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Social enterprises increasingly getting more capital, from impact and venture capital funds
GoCoop now has 250 cooperatives on its ecommerce platform and B2B customers include the likes of Levi's and Reliance Retail. While Devireddy used his savings of 10 years and funds from his colleagues to get his dream project off the ground, the startup later raised seed funding and is currently in the process of closing its Series A round of funds, both from impact investors.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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Multinationals Get Back to Basics
On August 24, 2015, for the first time, more than one billion people used Facebook in a single day. It's easy to think that the Internet has engulfed the world and communities across the globe are perpetually mesmerised by smartphones. Yet, the reality is very different. More than four billion people - or over half the world's population - still don't have access to the Internet, reports ITU, a United Nations agency.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Facebook’s “Save Free Basics in India” Campaign Provokes Controversy
Facebook is calling on Indian users to send an email to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), asking the government agency to support its Free Basics program. The campaign, which shows up when users sign onto the social media platform and includes a pre-filled form so they don’t even have to write an email, has already proven controversial, with opponents saying its message undermines net neutrality in India.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Zephyr Peacock, Omidyar Network invest Rs 100 Crore in Swarna Pragati
Bengaluru-based private equity funds Zephyr Peacock and Omidyar Network have picked up about 15 per cent stake in housing microfinance firm Swarna Pragati for about Rs 100 crore, people close to the development said.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Facebook’s Campaign in India Provokes Controversy
Facebook is calling on Indian users to send an email to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), asking the government agency to support its Free Basics program. The campaign, which shows up when users sign onto the social media platform and includes a pre-filled form so they don’t even have to write an email, has already proven controversial, with opponents saying its message undermines net neutrality in India.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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World Bank Approves $1.5 Billion Loan for Toilets in India
The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion loan for a state-led sanitation program in India, where millions of people have no access to toilets, the bank said Wednesday.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending
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Narayana, Which Serves India’s Poor, Going Public
All eyes are on the IPO of Narayana Hrudayalaya, the Bangalore-based affordable healthcare chain founded by India’s best-known cardiac surgeon Dr. Devi Shetty, which opens tomorrow. Dr. Shetty, 62, pioneered inexpensive cardiac surgeries by creatively and efficiently driving down costs, thus putting life-saving surgeries within the means of thousands of poor Indians. That is particularly noteworthy in a country where healthcare is mainly delivered by as-yet small number of private healthcare operators while the government spend on healthcare is a scant 1.1 % of the GDP – compared with 18% in the United States.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Drugmakers Launch Cut-Price Versions of Type 2 Diabetes Medicine
Costing a fraction of the brands sold by global organisations and their local affiliates, medical experts say the strengthening trend of new, low-priced drugs with fewer side effects may fundamentally change the way the disease is treated.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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