Catalyzing Innovations that Matter
This week, social enterprise folks convened in Mexico for “G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion Challenge: Innovative Solutions for Unlocking Financial Access” and held breakout discussions on Twitter. Following the trend, here are articles from the past week addressing financial inclusion.… read more
Catherine, a Kenyan national, is joining us as a fellow in our Nairobi office. She comes to us through the Frontier Market Scout program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is currently pursuing an MS in Environmental Policy at Bard College in New York.
Catherine graduated from Lafayette College with degrees in Economics & Business and Public Policy and a certificate in Financial Policy and Analysis. At Lafayette, she participated in various activities … read more
Check out this week’s headlines on impact investing.… read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends that relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our comments.
Click “continue reading” to check out this week’s headlines on renewable energy and check out our weekly board on Pinterest.… read more
As we mentioned in our newsletter, we are excited to have Lee Carter joining us full time in our Boston office. Lee interned with us last summer and continually impressed us with the magic he works in Excel and his understanding of complex financial models and ideas. In his new roll as an ID Investment Analyst, Lee will focus on financial analysis and metrics. He also built the model behind Africa’s Big Three and … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends that relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our comments.
Continue reading to check out the news on mobile technology, including innovation in services and apps from students and young entrepreneurs in Africa to multinational telecoms.
You can also out this week’s articles on Pinterest:
We recently wrote about the rapid uptake of mobile broadband and its expected journey toward revolutionizing the digital divide in sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya, in particular, shows signs that mobile broadband is the key to increasing Internet access and ICT sophistication. In this post we’ll share the stats and driving forces behind mobile broadband’s success in Kenya.… read more
Continue reading to check out the news from the clean tech industry and its impact in emerging markets.… read more
Our portfolio companies exhibit determination and persistence in their journey to scale. We’re proud of all milestones, whether big or small, as they indicate growth and scale, allowing the benefit of innovative technologies to reach further. Promethean Power has made excellent progress so far in 2012, and today we’d like to share the most recent update on their journey.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton recognized the Promethean team for their work. On her trip to … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate them to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we’re featuring news on smartphones and telecoms and other ICT headlines. … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we’re featuring news on financial innovation and impact investing.… read more
Today, there are over 60 million mobile cellular subscriptions in Africa – an astounding increase from less than 5 million ten years ago. Unlike anywhere else, mobile phone subscriptions quickly leapfrogged over fixed landline subscriptions, some calling it “The Death of the Fixed Line.” Similarly, mobile broadband is experiencing a much faster uptake than fixed broadband. In this post, we discuss the policy, infrastructure, and accessibility considerations that have allowed mobile to be … read more
Every week, we share articles on an industry trend along with our thoughts.
We invest in alternative energy technologies for many reasons, one being their ability to provide safe and affordable energy to those beyond the reach of the grid. Check out news from this week that discusses bringing energy to those who are off-grid.… read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends that relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we’re covering the headlines on the mobile phone’s continued boom in developing markets.… read more
Over the past few years, ID has worked to catalyze risk capital for underserved markets. To date, we have done this with direct investments from our BSP Fund, business co-creation through our BETA program, and deal syndication with fellow investors. Now, we are ready to announce our latest effort to support high-growth enterprises working in underserved markets.
The Impact Factoring Fund solves one of the most critical inhibitors to high-growth impact entrepreneurship. It levels … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends that relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
Articles and blog posts this week cover news on mobile technology in emerging markets. We’re featuring news from iHub’s blog, MIT Technology Review, Business Daily Africa, and Mobile Payments Today. A common trend you’ll find in each article is … read more
At Invested Development, we frequently herald the impact that mobile technology can create for the underserved in their daily lives. Mobile technology, specifically information and communication services, has also dramatically increased the effectiveness of disaster relief services. Having access to information and communication greatly helps those affected by natural disaster and those who are trying to help. There is an opportunity for innovation to increase the impact that ICT and mobile technology has on people … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we’re featuring articles on alternative energy, noting the challenges that startups often face in terms of distribution, pricing, and scale.… read more
To date, we’ve introduced both the benefits and the inefficiencies of informal savings groups. Today, we’ll share how mobile technology can improve informal savings groups. Injecting the benefits of mobile money, increased communication, and innovative apps into the savings group model can displace the inefficiencies that exist in trust, convenience, and security. Importantly, mobile technology does not compromise the intrinsic benefits of the savings groups. … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we read about the work that organizations and businesses are doing around the world to enhance, promote, and leverage the benefits of mobile.… read more
Last week, we introduced informal savings groups and their benefits. In this post, we’ll discuss how mobile phone technology can optimize the intrinsic benefits of a savings group through mobile money, innovative cash management applications, and increased communication.… read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
In a follow up to our recent post on financial inclusion, this week we turned to our favorite industry blogs and mainstream media to see what they’re saying this week on the topic. We’ve included posts and articles from … read more
Over 70% of people in emerging markets do not have a formal bank account (Goss, Mas, Radcliffe, & Stark, 2011). Despite exclusion from what we consider formal banking, many people in emerging markets have figured out their own ways to save money. An increasing number of people are participating in informal savings groups.
Our goal in this series is to explore the effectiveness of savings groups. In this post, we’ll explain how they work and … read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week’s topic is solar power in emerging markets. Headlines included updates on India’s National Solar Mission and the practical use of solar power on-the-ground in Africa.… read more
Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.
This week, we read about many different opportunities available for mobile and information communication technology innovators, including incubators, market growth, and improvements in infrastructure.… read more
