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Weekly Roundup 9-19-15: Impact investing gets bizarro, poverty surveys get reflective, Gates gets quizzed
We highlight a unique anti-poverty tool geared toward heads of low-income households rather than policy-makers, discuss a truly bizarre new entrant into the "impact investing" scene, and take a quiz with Bill Gates in this Roundup.
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- Uncategorized
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Viewpoint: Sanitation Financing: An Opportunity to End Open Defecation
“Why do we have toilets at school but not at home?” This question from one of her children prompted Nusrat, a wife and mother of six living in India, to apply for a sanitation loan. Within two weeks of receiving the loan, Nusrat was able to purchase a toilet. Now, one year later, the monthly instalments on Nusrat’s loan have all been repaid and her family is happier, healthier, and safer.
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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- impact investing
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African Development Bank Seeks to Spur $55 Billion for Energy
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, who took over this month, said he’s aiming to eliminate Africa’s energy deficit by 2025 by mobilizing $55 billion of investment.
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- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Making Sense of Funding Opportunities for Social Enterprises
In spite of the growing interest of investors and donors in social entrepreneurship, funding for new, early-stage and growing ventures remains difficult to secure, leading some entrepreneurs to make decisions that may not align with the core mission of their organization.
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- Uncategorized
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- impact investing
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They Call It ‘Silicon Savannah’: What an East African Nation Teaches About Innovation
Kenya giant mobile phone company Safaricom recently made a move that, if other technology firms in Africa follow, could have revolutionary effects. It launched a Shillings 50 million ($500,000) innovation fund.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Shortage of Long-Term Finance Blunts Progress in Developing Countries, says World Bank Report
A shortage of long-term financing since the 2008 crisis is choking the investment-backed growth of companies in developing countries and hampering the ability of credit-worthy families to borrow for education and housing needs and escape poverty, a new World Bank report warned today.
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- Uncategorized
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- impact investing
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Unitus Seed Fund Expands Its India StartHealth Investment Program
Unitus Seed Fund, the leading impact venture seed fund investing in startups innovating for the masses in India, announced that it is doubling down on its StartHealth investing initiative targeting investments of INR 15 crore in 6 new early-stage health technology startups. With partners such as Pfizer, PATH, Manipal Hospitals and Narayana Health, the StartHealth program provides flexible funding, expert support, and mentorship as well as access to healthcare facilities to accelerate the go-to-market path for promising startups. Unitus also announced that Dr. Ashwin Naik, founder of Vaatsalya hospitals, will be joining as a healthcare fund advisor to help support healthcare entrepreneurs invested in by Unitus. Separately, StartHealth participant UE LifeSciences announced earlier this week that it has raised a INR 19.5 crore Series A investment round led by Aarin Capital.
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Women-Focused Funds Make Money, Create Controversy
Jason Baron uses an unusual metric for sizing up stocks: women. From his perch at U.S. Trust in Boston, Baron works in a small but growing part of the money-management business that’s trying to sell the idea that when it comes to investing, gender pays.
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- Impact Assessment
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- impact investing
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