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Creating Jobs While Fighting Poverty: An Innovative Social Micro-Franchise Model Gains Traction in Haiti
All too many global development efforts fail to appreciate the value of a steady paycheck – or the role of small businesses as job creators in poor communities, says Marc Blumenthal at Social Ventures Foundation (SVF). This has stagnated poverty reduction campaigns, leaving vulnerable populations in need after government and NGO funds dry up. He shares SVF's efforts to reverse this dynamic, through social micro-franchise business models that address poverty-related issues, while also creating sustainable jobs in low-income communities.
- Categories
- Investing
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Omidyar Network CEO Opens up About VC-Influenced Philanthropy
In 2018, coinciding with a strategic shift that saw Omidyar Network spin out several of its initiatives, the firm elevated to CEO Mike Kubzansky, who had started the firm’s Intellectual Capital arm. In a wide-ranging discussion, Scott Bade spoke to Kubzansky about Omidyar Network’s origins and evolution, and his approach to venture philanthropy.
- Categories
- Investing
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Press Release: Aeris Insight Brings Enhanced Transparency and Accountability to Impact Investing with the Launch of Aeris Atlas and Aeris Impact Management Assessments
Aeris has analyzed and rated community investment funds for 15 years and has developed proven, consistent, methodologies for assessing a fund manager’s ability to manage risk and deliver impact. Over that time, Aeris has built a deep bench of analysts—each with decades of professional experience.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Schroders Finalises Majority Stake Purchase in Impact Investor BlueOrchard
UK-based fund manager Schroders has concluded the purchase of a majority holding in Swiss impact investment management firm BlueOrchard.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Temasek Raises S$385M for Impact Investing Fund, Targets Agriculture
The fund will look for companies that demonstrate commitment to generating a positive, measurable social or environmental impact, alongside the ability to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- impact investing
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Barclays Launches Impact Banking Unit as Investors Demand More Than Market-Beating Returns
Banks from UBS to Citigroup have been boosting their so-called impact funds, in response to customer demand for investments that seek profit and social good.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Rethinking the ‘Africa Play’: Why We Held Back from the Africa Investment Frenzy
Earlier this year, the investment committee at Blue Haven Initiative’s Ventures team raised a painful question: Did they miss the boat? As managing director Lauren Cochran explains, they'd only made one new investment at a time when the venture market in Africa was exploding. But it soon became clear that the growth-at-all-costs model other investors were adopting was never going to work in Africa. Cochran explains why investors should "forget the ego-boost of big rounds and press releases" and take a more fundamental approach.
- Categories
- Investing
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Goodwell Investments Launches €20M Fund for Inclusive Economy in Africa
Half the fund will be invested in financial services, as the financial sector. The remainder will go to agriculture, health and sanitation, energy, and transport.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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