After spending a wonderful month in the US with friends, family and well-wishers of the impact investing space, I returned to Singapore for a busy Fall Season (I know we live in the tropics with only one season but I can’t help thinking of the year in terms of seasons). As I got my daughters ready for their new school year, the management of IIX and Shujog also got busy with planning for our new growth strategy and expansion plans.As a part of this growth, we are now focusing deeply on a few sectors. One of those sectors is Health. Thus, you will find a number of articles in this IQ focusing on the Health sector – a sector that is of crucial importance in Asia and Africa.In the spirit of ‘thinking regional and acting local’, we now have local presence in Vietnam and we also held our first Impact Chat in the Philippines last week at the head office of SGV (Ernst & Young). It was a great discussion on how to expand impact investing in the Philippines. Putting our discussion to action, on Oct 16-17, IIX will be co-hosting a Filipino Social Enterprise Showcase at the ICCO conference in Manila. If you happen to be in Manila and want to check out the work of the amazing Filipino social enterprises, please do join us there.
Shujog is holding its half yearly Impact Academy to Accredit Impact Assessors in Singapore. If you want to learn about how to measure impact and may even want to do it for a living, then please do join us for the Impact Academy on Friday, November 1.
Wishing you all a joyous Diwali and Eid season.
From warm and lush Singapore,
Durreen Shahnaz
Founder
IIX and Shujog
In the Spotlight
Latest deals: The IIX team has recently facilitated investment for three social enterprises: affordable energy provider Sun-eee based in Cambodia, Bangalore-based Kinara Capital which provides SME loans to small and micro enterprises, and SpringHealth, an East India-based SE providing clean drinking water. Read more
Shujog is delighted to announced the launch of its newest program, ACTS (Assistance for Capacity-building and Technical Services) to empower Social Enterprises (SEs) across the Asia Pacific region to access investment readiness support.Read more
Large portions of the more than 4 billion people living in Asia lack adequate access to healthcare services. The lack of accessible, affordable and adequate healthcare services has led to poor health outcomes in many Asian markets. Social Enterprises (SEs) are tackling these problems by matching health service demand with new and innovative ways of organizing delivery and financing care.Read more
IIX has recently facilitated investment into Spring Health, a Social Enterprise aiming to revolutionize access to safe drinking water in India. For this SE series, we have a conversation with the Founder and serial entrepreneur, Jacob Mathew. Read the full interviewhere
There has been a significant acceleration of capital committed to impact investing in recent years. This momentum has attracted more interests from family offices, who see impact investing as the right combination between financial returns and the possibility of not only creating positive impact, but also transferring values down through their second and third generations. Read more
Democratizing development finance through social stock exchanges
With the launch of social exchange in London almost simultaneously with the Impact Exchange, these two platforms are redefining the sector. Pete Troilo from Devex sheds some light on the latest development in the sector. Read more
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Advocacy News
Innovative health financing
In our Impact Chat held on 18th September 2013, Shujog and IIX had the honour of having Dr. Tim Evans, Director, Health Nutrition & Population, The World Bank and Mr. Robert Kraybill, Managing Director, IIX share their insights on the topic of Innovative Health Financing in Developing Markets.Read more
Exploring Impact Investment Opportunities in the Philippines
Shujog, in partnership with SGV Foundation, was excited to hold its first Impact Chat outside of Singapore on September 23, 2013. Read more
Creating a hands-on soil-to-cup experience for Filipino coffee farmers
Basil and Vie Reyes conceived their business idea during an encounter with a civet cat, while on a climbing expedition in the Philippines. The civet cat, or the Alamid, as called by the Filipinos, is a very special mammal whose digestive enzymes add a fragrant aroma and unique flavor to coffee beans that they consume.Read more
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Get Involved
Thammasat Business School in Bangkok is inviting applications from teams across Southeast Asia for this year’s Global Social Venture business plan competition. For further detailsclick here.
ICCO is organizing the event “Conversation in Building Strategic Investment Platforms for Inclusive Value Chain and Social Enterprises” a combined effort with PEF and ASEC. For further details click here.
The Social MarketPlace is organizing a two month learning experience on impact investing leading up to a two-day intensive conference. For further details click here.
Our impact innumbersIIX
Facilitated
$7 million across8 impact investment deals impacting
7 MillionPeople across Asia benefitting from improved access to water, education, renewable energy, inclusive finance, and environmental protection
$9 millionSocial value created over next 3 years
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Shujog
867,500 underserved people
benefitting from increased efficiency and effectiveness of social value creation
1207 professionals
introduced to the ecosystem through education and training
20,000 people
exposed to social enterprises and impact investing
“As the new Director for Shujog, I am thrilled to work with this excellent team as we re-double our efforts to maximize the impact social enterprises make in their communities, to scale successful Asian social enterprises, and to share best practices across continents.” Read more aboutAlison Eskesen.
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Mark Sayer,
Director of Investment Platforms, IIX
“I am excited by the opportunity to grow the IIX platforms, assisting business owners with attracting the capital they need for social good.” Read more aboutMark Sayer.
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Brian McMahon,
Associate, IIX
“Together with my IIX colleagues, I look forward to taking impact investment to another level–beginning in Asia.” Read more aboutBrian McMahon.
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Swarnajeet Mukherjee,Marketing and Technology Analyst, Shujog and IIX
“I am enkindled to be a part of IIX and Shujog, while we enhance our impact to the much deprived communities all over the world.” Read more aboutSwarnajeet Mukherjee.
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Meera Jethmal,
Summer intern, Shujog
“Working with Shujog has been a real eye-opener on the potential that social enterprises have and the extent of their ability to shape the development of communities. This has been an invaluable experience.” Read more aboutMeera Jethmal
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Yumi Fujita,
Volunteer, IIX
“I am looking forward to contribute to the growth of social enterprises in the region and to the expansion of our impact investor base.”Read more about Yumi Fujita
