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From the Valley of Death to a $14 Million Series A: Sokowatch, Quona and the Role of Philanthropic Capital
The e-commerce company Sokowatch recently raised a $14 million Series A round, enabling it to expand its digital financial services to more merchants in Africa. But just two years ago, the company was in danger of going under. Malika Anand and Maelis Carraro at BFA’s Catalyst Fund discuss how the fund's philanthropically-funded acceleration approach has helped Sokowatch – and other promising fintech startups – survive the “valley of death” and position themselves for commercial investment.
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How Bridge Loans Can Aid Nonprofits and Social Enterprises Through the Covid-19 Crisis
“We sometimes refer to our work as the everyday emergency room of impact—our borrowers are coming to us during a time of crisis when something outside their control has gone wrong,” says Maya Winkelstein, chief executive officer of Open Road Alliance, a philanthropic initiative based in New York.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Press Release: JPMorgan Chase Makes $50 Million Philanthropic Investment to Help Address Immediate and Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19
JPMorgan Chase announced a $50 million global philanthropic commitment to address the immediate public health and long-term economic challenges from the COVID-19 global pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Visa Champions a New Decade for Women’s Empowerment
Kicking off Women’s History Month, Visa today announced two new partnerships bolstering the company’s commitment to women’s economic empowerment. Hand In Hand International and IFundWomen will join Visa to help provide both educational resources and funding for women entrepreneurs around the globe to help them build and grow their businesses. The global rate of female entrepreneurship has been increasing more quickly than that of male entrepreneurs, with more than 250 million women around the world engaged in entrepreneurship.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- South Asia
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Many Small Foundations Wary of Impact Investing
Many small foundations are skeptical of impact investing, with 38 percent saying it will hurt returns, 36 percent saying they lack the capacity to do it, and 32 percent citing worries about risk, according to a new survey. The report from Exponent Philanthropy, which represents foundations with few staff members, also found that 16 percent of respondents participated in "mission or impact investing," and another 11 percent plan to do so in the next few years.
- Categories
- Finance
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Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to fight climate change
Jeff Bezos is throwing his weight — and wealth — behind the fight against climate change months after Amazon employees publicly pressured him and the company to do more to address the issue.
- Categories
- Environment
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Family offices lead the way on impact investing
When former investment manager Ron Cordes started a charitable foundation in 2007, he got frustrated because he could only “do good” when he was actively giving the money away to needy causes. Then Cordes discovered impact investing. “We became passionate about sustainability,” he told Reuters.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Press Release: BlackRock Creates Foundation to Advance a More Inclusive and Sustainable Economy
The BlackRock Foundation will broaden the firm’s philanthropic investments in economic mobility, financial resiliency and sustainability.
- Categories
- Investing
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