitions for International Entrepreneurs
The television show “Shark Tank,” in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors, has brought the pitch concept into popular culture. But in many emerging economies, not everybody is familiar with pitching. The William Davidson Institute's Amy Gillett and Kristin Babbie Kelterborn provide some lessons to help global entrepreneurship development leaders organize effective pitch competitions. Among their tips: Consider a more encouraging "dolphin tank" approach instead of a cut-throat shark tank, and work to leverage local entrepreneurial customs.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship
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A Kenyan-based Social Enterprise, Yusudi, Raises $250K in Grant Capital
The program seeks out learners with innovative ideas between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, offering the opportunity to join online training on career-start or entrepreneurship depending on their interests.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: OPIC Signs Agreement With Banco Regional to Support Women-Owned, Small and Medium Businesses in Paraguay
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, today recognized a $138 million commitment to Banco Regional to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), especially women-owned SMEs, in Paraguay. Citibank will provide an additional $11.5 million to Banco Regional to support SMEs.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- development finance, entrepreneurship, OPIC, SMEs, Women
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Unshackled Ventures Has $20m to Invest Exclusively in Immigrant Founders
Immigrants looking to start their own businesses face a huge barrier. Take Jyoti Bansal for example. He famously waited seven years before launching AppDynamics, a business that later sold to Cisco for $3.7 billion days before its initial public offering. Why? Because as an Indian immigrant with H-1B visa status, he could work for startups but wasn’t legally allowed to start his own.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Initiative for Inclusive Investment in Mexico (3im) Announced to Grow Investment in Mexico Through the Inclusion of Displaced People
The Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) will accompany a group of cross-sector partners including the Refugee Investment Network and 17 Asset Management today to announce the Initiative for Inclusive Investment in Mexico (3IM). 3IM is a new cross-sector, cross-border partnership that will attract long-term strategic growth capital for investments in Mexico through the inclusion of displaced people in economic development projects.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Latin America
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In a Kenyan Refugee Camp, Business Ideas but Little Access to Credit
Refugee camps like Kakuma are effectively large towns with their own mini-economies. Although remote, Kakuma has a population of more than 185,000 people. Refugees here come from many backgrounds, and money circulates as they take on casual odd jobs – from construction to washing clothes – or start small businesses.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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