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8 Defining Milestones in India’s Social Enterprise Landscape
As India celebrates its 67th year of freedom on Thursday (Aug. 15), it seems poignant to pause and reflect on eight milestones that have played an important role in shaping India’s social enterprise landscape and the lessons they teach us.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Free Trials and Payment Plans: Creative financing plans take a bit of risk, but up the reward for clean energy retailers
High prices for renewable prices are in part a result of high transportation costs from the poor road infrastructure and fragmented markets characterized by inefficient and unshared distribution channels. All these factors increase the cost of doing business in the region. What’s needed is creative financing options for consumers and enterprising retailers willing to take on additional risk for additional reward.
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- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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A Social Entrepreneur’s Inspiration For Solar-Powered Lighting
Solar-powered light bulbs for the poor: A growing number of social enterprises are selling such technology to bottom of the pyramid households in Africa, India and other countries. One of the first to do so, Denver-based Nokero (for No Kerosene) just introduced its next generation of products, as it works to make the company’s management more professional–and able to grow the enterprise even more.A little more background on the issue: Around 1.3 billion of world’s population lacks access to reliable electricity. Most of them use kerosene lamps, which are very very very expensive compared to incandescent lamps, (people spend as much as 30% of their income on kerosene-based fuels, according to Nokero), cause deadly fires (If you live without electricity, you’re seven times more likely to die by fire than someone with electricity, according to Katsaros), and contribute to air pollution. They don’t produce a whole heck of a lot of light, either
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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RBC inks first deal for its Social Finance initiative, investing $500,000 in MaRS Cleantech Fund
MaRS Discovery District today announced that the RBC Generator, the impact investing arm of RBC's Social Finance initiative, has invested $500,000 in the MaRS Cleantech Fund, Canada's most active dedicated early-stage cleantech venture fund. This is the first deal announced through the RBC initiative. Launched in 2012, the MaRS Cleantech Fund aims to provide early-stage funding to companies developing next-generation clean technology breakthroughs with global markets, deep intellectual property and capital-lean business models.
- Categories
- Energy
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- renewable energy
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Productive Consumption: How high-end technology enables market-driven service delivery for the BoP
Historically, expansion of basic service access has been hindered by the costs and slow speed of expanding “the grid.” Yet there is no longer any need to move at the pace of grid expansion; technology to offer basic services safely and affordably, without relying on grid electricity, is here today. Interestingly, this opportunity to reach the poorest has been created by the insatiable demand in richer countries for what is in our pockets, handbags and briefcases.
- Categories
- Energy
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Working at the ‘Coalface’ of Clean Energy: BCtA forum gathers renewal power players
The webinar was a collaborative effort between BCtA, the Business Innovation Facility (BIF) and the Innovations Against Poverty, and resulted in a rich and thought-provoking discussion, covering perennial issues ranging from marketing to the BoP to distribution challenges.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- energy, renewable energy
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Developing world may overtake West in green energy stakes
A ‘geographic shift’ in renewable investment is under way, with the east and south taking the lead.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- renewable energy
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NexThought Monday – The Last 50 Miles : How Village Level Entrepreneurs are building clean energy networks
Village Level Entrepreneurs is a growing profession across rural India. Most are business owners who hawk a wide variety of products and services. The scope of VLE networks extend well beyond the realm of basic household products. Harnessing VLE network to increase clean energy access across rural belts is a key to making energy access possible.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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