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Can a UN social impact fund spark further reform at the organization?
A new fund to boost smart affordable housing options in Bangladesh is one of the first major announcements from the UNDP’s SDG Impact Finance initiative — an enterprise that took UNDP’s David Galipeau four years to convince the U.N. it needed.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Upaya Social Ventures Selects Next Two Companies for Investment: UpSkill and SMV Green
“We are thrilled to support these two companies as they scale.” Upaya’s CEO Kate Cochran said. “Upaya believes in the power of entrepreneurs to fight global poverty. Mansi and Naveen are exceptional in how deeply they share our commitment to providing jobs and opportunity."
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Salesforce dedicates $50 million to impact investments
Salesforce Ventures — one of the most active investors in the corporate venture capital world — is creating a $50 million fund dedicated explicitly to software startups with working on services for workforce development; tools that promote opportunities for women or under-represented groups; companies creating better access to clean energy options or that improve supply chain performance; and apps that help non-profits or non-governmental organizations achieve their missions and interact with partners, donors and volunteers.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Impact Investing and the Profitability Challenge in Off-Grid Solar: Oikocredit Joins the Debate
The debate around impact investing in off-grid solar has sparked surprising passion, and now Oikocredit joins the discussion with a two-post series. In this first post, Laura de Bresser tackles the question of how (and whether) off-grid solar companies can become operationally profitable and less dependent on equity and debt.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Europe lagging in sustainable investment
Investors are also putting their money where their mouths are and allocating increasing sums to sustainable investments. However, this trend appears to be stronger in Asia and the Americas than in Europe.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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This Startup Lets You Use Your Extra Cash To Invest In Community Development
CNote pools individual deposits–as small as $20–and funnels them into Community Development Financial Institutions, which support low-income communities and small businesses.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Study: Investors Choose Sustainability for Better Returns
The 2017 Schroders Global Investor Study of 22,100 people who invest across 30 countries found the majority of them view sustainable investing as a way to generate profits and not just potential positive impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Seven Lessons From A Decade Of Impact Investing
Impact investors have funneled more than $100 billion into projects designed to make money by doing good, and $8 billion of that flowed into projects that improve the way we manage land. AlphaSource Advisors has been in the impact space for over a decade, and they’ve learned a few things along the way.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing