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China Investors Back Africa-Focused Fintech Startup
OPay, located in Lagos, was incubated in 2018 by Opera, a Norway-based and Chinese-controlled online consumer icompany. OPay provides consumers with a wide range of services including mobile payments and transfers, ride-sharing and food delivery.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Venture Capital Funds Led by People of Color Face More Bias the Better They Perform, Stanford Researchers Find
In their evaluations of high-performing venture capital funds, professional investors rate white-led teams more favorably than they do black-led teams with identical credentials, a new Stanford study finds.
- Categories
- Investing
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Funding Beyond the Straight and Narrow: Overcoming Obstacles to Fund a New Breed of Entrepreneurs
A new breed of social innovators is exploring innovative business models and unconventional approaches in India. But since their models are not traditional or proven, most funders are unwilling to bet on them. Anshu Bhartia, CEO of UnLtd India, has a few suggestions for how these entrepreneurs can compete in a funding market that is "traditional, restrictive and governed by rules that serve the conformists." As the leader of an incubator working with Indian entrepreneurs confronting pressing social issues, Bhartia shares her vision of the road ahead.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Growing Universe of Impact Investors Satisfied With Results
The annual snapshot of the market reveals an industry that’s growing steadily and is increasingly diversifying, in terms of the types of investors as well as the breadth of their interests.
- Categories
- Investing
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Investors With US$2 Billion Urge Donors to Ramp up Support for Mini-Grids in Africa
Specifically, the 12 investors, which have more than US$2 billion under management, said that the missing catalyst for scaling mini-grids was an effective results-based financing (RBF) mechanism.
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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.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Everything Investors Need to Know About the War on Cash
Physical forms of currency -- cash and personal checks -- are losing favor among global consumers to alternative forms of payment, including debit and credit cards, digital wallets, mobile commerce platforms, and, in some circles, even cryptocurrencies.
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Venture capital funds are starting to make bigger bets on African startups
Funding has long been a challenge for African startups but the tide has started to turn in the last year as the sector heats up and both investors and entrepreneurs start to see some of their long term efforts come to fruition.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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