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It’s Really Happening: Watching Impact Influence Capital
For more than two decades, impact measurement pioneers dreamed of the day when their tools would steer massive amounts of private capital into market-rate funds for social good. Now, writes Stephanie Kater at the Bridgespan Group, it’s actually starting to happen. Kater leads the Bridgespan team managing the impact underwriting for TPG’s Rise Fund, the $2 billion impact investing fund that Bono helped to launch. Kater pulls back the curtain on the processes undergirding the world’s largest impact investing fund.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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A Microfinance Pioneer Branches Out: Early Learnings from FINCA’s Experiences as an Impact Investor
Some three decades after launching its work in microfinance, FINCA International has gotten into impact investing. Hoping to better understand emerging innovations and their impact on its customers and operations, FINCA Ventures has invested in six social enterprises operating in sub-Saharan Africa. Ami Dalal, the initiative's managing director, discusses the lessons it has learned so far, and how these investments improve FINCA's business strategy while furthering its mission.
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What Larry Fink’s 2019 Letter Means for the Future of Business
Last year, Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs forged its way into public and corporate consciousness. This year’s highly anticipated letter from Fink reiterated and expanded upon many of his 2018 points.
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Canada finally gets into the development finance game — will it work?
FinDev Canada, Canada’s development finance institution (DFI), was launched earlier this year, and has pledged to invest $300 million over five years. Canada is the last G7 country to create a DFI.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Chopping Block to Starting Block: How OPIC (Now IDFC) is Writing the Next Chapter in U.S. Development Finance
The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) just survived a near death experience. The agency was among the proposed cuts when the Trump administration came into power and began budget negotiations. But with the passage of the BUILD Act, OPIC will transform into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, with a new budget and a new set of financial tools. We caught up with David Bohigian, Executive Vice President of OPIC, at SOCAP18 to find out what these changes mean for entrepreneurs and others seeking development finance.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Investing
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Impact Investing Impasse: The Case for 4-Hour Due Diligence
Impact investors are often guilty of stringing along social entrepreneurs with needlessly long due diligence processes, "abusing their power and privilege," says Andy Lower at investing firm A Different Approach to Poverty. Weeks can easily turn to months – a delay that's unfair to entrepreneurs, and unacceptable in other industries. In response, his firm has devised a four-hour due diligence process, which has sparked interest – and a fair amount of push-back – in the sector. Lower discusses the approach in this provocative Q&A.
- Categories
- Investing, NextBillion Originals
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India’s Impact Capital Vacuum – And What to Do About It
Impact investments in India grew by double digits between 2010 and 2016, and are expected to reach US $8 billion by 2025. But the on-the-ground reality is not so rosy. Investors are flocking to financial services and larger-scale companies, while early-stage enterprises and impact sectors such as agriculture, health care and clean energy face a funding gap. While there is no secret sauce for changing this dynamic, Gagandeep Bakshi and Sameer Gaud at Intellecap offer five guiding principles to help social enterprises with successful fundraising.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Tackling Poverty Close to Home: Why Acumen is Boosting Financial Health in the U.S.
More than 40 million Americans live below the poverty line, and a majority live paycheck to paycheck. That's why, after nearly two decades and over $110 million of impact investments in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Acumen has expanded its focus to include the United States. Amon Anderson and Sarah Willis discuss how Acumen America, through its financial inclusion portfolio supported by MetLife Foundation, aims to build a future where low-income Americans enjoy stability, protection and prosperity.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
- Tags
- Acumen, banking, digital payments, education, financial inclusion, financial innovation, financial services, fintech, impact investing, investment fund, MetLife Foundation, mobile finance, mobile money, mobile phones, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social impact, sustainability, technology
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