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Press Release: LeapFrog Breaks Impact Investing Record, with $700M (EURO 623 Million) Emerging Markets Fund
“As pioneers of commercial impact investing, our goal over the last decade has been to build truly differentiated investment vehicles, that present a compelling opportunity for top-tier investors to access emerging markets – and fulfill their financial and purpose objectives,” said Nick Moon, LeapFrog Partner and Head of Investor Relations.
- Categories
- Investing
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The Financial Inclusion Gender Gap is Wide. Which FinTechs Are Working to Narrow It?
Significantly more women than men around the world lack access to digital finance – and in some countries, the gender gap is actually getting worse. According to Alina Kaiser at DFS Lab, that's why her organization is bringing a gender focus to their own work. It's also why they're recognizing and rewarding the efforts of other organizations to tackle this gap, by launching the Female-Focused Fintech Prize. Kaiser discusses the problem and some potential solutions, and invites interested fintechs to apply for the prize – applications are open until May 15.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Payments Banks: How RBI’s Move for Financial Inclusion Quickly Went Downhill
In theory, RBI wanted to extend organised banking services to those left unbanked by traditional lenders.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Thunes Raises $10m to Make Financial Services More Accessible in Emerging Markets
The company was founded in February of this year when TransferTo, a company that provided services like mobile top-up cross-border split itself in two. Thunes is the b2b play that uses TransferTo’s underlying technology, while DT One was spun out to cover the consumer business of top-up and mobile rewards.
- Categories
- Finance
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Micro-Lending Startup Ftcash Raises $7.23 Mn Series A Funding
Founded in 2015 by Sanjeev Chandak, Deepak Kothari and Vaibhav Lodha, Ftcash provides short-term loans to merchants. The startup plans to use the funds to accelerate product development and drive its expansion efforts.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: 3 Reasons the Impact of Microcredit May Be Bigger Than We Thought
There was little evidence of female empowerment. Microloans did foster entrepreneurialism, but at the cost of other sources of income. However, subsequent research has hinted that rumors of microcredit’s demise as a poverty intervention do appear to be exaggerated, perhaps substantially, and I want to present three reasons why the impact of microcredit around the world, while modest on average, is almost certainly bigger than we thought it was a few years ago.
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- Finance
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Can Superplatforms Transform Financial Inclusion in the Least Developed Countries? Emerging Insights from Nepal
Superplatforms like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Alibaba are at the forefront of technology in countries around the world. But can their model work down market? Using insights generated by homegrown superplatforms in Nepal, Keyzom Ngodup Massally and Audrey Misquith at UNCDF discuss their potential to build a new-generation financial sector in the least developed countries.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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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
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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