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Kiva’s New Fund Targets 1 Million Women Entrepreneurs – But How Much Impact Should We Expect?
Last week, the Inter-American Development Bank and the U.S. State Department joined microfinance pioneer Kiva to launch the Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund. The fund matches the contributions of lenders who respond to a woman entrepreneur’s loan request on Kiva’s online platform, and hopes to crowdfund loans for 1 million entrepreneurs. But in spite of the excitement around the announcement, questions about both Kiva’s approach and the broader microfinance model remain.
- Categories
- Investing
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Weekly Roundup: Uber, DriveU, Ola and the Greedy Sharing Economy in India
In a typically eventful week in social enterprise, the "social business" buzzword grew more obsolete, and we got a reminder of the many players eager to get their slice of the “sharing economy” - especially in India. Our editors discuss these developments in this roundup.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, Transportation
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Gross Loan Portfolio Increases 39.3% in Pakistan’s Microfinance Sector
The gross loan portfolio of the microfinance sector increased 39.3% year on year (YoY) to reach Rs93 billion at the end of 2015.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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New Report Explores Activity, Challenges in Impact Investing in Southern Africa
In Southern Africa, the big action in impact investing is in South Africa. But even in that country, there are a great many challenges.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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DriveU Raises $1 Million From Unitus Seed Fund, Silicon Valley Angel Investors
At a time when ride hailing services such as Ola and Uber are rolling out offers to dissuade consumers from using personal vehicles, DriveU, an on-demand driver provider launched by an early backer of TaxiForSure, has raised about $1 million from Unitus Seed Fund and undisclosed angel investors from the Silicon Valley, said co-founder and chief executive Rahm Shastry.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Point/Counterpoint: Does Socially Responsible Investing Make Financial Sense?
Socially responsible investing has come a long way from the days when it mostly meant not buying the shares of companies in controversial industries such as tobacco, firearms, alcohol or gambling.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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5 Trends Driving the Future of Sustainable Investing
“Why can’t my investment portfolio reflect my personal values?” We’re increasingly hearing that question from clients who want to pursue sustainable investment strategies that align their personal values with their investments. According to Morningstar, assets in socially screened portfolios now exceed $6 trillion, up from $639 billion in 1995. Demand for sustainable investments seems particularly important to the millennials that represent the next generation of investors for advisors. A Morgan Stanley survey of individual investors highlights this coming demand, as 71% of respondents and 84% of millennial investors expressed interest in sustainable investing.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Former D.E. Shaw Chief Risk Officer Peter Bernard to Join Impact Investing Pioneer Root Capital as Chief Operating Officer
Root Capital is pleased to announce Peter Bernard as the organization’s first chief operating officer (COO). Peter will join Root Capital on March 1, 2016 after decades of experience on Wall Street, most recently as the chief risk officer of D.E. Shaw & Company, a global investment and technology development firm with more than $39 billion in investment capital. As COO at Root Capital, Peter will oversee the organization’s lending, risk, advisory services, and talent functions.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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