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Saved by a ‘SAFE’: Three Lessons from a Broken Impact Investing Deal
Many in Silicon Valley's tech investment sector are familiar with the founder-friendly financial instrument known as the “Simple Agreement for Future Equity" (SAFE). SAFEs are commonly used, yet they're often misunderstood by entrepreneurs – and they're not always beneficial for investors. Will Poole of impact investing firm Capria reflects on an experience with a SAFE that went wrong, involving a South America-based entrepreneur with an apparently promising social enterprise. Poole presents three lessons learned about the importance of business integrity, simplicity and luck.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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81 Designs: A social enterprise that marries art with women’s empowerment
The brand oversees a group of refugee women as they recreate the works of leading Middle Eastern artists in the traditional “tatreez” style of cross-stitching.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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This class helps developing-world solutions reach people in need
The innovations emerging from Stanford University’s Design for Extreme Affordability course are both viable business models and sensitive to local needs.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
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NextBillion is on Vacation – Check Out Our Top 10 Recent Posts
With the Independence Day holiday this Wednesday, it's summer vacation time for much of the U.S. - and NextBillion is no exception. Since our editors will be enjoying some time off this week, we won't be publishing new blog content until next Monday, July 9. In the meantime, we've compiled 10 of our most-read recent posts, including some of our more thought-provoking content of the year. We hope you enjoy them, and we look forward to bringing you more original analysis and insight from the world of social business next week.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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The State of the Art in Impact Investing: People and Planet Returns in All Asset Classes
The impact investor community Toniic recently released a report on the growing number of Toniic members who have committed to a 100 percent impact portfolio. The 76 portfolios in the report represent $2.8 billion in capital committed to impact – a 9 percent increase from its 2016 survey. Toniic CEO Adam Bendell discusses the trends revealed in the report, and what they suggest about the sector's evolution.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Olympics 2024 to focus on social business: Muhammad Yunus
“Somehow the sports world showed interest in what we are doing. The opportunity of the Olympics is a great one to use emotions to change perceptions,” Yunus said.
- Region
- South Asia
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Making Agritech Work for Smallholders: What Tech Companies Can Learn from Development Organizations
Agritech proponents argue that technology is the key to helping the world's 500 million smallholder farmers. Yet despite countless ‘ICT for development’ companies and projects, these solutions often fall short of their intended impacts. This raises an important question: Can the methodologies that have proven successful for many tech startups work for the complex, interrelated challenges faced by smallholders? Wouter Vink of GreenFingers argues that there's a better approach.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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How one engineer made it his business to help refugees become entrepreneurs
Usman Iftikhar turned his struggle to land a full-time engineering job into a startup accelerator that helps refugees and migrants realise their entrepreneurial ambitions – and received a Royal seal of approval for his efforts.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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