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Why Africa’s Energy Sector Needs Transparency: A Q&A with the Head of KawiSafi Ventures, Acumen’s for-Profit Energy Fund
While investing patient capital into for-profit firms has been Acumen’s MO for decades now, the organization itself has remained a non-profit. But in April, Acumen announced that it was doing something it hadn't done before: creating a commercial investment fund. Called KawiSafi Ventures, the for-profit fund has lined up $70 million to boost clean energy firms – and therefore clean energy access – in East Africa. Managing Director Amar Inamdar explores the fund's focus on scalable businesses, and why debt and equity need to start playing nice with one another in the sector.
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Creating an Inclusive Fintech Ecosystem? Here Are Three Facts Accelerators Should Consider
BFA's Catalyst Fund started with one goal: to support early-stage inclusive fintech entrepreneurs in developing accessible, high-quality and relevant financial solutions for the underserved. After three years of operations, the accelerator has worked with 20 startups across 13 emerging markets, helping to create better credit, payment, insurance, savings and investment solutions that improve the financial health of people with low incomes. Maelis Carraro and Rasima Swarup at BFA share some of the fund's lessons on how to build an inclusive fintech network.
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Courage, Optimism, Defiance: Impact Investment Exchange Founder Durreen Shahnaz Discusses her Journey of Empowerment
Growing up in Bangladesh, Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) Founder Durreen Shahnaz tended to rebel against tradition, preferring boys’ clothes to saris, and exploring the streets on her bike rather than staying indoors. Yet she never rebelled against her family's core focus on charity. Her long and distinguished career in social business and investing has been defined both by her maverick spirit and by her humanitarian values. NextBillion caught up with Shahnaz to discuss her inspiring story and IIX's ongoing work, as the company celebrates its tenth anniversary.
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- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Why Women Should Not ‘Invest Everywhere’: The Trouble with Gender-Blind Investing
As an impact investor interested in gender equity, Pique Venture CEO Bonnie Foley-Wong recently shared a call to action on LinkedIn encouraging investors to focus more money and attention on women-managed funds. She soon faced some pushback from a male impact investor, saying that women shouldn’t just invest in other women, they should invest everywhere. She explains why that advice is not as simple as it sounds.
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- Investing
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Viewpoint: How to Evaluate Funds that Invest in Women
A growing amount of data show that ESG-focused investments can perform just as well or even better than traditional investments, letting people do good socially and financially.
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- Investing
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Press release: ImpactAssets Releases Eighth Annual IA 50 Impact Investment Fund Manager Showcase
“ImpactAssets is focused on fostering deep impact investing with innovative investment solutions, resources and education,” said Margret Trilli, President and Chief Investment Officer at ImpactAssets. “The IA 50 is a cornerstone of our efforts to help investors gain access to the resources they need in order to help double the impact of their capital.”
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- Investing
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Viewpoint: The One Thing That Might Make Impact Investing Catch On
Investors are hungry for data on impact funds — and a group of managers is working hard to gather and crunch information.
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- Investing
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Your Customers Aren’t Data Points: How Social Enterprises Can Avoid Three Impact Investor Red Flags
Villgro President PR Ganapathy has met with hundreds of early-stage social entrepreneurs – and he's noticed that they keep making the same mistakes when seeking impact investing. As part of NextBillion's “Survival Guide for Raising Capital” series, Ganapathy shares three essential tips to help entrepreneurs avoid some common red flags when pitching impact investors.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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