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Somalia’s ‘touch and feel’ e-commerce hit
When Saed Mohamed, a young entrepreneur from Somalia, pitched his online shopping business Muraadso as part of an East African start-up competition in 2015, he was prepared for rejection.
And rejection is what he got.- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- venture capital
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Impact investors flock to sustainable agriculture
"There's total momentum right now around people rethinking about how their money is being put to work," said Kate Danaher, senior manager of social enterprise lending and integrated capital at RSF Social Finance. "Impact investing as a whole is growing very quickly, and my guess is that if you polled everyone interested, the most popular sector is sustainable food and ag."
In fact, according to the Global Impact Investing Network's most recent survey (PDF), 63 percent of impact investors said they were putting their dollars into food and agriculture, and impact investment in the sector has grown at an annual rate of 32.5 percent since 2013.- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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Press release: Bamboo Capital Partners exits its investment from Vitas Group, a leading microfinance institution in post conflict MENA and Eastern Europe regions
Vitas has grown significantly over the course of Bamboo’s investment. Since 2011, Vitas and its affiliates’ Gross Loan Portfolio increased from $82 million to $247 million and the number of clients has tripled. Currently, Vitas and its affiliates serve more than 112,000 clients while employing nearly 1600 local professional staff.
- Categories
- Investing
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Accelerating fintech in China
In 2016, investment in mainland Chinese and Hong Kong fintech ventures totaled $10.2 billion, exceeding North America’s $9.2 billion. Many domestic financial services and e-commerce conglomerates are supporting Chinese fintech startups.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- fintech, startups, venture capital
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Upaya Social Ventures Selects Next Two Companies for Investment: UpSkill and SMV Green
“We are thrilled to support these two companies as they scale.” Upaya’s CEO Kate Cochran said. “Upaya believes in the power of entrepreneurs to fight global poverty. Mansi and Naveen are exceptional in how deeply they share our commitment to providing jobs and opportunity."
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Salesforce dedicates $50 million to impact investments
Salesforce Ventures — one of the most active investors in the corporate venture capital world — is creating a $50 million fund dedicated explicitly to software startups with working on services for workforce development; tools that promote opportunities for women or under-represented groups; companies creating better access to clean energy options or that improve supply chain performance; and apps that help non-profits or non-governmental organizations achieve their missions and interact with partners, donors and volunteers.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Aavishkaar, the Modern Day Impact Investor
In October 2001, Aavishkaar (Hindi for ‘invention’) was launched with the money Rai had raised. It’s now part of the parent company, Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group. Intellecap was founded in 2002. The company identifies investable businesses from underprivileged areas and provides the necessary business training.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Unitus Seed Fund’s Investments Impact 1.2 Million Lives Across India
Unitus Seed Fund, India’s leading impact venture fund investing in early- stage startups innovating for the masses, today released its semi-annual impact report, which is now mapped to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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