As impact investors, we are interested in better measuring the impact of initiatives in underserved markets. Below are articles highlighting how people are creating social impact globally and how to measure and scale impact efficiently. Strong Communities Build Global Impact by Nekesa Were on iHub Global Voices and iHub have been bringing people together to form communities dedicated to social impact. Today, 1200 contributors from 167 countries write for Global Voices, coming together to write … read more
This year in social enterprise
As the year draws to a close, we like to reflect on the state of the space in which we operate. Social enterprise was, and continues to be, a nascent industry, but has come a long way in the last five years. This week, we’re looking at the updates and progress the industry has made and the methods we’re putting in place to grow.
2014 in Impact Investing: The Big Bang and its Aftermath by … read more
Technology and Impact
At ID, we invest in technology that benefits underserved populations. With so many innovative and affordable technologies hitting the market, there are lots of new opportunities to use them to empower previously excluded populations. This week’s selection of articles discusses different technologies and their applications in emerging markets.
“M2M Communications Could Leverage Clean Energy for Billions of People” by Justin Guay on GreenTech Media
M2M (machine-to-machine) technology and high levels of mobile subscriptions … read more
Tech Startups and Entrepreneurs
Today we’re featuring news on tech startups and entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
“Novel Energy Storage to Chill Milk in Rural India” by Martin LaMonica on MIT Technology Review
Our portfolio company Promethean Power revealed good news last week: after years of technology iterations and a move to India, Promethean signed a contract with Hatsun, India’s largest private dairy, for 50 rapid milk chillers. This comes along with a new joint venture and a … read more
SOCAP is Headed to Boston! SOUL, on March 9th
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
Weekly Review December 8-14: Trends in 2013
With December upon us, everyone is looking ahead to 2013. We, at Invested Development, are doing the same across our sector focuses and looking at trends for the upcoming year. Here are this week’s articles that reflect on trends and what’s next in alternative energy and mobile technology.
“Which Tech Trends Will Be Making Waves in 2013” on IT News Africa
Tablets, smartphones, and 4G and LTE data speeds made a big splash … read more
Weekly Review September 29 – October 5
The fifth annual SOCAP conference convened this week, and the impact investing stories are reverberating around the world. Here are some of our favorites from the week.
Did you miss the SOCAP hype? You can catch up by reading the most popular tweets from the week (here) and watching the videos (here).
Portfolio Update: Promethean’s Progress
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
Weekly Review March 24-30
We can never place enough emphasis on the need for alternative energy in emerging markets. From wind to solar to “crazy” energy as Bill Gates calls it, the potential to leverage innovation for increased energy access is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors, and development advocates alike.… read more
Social Enterprise and Impact Investment Management Fellowship
Invested Development is excited to partner with The Monterey Institute of International Studies to offer on-the-ground internships and formal training through The Frontier Market Scouts Program. The following is the formal announcement from the Monterey Institute.
Weekly Review January 15-21
The idea that renewable energy can increasingly meet the energy requirements of emerging markets at grid-parity is a regular topic of discussion. Both the public sector and the private sectors are searching for ways to meet global energy requirements while decreasing dependence on unsustainable source of energy. Instead of the global oil markets, the usual suspects, now the radical advances in solar cell efficiency, declining costs of raw materials, and large-scale strategic initiatives from both … read more
Simpa Networks Makes Headlines
We take pride in each one of our portfolio companies, and it’s always rewarding to see them recognized for their work. Simpa Networks has been quietly walking the walk and is now talking the talk, evidenced by article after article popping up in our Google Alerts. The media stories on Simpa spotlight the need for alternative energy and accompanying innovative financing solutions for the under- and un-electrified. Now, mainstream media like Inc Magazine and National … read more
Weekly Review November 27-December 3
After last week’s regional focus on Africa, this week we focused our reading on social enterprise and development in Latin America.
“Latin America Report: Ready for Explosive Growth” on Renewable Energy World
Many Latin American nations are reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and by transitioning toward renewable energies like wind, solar, geothermal and biofuels. Wind energy prices are increasingly competitive, especially in Brazil, which are expanding so rapidly that wind farms may
… read more Poverty-Fighting Mobile Transaction Systems (Part 4): Social Capital
This is the fourth post in our series, “Leveraging Mobile Penetration at the BoP for Poverty-Fighting Mobile Transaction Systems.” Click the links below to catch up on anything you might have missed.
- Part 1: Leveraging Mobile Ubiquity at the BoP
- Part 2: Examples of Mobile Money Transactions
- Part 3: Examples of Information Exchange
Social Capital – Networking and Participation
As we introduced in the first post, the key to a successful mobile technology applications to
… read more Poverty-Fighting Mobile Transaction Systems (Part 3): Information Exchange
This is the third installment in our series on mobile transaction systems and their contribution to the fight against poverty. First, we introduced this series with an overview of mobile penetration rates and the mobile phone’s power for impact. Then, last week, we highlighted the first transaction system– mobile money – and the benefits such transactions offer to users. This week, we will look at the different ways mobile phones facilitate exchanges of information … read more
Poverty-Fighting Mobile Transaction Systems (Part 1): Leveraging Mobile Ubiquity at the BoP
The ID team spends a lot of time discussing and studying the mobile technology industry. The driving force behind our focus on mobile technology in emerging markets has been the explosive growth of mobile phone penetration rates and the potential for mobile transaction systems to reduce poverty.
Our most popular post on this blog is “Mobile Phones at the Base of the Pyramid: Accessibility and Affordability” published in June 2010. In that post, … read more
Weekly Review October 17-21
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This week we’re highlighting the importance of enterprise level development and impact investing in India. Several newsworthy excerpts describe the myriad opportunities emerging from the growth of social enterprises, impact investing, and the use of technology in the region.
“Could impact investing help India’s poor” by Shilpa Kannan on BBC News, Delhi
A massive existing population in India coupled with robust economic growth expectations and a changing investor appetite for
… read more EGG-Energy Development Innoventures Salon
A few months ago, we highlighted EGG-energy’s innovative pricing and distribution strategy for the Base of the Pyramid. If you like EGG-energy‘s business model or discussing BoP strategies in general, then we recommend attending EGG-energy’s upcoming brainstorm session in Cambridge, MA, hosted by the Development Innoventures Salon. The session will open the conversation around three main topics:
- Pricing Strategy
- Marketing and Sales Strategy
- Growth and Distribution Strategy
It’s important for EGG-energy to grow
… read more Weekly Review October 10-14
A cornerstone of Invested Development’s strategy is that mobile phones facilitate information, participation, and transactions in emerging markets. This week’s articles demonstrate examples of how mobile phones can do so.
“Mobiles: The Hub of a Global Information Society” by Melissa Ulbricht on Mobile Active
Like us, Mobile Active is a proponent of the basic feature phone’s potential for impact by distributing information. A new report, “News on the Go: How Mobile Device
… read more WANTED: The World’s Most Unreasonable Entrepreneurs
Convinced you have the entrepreneurial mettle to improve the lives of millions of people around the world? Accelerate your venture with mentorship from 50 seasoned entrepreneurs and practitioners, ranging from a Time Magazine Hero of the Planet, to the CTO of HP, to an entrepreneur who’s lifted over 19 million farmers out of poverty. In the process, form relationships with 20 impact funds including Invested Development and our friends Acumen Fund, Good Capital, … read more
Weekly Review October 3-7
Last week we spoke to the impact that mobile technology can have for development. For the same reasons, our other investment focus is alternative energy. While alternative energy is traditionally expensive, many social entrepreneurs are creating clever financing models that deliver clean energy at an affordable price. The following articles detail why and how alternative energy can create such a significant impact at the BoP in emerging markets.
Weekly Review September 26-30
People often ask us why we chose technology as our investment focus. The answer is quite simple: technology has the greatest potential to create impact in the developing world. The following articles for this week share our sentiment and speak to mobile technology’s power for social impact (be sure to check out next week’s Review to see how alternative energy is creating impact).
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“Mobile Broadband in Kenya” by Patrick Munyi on iHub
… read more