Posted on October 14, 2009 by Raj Melville
An Investors perspective of Microfinance – Over the past years, microfinance has grown increasingly prominent and found its way into the common vernacular. As microfinance has become increasingly mainstream, major investors have started to take positions in microfinance companies. What are the potential returns and social impacts that investors see in this segment? More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com
Filed under: Conference, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation | Tagged: Babson college, Boston, Conference, ecosystem, Investment, investors, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, social Innovation, Social Investment | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Raj Melville
Couple of months ago we had the privilege to host Mr. N. Srinivasan in Boston. Mr. Srinivasan is the author of the ‘Microfinance in India: State of the Sector Report 2008’, was Chief General Manager of India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) where he served for 25 years. Here are excerpts from an interview and Mr Srinivasan’s open letter to the Indian Government.
Filed under: Investment, Micro-enterprises, Social Ecosystem, micro-finance, microfinance, sustainable development | Tagged: India, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, NABARD, savings, sustainable development, yunus | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 16, 2009 by Raj Melville
For the first time TIECON EAST – TiE Boston’s annual conference on entrepreneurship and innovation – had a dedicated track on Social Enterprise. The three panels for the track were all well attended. Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote for Lokvani about the sessions.
Filed under: Agricultural Development, Conference, Food, Health, India, Information Technology, Investment, Micro-enterprises, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, social Innovation, sustainability | Tagged: Agricultural Development, Boston, Conference, Food Supply, Health, India, Information Technology, internet, micro-finance, microcredit, mobile technology, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, sustainability, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, TIECON | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2009 by Raj Melville
Bala Vishwanath, an IIT and IIM alum, saw an opportunity to multiply the social impact of every dollar, quit his job and worked to setup www.UnitedProsperity.org United Prosperity helps provide loan guarantees that enable poor entrepreneurs to borrow from Microfinance Institutions to build their enterprises in developing countries.
Filed under: India, Micro-enterprises, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: India, Kiva, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, sustainable development, United Prosperity, yunus | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 1, 2008 by Raj Melville
The Gates Foundation has made some major investments in the area of finance over the past few years. Now, based on their findings and experiments, they are making a big push into the area of micro-savings.
Filed under: BOP, Information Technology, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, international development, micro-finance, social Innovation | Tagged: Ethiopia, Gates Foundation, Information Technology, Kenya, M-Pesa, MFI, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, microsavings, Opportunity International, Poverty, rural banks, Rural Development, rural savings, Vodafone, Wall Street Journal | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 30, 2008 by Raj Melville
Prof. Yunus continued to speak about his vision of creating social businesses to help address some of the pressing issues facing us. He challenged the youth to start social businesses by saying. “I would like to say that while we at Grameen have done a few things, there are many causes that are waiting for you to take up”
Filed under: Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, micro-finance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: bangladesh, Boston, business models, grameen, micro-finance, microcredit, Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, womens issues, yunus | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 27, 2008 by Raj Melville
I had the pleasure of moderating a wonderful panel on “The New Philanthropy – New models for Social Impact” with four great speakers presenting a wide range of activities that their different organizations pursue in the social sector. The cross section of organizations provided a range of perspectives on the innovative new approaches being adopted to help solve some of the most pressing social issues worldwide.
Filed under: Conference, Health, Information Technology, Philanthropy, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, micro-finance, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainable development, venture philanthropy | Tagged: Acumen Fund, Ashoka, calvert foundation, Community Investment, Community Investment Notes, google, google foundation, google.org, hybrid philanthropy, India, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microcredit, microplace.com, New philanthropy, Philanthropy, poverty alleviation, renewable energy, small and medium enterprises, SME, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, venture fund, venture philanthropy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 27, 2008 by Raj Melville
Follow up to my post on “Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Social Business and the Future of Capitalism”. The Boston Globe published an interesting interview with Prof. Yunus while he was in Boston to speak at the MIT commencement. I have excerpted one of the questions below.
Filed under: Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, micro-finance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: capitalism, grameen, microcredit, MIT, Nobel Prize, Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development, womens issues, yunus | 1 Comment »
