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Saved by a ‘SAFE’: Three Lessons from a Broken Impact Investing Deal
Many in Silicon Valley's tech investment sector are familiar with the founder-friendly financial instrument known as the “Simple Agreement for Future Equity" (SAFE). SAFEs are commonly used, yet they're often misunderstood by entrepreneurs – and they're not always beneficial for investors. Will Poole of impact investing firm Capria reflects on an experience with a SAFE that went wrong, involving a South America-based entrepreneur with an apparently promising social enterprise. Poole presents three lessons learned about the importance of business integrity, simplicity and luck.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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‘Playing patient investor, Omidyar has not made many exits from $1.3B portfolio’
Philanthropic impact investor Omidyar Network has invested close to $1.3-billion in non-profit and for-profit ventures globally since it was founded in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. But an investment principal at the fund confesses that the funder’s “patient” approach to funding means it has made few exits so far.
- Categories
- Investing
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PayPal Joins Indonesian Venture Firm to Develop Fintech Startups
PayPal Holdings Inc. is teaming up with Indonesian venture-capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures to back emerging financial technologies that can be developed for Southeast Asia.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Vikram Pandit’s PE firm invests $100 million into financial inclusion credit card
Fair Square Financial has received a $100 million equity investment from the Orogen Group to fund a credit card designed for underserved U.S. consumer segments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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Redefining What It Means to be a Next-Generation Energy Company in Africa
More than 650 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack electricity. Distributed energy service companies face many obstacles in serving this market - from finding the right capital investors to cultivating on-the-ground expertise. Mansoor Hamayun, CEO of solar distributed energy firm BBOXX, says his company is taking aim at several of those challenges with a new financing mechanism. In partnership with Bamboo Capital Partners, BBOXX is launching an investment platform that aims to break down barriers preventing energy companies from scaling up in developing markets.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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On World Press Freedom Day: Why Investing in Independent Media Supports Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
More than 87 percent of people – about 6 billion – live in countries without a free press, and every five days a media worker is killed for doing their job – including more than 800 in the past decade. Today as we observe the UN's World Press Freedom Day, Peter Whitehead reminds us that independent media businesses not only hold governments accountable and advance progress toward the SDGs – they're also an investable opportunity.
- Categories
- Investing
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Five Key Questions for Managing Impact – And How to Apply Them in Your Business
Hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs, social scientists and evaluators from around the world recently joined together to devise an easier way to manage and comprehend business impact. They came up with five dimensions for assessing a business’ impact on people and the planet, whether for good or ill – in a way that others can understand, both within and outside of the company. Amanda Feldman of the Bridges Impact+ team explores how businesses – from startups to multinational corporations – can go about assessing their true impact.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Environment, Impact Assessment
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Here’s How to Play Matchmaker to Social + Business Metrics ‘Power Couples’
For many businesses and organizations, the idea of measuring their impact can be scary, elusive or just plain boring. But pairing social and business metrics "power couples" can give organizations unique insights to solve key business challenges. In a new report, the William Davidson Institute shares the results of its work with three organizations to demystify data collection of their social impacts. Rebecca Baylor of WDI writes that the team's work proves impact measurement doesn't have to be as hard as it may seem.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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