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Impact investors now tap urban poor market
Impact investment funds and social entrepreneurs are now targeting social ventures that cater to the urban poor segment. There is a visible departure from earlier practice where the focus of most impact funds was on funding micro finance institutions, catering largely to the rural poor, and similar base-of-pyramid ventures in a rural set up.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- impact investing
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Why Khosla Impact Is Investing Nearly $2M in This Plug-and-Play Solar Firm
Off-grid applications are cleantech's next big market. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where the International Energy Agency predicts population growth will outstrip grid expansion to leave 645 million people without power.It’s predictably tough for companies in this vast market to stick out from the pack. In order to get a sense of how companies can achieve success in this space, I sat down to chat with Mansoor Hamayun, the CEO of U.K.-based BBOXX, on the eve of a Series A investment from Khosla Impact.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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- impact investing, solar
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Accion’s Venture Lab Closes Two New Investments
Impact-investing initiative announces close of investments in seed-stage companies that provide payments, health care and microinsurance products to clients at the base of the pyramid.
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- Health Care
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Opening the Curtain on the New 2.0 Era of Impact Investing
Impact investing has not been growing as quickly as many practitioners might have hoped.
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- Uncategorized
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- impact investing
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First women’s bond from World Bank raises $165 million
Bonds tied to social or environmental targets are part of a new trend of social finance, as a growing class of investors seek to bridge the gap between philanthropy and pure financial returns.
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- Uncategorized
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Fundamental Funding: How basing funding on business fundamentals helps early-stage enterprises
In India, hundreds of entrepreneurs are setting up innovative social businesses. They are able to access equity funding for early stage enterprises, but once they are past the proof of concept and need working capital, they hit a funding snag. Simmi Sareen explains this critical gap in the financial ecosystem, and how funding based on business fundamentals can address it.
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- Uncategorized
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- impact investing
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The Rise of the ‘Social Intrapreneur’
As corporations recognize the link between CSR and sustainability, opportunities arise for socially conscious leaders to change the world from the inside out.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- impact investing
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Everything You Need to Know About Social Impact Bonds
In the non-profit and social sector the "new, new thing" is social impact bonds, also known as pay for success contracts. Social impact bonds bring together four parties – private investors, a knowledgeable intermediary, a government body and a social service provider.
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- Impact Assessment