Frontier & Growth Markets
Dealflow | April 29, 2021
Brazil’s Positive Ventures secures $10 million for early-stage impact fund
ImpactAlpha, April 29 – Positive Ventures has raised $10 million with an eye to cutting checks of up to $1.5 million in startups tackling …
Africa | April 28, 2021
Off-Grid Market Development Fund offers results-based financing for solar access in Madagascar
Off-Grid Market Development Fund is providing subsidies to a dozen companies to deliver solar power in Madagascar. Only 14% of Madagascar’s 25.7 million …
Clean Energy | April 27, 2021
Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs to seed clean energy investments in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, April 27 – An “innovation fund,” backed by both Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, will help emerging-market project developers identify financing “from …
Photo credit: Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge
Conservation | April 22, 2021
Fifteen startups with solutions for land restoration in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, April 22 – Latin America a testing ground for innovative environmental financing and business solutions: Lending incentives supporting smallholder farmers; partnerships with Indigenous …
Dealflow | April 21, 2021
Lendable extends $15 million in debt to Philippine fintech Uploan
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 21 – Lendable has extended $15 million in debt to Philippine fintech Uploan. The Manila-based fintech gives employees of more than 100 …
Photo credit: Invest2Innovate
Asia | April 21, 2021
In Pakistan, investing with a gender lens gives i2i Ventures an early-stage edge
ImpactAlpha, April 21 – If overlooked markets and underserved entrepreneurs represent untapped opportunities, Pakistan presents i2i Ventures with a rich bounty of possibilities. The …
Photo credit: Dat Bike
Asia | April 20, 2021
Vietnamese e-motorbike venture Dat Bike secures $2.6 million
ImpactAlpha, April 20 – Motorcycles and scooters are the main form of transport in Vietnam’s cities, and the main source of toxic air pollution. …
Africa | April 19, 2021
FINCA Ventures makes three investments in financial and economic inclusion
ImpactAlpha, April 19 – The impact investing arm of microfinance organization FINCA International added three companies to its portfolio of early-stage tech companies targeting …
Photo credit: Numida
Africa | April 15, 2021
Uganda’s Numida secures $2.3 million to fill gaps in microfinance lending
ImpactAlpha, April 15 – Kampala-based Numida launched five years ago to provide microfinance institutions better data to underwrite loans to small and informal businesses. …
Photo credit: Quro Medical
Africa | April 14, 2021
South Africa’s Quro Medical raises $1.1 million for tech-enabled home healthcare
ImpactAlpha, April 14 – More than 80% of South Africa’s population, particularly the Black urban and rural poor, depend on the country’s s underfunded …
Solar panels against a blue sky with a picture of the flag of Brazil
Clean Energy | April 12, 2021
Changing the climate for climate investments in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, April 12 – Energy-transition investment surged by 24% in developed nations last year. In emerging markets strained by the COVID pandemic, it …
Image credit: SWVL
Africa | April 8, 2021
Egyptian startup funds put North African tech innovation on the map
ImpactAlpha, April 8 – A pair of Cairo-based venture capital funds are supporting entrepreneurs tackling transportation, financial services, market inefficiencies and other regional …
Mexico City, Mexico | Photo credit: Bruno Doinel
ESG | April 7, 2021
Companies in emerging markets are getting on board with board diversity
For any investor who has initiated a conversation about a company gender diversity, particularly in the boardroom, does any of this sound familiar? …
Image: Dmitrijs Kaminskis
Africa | April 7, 2021
Africa’s business and investment leaders step up to meet demands for impact and ESG investing
ImpactAlpha, April 7 – Investors, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups are increasingly pressuring African businesses to shift to more responsible ways of doing …
Image credit: FinanZero
Dealflow | April 6, 2021
FinanZero raises $7 million to expand consumer-credit for underserved Brazilians
ImpactAlpha, April 6 – Most of Brazil’s 211 million people now have access to financial services, but only about a quarter are able to …