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Viewpoint: Impact funds not scaling fast enough in India
There isn’t any doubt that impact investors such as Aavishkaar have made tremendous progress over the past decade since venture capital as an asset class returned in earnest to this market. Over the last seven years, 2010-2016, impact investors have put $5.2 billion to work across 485 deals, according to a McKinsey & Co. report in September. It wasn’t until 2010 that impact investments in India started to gather momentum and the last two years have been quite exceptional. Investments touched the billion-dollar mark for the first time in 2015 and scaled to nearly $1.1 billion last year.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Press release: MetLife Foundation & Verb Launch Competition To Accelerate Financial Innovation In Bangladesh
The Bangladesh competition will attract participants that have innovative ideas or solutions to empower the over 75 million Bangladeshis that manage their day-to-day financial lives without a bank account. MetLife associates will serve as mentors and judges for the competition, contributing hundreds of volunteer hours.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Aavishkaar raises $95 million in first close of largest impact investment fund
The firm intends to raise $200 million for the fund, which will make it the largest impact investment fund raised by a homegrown asset manager. Aavishkaar expects to achieve the final close of the fund in the next 12-18 months, said Rai.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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A social entrepreneur at 15 and ardent campaigner for universal education
A campaigner for providing equal opportunities for her counterparts to learn, build a career and live a life with basic necessities, Nikhiya believes that the national recognition would help her reach out to a wider audience.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- NGOs
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Can poo power solve India’s toilet problem?
India is in the midst of a toilet-building frenzy, the government has set aside $20bn for the health initiative and aims to stop people having to defecate in the open by 2019.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Reserve Bank of India Says ‘No’ to Islamic Banking
Islamic or Sharia banking is a finance system based on the principles of not charging interest, which is prohibited under Islam. The issue of introduction of the interest-free banking in India was examined by RBI and the government of India, the central bank added.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- Islamic finance
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Report: India’s FinTech adoption rate exceeds global averages
According to EY FinTech Adoption Index, India has the second highest FinTech adoption rate among digitally active consumers at 52 percent, only second to China at 69 percent.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- fintech
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How India Is Moving Toward a Digital-First Economy
On November 8, 2016, India’s government did something that no other government had attempted before at the same scale: It decided to remove 86% of the country’s currency notes by value from circulation. Over the months that followed, more than 1 billion people participated in a “reboot” of the country’s financial and monetary system.
An active debate has since ensued as to how the transition unfolded.- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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