[TC-I Changemaker]: CGAP’s Gautam Ivatury on the linkage between technology and financial empowerment of the poor

The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with interviews with people we believe are at the brink of something special but have for the most part been overlooked by the mainstream media. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers tab.
This week, Vinay sat down (over the phone) [...]

TC-I FundWatch

Editor’s note: In order to more quickly provide our readers with pertinent information, ThinkChange India has created TC-I FundWatch, a regular post that summarizes important investments made by social and traditional venture capital firms that directly affect the lives of India’s poor. This way, on Tuesdays, our readers will be able to get a regular [...]

Update: Bhandan gets featured in Business Standard

I have written on Bhandan before, with regard to its efforts to incorporate job creation into its larger loans disbursed to micro enterprises looking to grow. Well now the organization is once again pushing new initiatives as the MFI’s CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is trying to both grow Bhandan’s organizational footprint while simultaneously create schools [...]

UNIFAD Seeks Innovative Remittance Proposals

The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development is looking for innovative remittance schemes to invest $13 million into. The initiative is labeled the Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) 2008 and the proposals need should focus on “[p]romoting innovative remittance systems and investment channels for migrants.” The objectives are the following:
* Improve remittance transmission and [...]

India’s first Social Investment Management Firm

Philanthropic giving in India is probably still in its early stages. However, given the recent economic boom, there is significant amount of wealth being generated and giving back becomes a priority. The Interface, is a Chennai based organization, which refers to itself as a ‘Social Investment Manager’:
We are dedicated Social Investment Managers who help redefine [...]

Job: Senior Associate at Unitus Equity Fund

The job, located in Bangalore, will consist of being part of a team that makes “equity investments in entrepreneurially driven microfinance institutions and related businesses that aim to create opportunities for the poor and unserved. The successful candidate must have significant transaction experience gained in a venture capital or private equity fund or in a [...]

Microfinance and Wall Street

Is microfinance compatible with large scale investing houses like Wall Street banks? A conversation with Susan Davis of BRAC and Rod Dubitsky of Credit Suisse discussed this question in a recent article in Forbes Magazine. The article highlighted two fundamental differences between an MFI and a commerical bank
Two key distinctions between MFIs and other commercial [...]

Obsessive Compulsive Metric Disorder

While my writings in the past have strongly pushed for the establishment of better metrics in quantifying social impact, the reliance on such metrics is not immune to negative outcomes. One such negative outcome is when social investors become so concerned with their own metrics that they lose sight of the larger picture — the [...]

Two major stories in green technologies

Here are some updates on two stories that have occurred in the last few days within the green space.
1. Emergent Ventures has raised Rs 40 Crore in financing.
IDFC Private Equity appears to be the first private equity firm to invest in a carbon credit advisory firm. Emergent Venture’s assists companies in the origination of carbon [...]

Credit Suisse to launch their own social index

Hot off the news that M-Cril will be launching their own social capital exchange, as reported by Santhosh, and also the plans by Xigi.net to create a social capital index that I spoke about some time back, Credit Suisse plans to launch its own Social Responsibility Index. As reported by Microcapital.org:
Credit Suisse will launch in [...]

India’s first Social Capital Exchange to be launched (I’m serious!)

According to story today on Business Standard, M-Cril, the credit rating agency is launching a platform called ‘Capital Connect’ which will enable MFIs and social enterprises to access capital from investors looking to make investments in this space. This is seen as early precursor to a equity exchange for ’social investments’ - in other words [...]

Guest Post: Investing & Handholding – The Aavishkaar Goodwell Way

Editors Note: Guest Blogger Keyzom Ngodup works with Intellecap, a pioneering social venture capital firm focused on making double bottom-line investments in India.  In addition to capital and investment support, Intellecap is unque that they also provide a range of support services that enable social ventures to move from start-up stage into growth mode. You [...]

Semam Microfinance Investment Literacy and Empowerment (SMILE) and Gram-Utthan receive loan of $2.7 million

As per the most recent newsfeed, Microcapital.org reports that Semam Microfinance Investment Literacy and Empowerment PVT (SMILE) of Madhurai and Gram-Uttham of Orissa have both received loans in the total amount of $2.7 million from Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative fund.   A profile of the two NGOs follows:
Semam Microfinance Investment Literacy and Empowerment PVT (SMILE) is the largest [...]

Justmeans launches new site

Justmeans, the network for jobs and news in corporate social responsibility and social ventures has announced the launch of its new, open-source, scalable website for networking. As part of their new approach, they are launching the “Conference Connector”, by which the company runs networking during and after conferences. The upcoming conferences in which [...]

SELCO India: Solar energy pioneer ready to scale

India is facing a looming energy crisis. The energy needs of the country’s population cannot be met by conventional energy sources (read: Fossil Fuels). We had mentioned in the space before, the importance of India leapfrogging into renewable sources like solar and wind. As part of the eleventh five year plan, GOI just allocated Rs. [...]