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From New York to Madagascar: Why I Moved My Fintech Startup to Africa
“Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.” That Mike Tyson quote rang true for Sidharth Garg, who was forced to go back to the drawing board after his Manhattan-based fintech startup's chatbot failed to engage customers. But that setback soon became an opportunity: Garg explains how shifting focus from the U.S. to Madagascar set the company on a new path to growth, in the latest post in NextBillion's "Course Correction in Social Enterprise" series.
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise
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Launch in Karachi: National incubation centre to start operations
After making inroads into Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, a national incubation centre (NIC) is being established in Karachi to train youth who are looking forward to becoming tech-based entrepreneurs with the objective of dismantling old-fashioned systems and introducing new creative solutions.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Gates Foundation lays out its 3 steps to global financial inclusion
“In the case of financial inclusion, it’s not about building a parallel system for poor people, but it’s about building inclusive solution for everyone,” Voorhies said.
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World Bank issues first-ever poverty bond, gets $1.5 billion
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) launched the world’s first poverty bond this week, a debt offering representatives say is designed to lift up the poor, and global investors literally couldn’t get enough.
- Categories
- Investing
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Viewpoint: No Blank Check for Development Banks
The kind of large-scale, sustainable infrastructure projects needed to forestall catastrophic climate change are rarely attractive investments for the private sector or even most governments. That means development banks have a crucial role to play, so long as they put the climate first.
- Categories
- Environment
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The Downside to Being Nice: Why is the Social Sector Allergic to Comparative Advertising?
Unlike retailers and manufacturers that use advertising to build their brands and generate sales, the nonprofit and social business sectors are curiously allergic to spending money on advertising – and, more specifically, to saying, "We're better than our competitors, and this is why!" According to Charlie Bresler, former Men's Wearhouse president, this is a major mistake: Now executive director of the nonprofit The Life You Can Save, Bresler explores the reasons for this reluctance – and imagines what could happen if the social sector used comparative advertising to attract donors and investors.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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MetLife Foundation Awards $2.5 Million Grant to The Financial Clinic to Bring Financial Security to Jobseekers Nationally
The Financial Clinic (the Clinic) announced April 11 the launch of WorkBOOST National, a three-year initiative that will bring financial security approaches to scale, made possible by a $2.5 million grant from MetLife Foundation.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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It’s Bigger than Silicon Valley – But is it Right for You?: Assessing a Move to Impact Investing
It may surprise you to learn that social enterprises now account for 3 to 5 percent of the U.S. GDP – twice as much as Silicon Valley. That's why the rapidly growing impact investing market represents a significant opportunity for forward-thinking investors. But according to Chintan Panchal of investment firm RPCK, new investors must navigate a complex web of unfamiliar metrics, regulations and strategies. To that end, he offers five questions and themes to consider before closing any impact investment deal.
- Categories
- Investing
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