Catalyzing Innovations that Matter
Angani Closes Seed Round with Leading East African Investors to Localize Cloud Services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2015
Boston, MA and Nairobi, Kenya – Kenya’s Angani Ltd has closed a seed round of funding led by Invested Development with participation from Africa’s Talking, Savannah Fund, and Africa Angels Network.
Angani is the first fully automated public cloud infrastructure company in the region. For the first time, East African companies are able … read more
Invested Development and GVEP International recently conducted a survey in collaboration with Power Africa and UN Foundation’s Energy Access Practitioner Network to investigate the challenges that energy enterprises experience in emerging markets. Of course, company financing is a big issue, but we wanted to dig deeper into manufacturing, human resources, consumer financing, and sales. The goal was to identify the types of support products and services that the industry can provide to move the needle … read more
At Invested Development, we strive to make a global impact through our investments in innovative solutions to global challenges. The articles below look at the evolution of sustainable investing and explore what the future might look like for the space.
Mission-Driven Business by Eric Nee on Stanford Social Innovation Review
One of the guiding principles behind the launch of the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) in 2003 was the belief that social innovations would arise … read more
Title: Graphic/Web Design Intern
Start/End Date: Immediately – December 2014 (potential for extension)
Location: Boston, MA
Schedule: 10 hours per week (Flexible)
Pay: $400 Monthly Stipend
Invested Development is looking for a highly motivated Computer Science, Information Management, or Graphic Design student for web design, website maintenance and data analytics assignments. The intern will help to design infographics, create interactive website content, and create automated data gathering solutions from public data sources. Applicants should be … read more
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2014
Boston, MA & Nairobi, Kenya – Invested Development, an early stage impact investment fund manager, has invested in iProcure, a technology startup serving the needs of the agricultural ecosystem in Kenya. iProcure provides software to enhance sales and inventory management in rural and peri-urban agriculture markets. As a result, farmers can access high-quality farming inputs and equipment conveniently and affordably.
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the … read more
On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced Beyond the Grid: a framework within the Power Africa initiative created to catalyze private investment in distributed energy solutions for the 240 million people living without household electricity in six targeted Sub-Saharan African nations. We are proud to be one of the 27 founding partners who have committed to investment of over $1 billion over the next five years.
Beyond the Grid has set a lofty goal that … read more
We are excited to welcome CropIn Technologies to the BSP Fund portfolio. CropIn is a Bangalore-based software startup that makes farm operations efficient, transparent, and traceable. The software collects data from the field and makes it available to assist agri-businesses and farmers to improve productivity and sustainability. The cloud-based solution simplifies complex farming operations, especially those common to contract farming, an area ripe for technology innovation.
Contract farming is … read more
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to our financial analyst and Excel whiz Lee Carter for his work on this post.
Startup projections come in all shapes and sizes. At Invested Development, we have seen 5-year expected revenues ranging from less than $300,000 to over $10 billion. One company might expect to make money selling to less than 10 customers for its entire lifetime, and another will expect to sell to over 250 million users by the … read more
Editor’s Note: This post is written by Sean Smith. Sean spearheaded and will continue to lead Invested Development’s efforts in supporting the Safaricom App Wiz Challenge.
In early 2012, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore and other senior executives of Kenya’s largest telecom visited the iHub in Nairobi to answer questions from the innovation community. Most of the back and forth between iHub members and Safaricom executives went as expected (at least if you follow such things):… read more
Title: Marketing Intern
Start/End Date: Immediately – August 2013
Schedule: 15-20 hours per week (Flexible)
Pay: Stipend or Course Credit
Location: Boston, MA
Invested Development is looking for a highly motivated marketing or communications student for research, blogging, brand management, and social media management assignments. Ideal candidates will have experience in these areas. Writing sample required. Graphic design experience a plus. Applicants should be comfortable working in a start-up environment with minimal resources and supervision.… read more
Title: Marketing Intern
Start/End Date: Immediately – June 2013 (potential for summer extension)
Schedule: 10 hours per week (Flexible)
Pay: Stipend or Course Credit
Location: Boston, MA
Invested Development is looking for a highly motivated marketing or communications student for research, blogging, brand management, and social media management assignments. Ideal candidates will have experience in these areas. Writing sample required. Graphic design experience a plus. Applicants should be comfortable working in a start-up environment with … read more
Invested Development Invests in SolarNow to Provide Affordable Solar Home Systems in Uganda
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2013
Boston, MA, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, & Kampala, Uganda – Invested Development, an emerging markets-focused social impact investment company, has invested in SolarNow, a Dutch social enterprise operating in Uganda. SolarNow combines a franchise model with an end-user credit facility to provide affordable solar home systems (SHSs) in Uganda. There are 4 million off-grid households in Uganda, … read more
What if your job, your finances, and your community were all aligned with what you value? SOCAP has created a special one-day event, SOCAP: Soul, to help answer that question and explore how change starts within us.
SOCAP: Soul Boston – Social Capital Market’s first east coast event – will be held on Saturday, March 9th at MIT’s whimsical and sustainably innovative Stata Center. The event will kick-off at 8 am with registration and … read more
Title: Marketing Intern
Start/End Date: Immediately – May 2013
Schedule: 10 hours per week (Flexible)
Pay: Stipend or Course Credit
Location: Boston, MA
Invested Development is looking for a highly motivated marketing or communications student at the sophomore or junior undergraduate level for blogging, brand, and social media management assignments. Ideal candidates will have experience in these areas. Writing sample required. Graphic design experience a plus. Applicants should be comfortable working in a start-up environment … 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
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
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
