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Jack Ma’s fintech startup shakes up China’s banks
Ant Financial Services Group, founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, has become the world's biggest financial-technology firm, driving innovations that let people use their phones for buying insurance as easily as groceries, enabling millions to go weeks at a time without using physical cash. That success is also putting a target on the company's back.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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This Guide Helps Emerging Market Entrepreneurs Overhaul Their Human Capital Strategies
“We knew this was a problem, we just didn’t have a solution,” says Rachel Crawford, innovation manager for emerging markets at Village Capital. “The challenge offered us the chance to explore what it could look like.”
- Categories
- Investing
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Enough With the Old Unicorns: Why Argentina’s Tech Sector Needs to Look to the Future to Create Social Impact
Argentina boasts an array of tech "unicorns" and startup accelerators, indicating the sector's potential – but its growth seems to have stalled, says Johns Hopkins SAIS graduate Kevin Garrahan. And small-scale incubators may not be enough to generate the number of tech jobs that Buenos Aires, and the country as a whole, need. Garrahan highlights some ways Argentina could boost its tech industry's role as a cornerstone of economic growth.
- Categories
- Technology
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Stop Looking for the Next ‘Uber for X’ and Start Changing the World
The paradigm of the Silicon Valley "tech bro" pioneering the next "Uber for (whatever)" has become a cliché. Its ubiquity is a distraction, says Alex Amouyel of MIT Solve – one that excludes social innovators from much-needed funding and keeps those with capital from making real change through their investments. Instead of looking for the next unicorn and quick exit, she argues, investors should expand their definition of “venture-backable” entrepreneurs to include those driving transformative, mission-driven impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Press release: Dutch FMO and Rabobank Foundation Finance Kenyan Start-Up Apollo Agriculture
Apollo Agriculture has received a USD 250,000 convertible grant from FMO’s MASSIF Fund, which aims to take early high-investment risks and act as a catalyst for the growth of the private financial sector and financial inclusion in developing countries. The Rabobank Foundation has provided the start-up with a USD 250,000 loan.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Social Alpha and Tata Trusts – PATH Impact Lab launch ‘Quest for Healthcare Innovations’ in India
The Social Alpha Quest for Healthcare Innovations program will primarily focus on adoption and scaling of innovative products in order to accelerate development, positively impact public health outcomes and achieve global product standards.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- public health, startups
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South African fintech JUMO secures first two commitments in new funding round
The startup’s platform helps facilitates digital financial services such as credit and savings in emerging markets.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, startups
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Alternate lending platforms are fixing India’s financial inclusion problem, becoming enablers for SME funding
Today, India's MSMEs and their business owners are finding new-age digital startups and alternate lending platforms to be the most effective institution to disperse credit.
- Region
- South Asia
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