Archive for 2017

Asia’s ‘impact investors’ favor social investment over charity — Nikkei

SINGAPORE — In 2016, veteran Japanese investment banker and private equity investor Takeshi Kato embarked on a new chapter of his life. Deeply moved by the poverty and social issues he saw while working in India, Kato began investing in social enterprises through BWiz Capital, a small Tokyo-based investment company he set up with some financial help from friends.

The company’s portfolio ranges from OneBreath, a U.S.-based startup that provides affordable medical ventilators to hospitals in India, to Indonesia-based Krakakoa, which helps cocoa farmers seeking to produce beans for artisanal chocolate. Read More.

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IIX and Korea Social Investment Foundation Join Forces to Advance Impact Investing in Asia

(From Left to Right: Robert Kraybill, Managing Director of IIX; Jongick Lee, CEO of KSIF)

SINGAPORE, 16 November, 2017—Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and the Korea Social Investment Foundation (KSIF, Impact Factory) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the Republic of Korea on November 10th to advance impact investing in Asia and the Pacific. KSIF, a pioneer of impact finance in Korea, and IIX, a leader of impact investing, will leverage their combined networks and expertise to magnify social and environmental impact for sustainable development and empower marginalized people across the region.

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IIX Impact Snapshot, October 2017

Highlights from the October Impact Snapshot:

  • “IIX ACTS participant SolarHome, a Singapore-based clean energy enterprise, has closed a pre-Series A round…”
  • “Investors from IIX’s Impact Partners platform who invested in India-based enterprise Kinara Capital achieved an exit this month…”
  • “IIX completes a successful three-year run of its award-winning IIX ACTS program with support from USAID, impacting over 4.4 million…”

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Kinara Capital raises $14.5 mn in Series C funding — Business Standard

Kinara Capital, which lends to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) without collateral, has raised $14.5 million in from multiple investors including existing ones, and Patamar Capital, and new investors and 

This round has also provided exits to Ltd and investors of IIX’s Impact Partners platform. The fresh round of funding will be deployed to expand the product portfolio in existing and new geographies in India and increase investment in technology to improve efficiency in field operations. Read More.

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SolarHome Attracts First Debt Funding with the Support of IIX — Markets Insider

SolarHome, the pioneer in Pay-As-You-Go (“PAYG”) Solar for off-grid households in Southeast Asia, secured its first debt funding. The new financing comes on the heels of the pre-Series A equity funding round that the company recently closed. Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a global leader in impact investing, played a pivotal role in the securing of this financing by providing the company with impact assessment and technical assistance services as well as connecting SolarHome with its debt-provider Kiva, an online lending platform connecting lenders to entrepreneurs. This support was provided as part of the award-winning IIX Acceleration for Capacity-building and Technical Services (IIX ACTS) program in partnership with USAID. Read More.

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How the World’s First Social Sustainability Bond is Connecting Back Streets to Wall Street — Next Billion

Impact investing is more than an emerging asset class. In a world where business models and financial equations often perpetuate inequality, impact investing is an opportunity for systemic change. If approached pragmatically and innovatively, it can transform our traditional financial system into one that offers economic opportunity to even the most remote and underserved populations. As impact investing gains traction and becomes one of the most rapidly-growing fields of investment, it is crucial to harness its power to promote equity and inclusion in financial markets. Read More.

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IIX, PTI Australia ink impact investing agreement for women-focused enterprises — Deal Street Asia

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), and Pacific Trade Invest Australia (PTI Australia) signed a letter of engagement to catalyze growth of the impact investing market across the Pacific Islands targeting mostly women-focused enterprises. PTI Australia is Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)-funded Pacific Island agency that creates jobs in the Pacific Islands by facilitating trade and attracting impact investment into the region. IIX noted it will begin to effectively build the market for impact investing beginning in aquaculture and agriculture sectors with plans to expand the ecosystem deeply across 16 pacific island countries and the surrounding oceans. Read More.

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IIX Catalyzes Impact Investing in the Pacific with Pacific Trade Invest Australia

SINGAPORE, 2 October, 2017IIX announces the signing of a letter of engagement with Pacific Trade Invest Australia (PTI Australia), the lead trade and investment promotion agency in the region, to catalyze growth of the impact investing market across the Pacific Islands. Drawing on PTI Australia’s extensive network in the region, IIX will begin to effectively build the market for impact investing beginning in aquaculture and agriculture sectors with plans to expand the ecosystem deeply across sixteen pacific island countries and the surrounding oceans. This understanding between IIX and PTI Australia aims to drive economic growth in the region while highlighting the potential of women-focused enterprises in the agriculture, ecotourism and fisheries industries.

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Beyond India: The Next Frontier for Impact Investing in Asia

The recent McKinsey & Company report ‘Impact Investing Finds its Place in India’ is an interesting read with some valid insights on impact investing in India. However, having been in the impact investing space in India for more than a decade, I have witnessed the pendulum of impact investing swinging away from India towards other high-potential countries of South and South East Asia and believe it is time to zoom into the new frontier markets which have proven strong economic growth with high impact potential.

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Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells receive the 2017 IIX Trailblazer Award for their Commitment to Impact Investing

SINGAPORE, August 25th, 2017 – Law firms, Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells, received the 2017 IIX Trailblazer Award at the 2nd annual Impact Investment Trailblazer Showcase for their commitment to redefine finance and generate social impact in the global community.

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