With the audacious goal of the democratization of capital markets in our hearts and minds, we at IIX and Shujog are finding creative ways to bring in various stakeholders into the system — bankers, lawyers, donor agencies, governments, etc., to participate in the creation of the social finance space. The newest addition to that list are corporations who are embracing impact investing/social finance through inclusive business.
Given our pursuit for inclusion and growth, it was fantastic when Shujog ACTS, an innovative investment readiness program, focused on women-led business was recently announced as one of the winners of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Innovations in Accelerating Impact Enterprise Challenge. To top it off, IIX was granted membership at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and I was asked to join President Clinton on a panel discussion on ‘Reimagining Impact’. It was a fantastic discussion on how to redefine impact from various perspectives and how to make it more mainstream.
Still high from the CGI meeting, I flew to Australia for the annual meeting of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values – a group of banks with combined assets of over $70 billion who comply with sustainable banking principals. It was inspirational to spend time with the CEOs of these banks from around the globe working tirelessly for true triple bottom line returns.
Keeping with the spirit of expanding social finance from niche to mass, we are hosting our sixth Impact Forum in Singapore and Paris on June 12 and 13. Please do join us to lend your voice to the movement that is already improving lives of millions.
Enjoy this issue of Impact Quarterly in which we discuss various ways the social f space is maturing and what role inclusive businesses are playing in it.
From a sunny and green Singapore,
Warm wishes
Durreen Shahnaz
Founder
IIX and Shujog
Redefining Growth
The role of Inclusive Business for inclusive growth
Inclusive Businesses (IB) are defined as commercially profitable companies whose core business model is to provide innovative systemic solutions in scale to the problem of the poor and low income people under the $3 a day international poverty line in Asia (or about 60% of Asia’s population, also referred to as the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Read more.
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In the Spotlight
SE Showcase: India is a nation of diverse cultures, religions and languages. Yet there are social issues that pervade all of India. In response, Social Enterprises (SEs) are pioneering a variety of innovative approaches to address these issues. Read more.
Entrepreneurs in developing countries continue to excite us with their ideas to address the various social and/or environmental problems that plague the planet. For these ideas to become tangible solutions, entrepreneurs need capital and guidance to pilot, develop, and deploy their products and services to reach commercial viability, scale and create positive social and environmental impact. Read more.
Business and the private sector play a key role in spurring Asia’s much vaunted economic growth. However, despite the region’s rapid economic expansion, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to increase. The concept of inclusive business growth is rooted in the belief that business is not only about profit and economic expansion. Read more. …………………………………………………………….
Reflections
A conversation with the CEO of Becton Dickinson
In a recent conversation with Vincent Forlenza, CEO of Becton Dickinson, we came to know about their in depth involvement in inclusive business. Read more.
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Investor's Corner
How to be an Effective Impact Investor
There is an incredible movement going on in the impact investing space, and more and more investors are interested to learn what sets impact investing apart from traditional investing and what unique challenges an impact investor might face. On 18 March 2014, IIX and Shujog teamed up in the latest Impact Academy “How to be an Effective Impact Investor” to share their experience. Read more. …………………………………………………………….
Our Impact
(From left to Right) Social Enterprise Training in KL, Malaysia; Clinton GLobal Initiative (CGI), New York; IIX Indian Social Enterprise Showcase in partnership with BANSEA; Social Enterprise training in Singapore …………………………………………………………….
Partner Feature
From nextbillion.net – It's Time for Inclusive Business to Move Beyond Pilots
Just half a decade ago the concept of inclusive business was born, and already it seems that we are reaching early retirement. The birth was conceived in the womb of the United Nations and the headquarters of the World Bank, with the participation of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the International Business Leaders Forum. Universities like Cornell and Harvard nurtured the concept and businesses were quick to adopt it and nurse it in their action strategies. Read more. ……………………………………………………….
Advocacy News
Impact Forum 2014: From Niche to Mass
Impact Forum 2014 is the premier gathering of global stakeholders from Asia, Europe and Africa in the social capital market space. Together investors, entrepreneurs and intermediaries will brainstorm on how to deepen and accelerate social finance, work together to propel it from niche to mainstream and galvanize transformational change across continents in a sustainable way.
(Empowering Millions Through Disruptive Technology at School of Thought)
On 18 February 2014, IIX and Shujog hosted our first Impact Chat of the new year, titled “Empowering Millions Through Disruptive Technology”. Held at the auditorium of a local social enterprise School Of Thought, the Impact Chat featured an interactive discussion on the topic of how disruptive technology can empower individuals to access greater opportunities and impact millions of lives in a sustainable way. Read more.
IIX and Shujog partnered with KKR to assist East Bali Cashews
IIX and Shujog and leading global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) to assist East Bali Cashews to refine its business plan enhance its financial model and quantify its social impact.
This summer, the island nation of Sri Lanka will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the end of its civil war. The war cost the country an estimated 100,000 lives and had significant impact on economic and social development. The tsunami of December 2004 added to the devastation by claiming over 35,000 lives and the livelihoods and vessels of over 75% of coastal fishermen in the country. The government and policymakers in Sri Lanka are now focused on recovery and growth. The GDP of the country has grown between 6-8% over the last four years. Read more.
Social Competition
Call for applications: Ocean Exchange is offering $100,000 award for solutions that accelerate
sustainability. Deadline 5th May 2014. Read more. For further information please contact millicent.pitts@oceanexchange.org
Our impact in numbers
IIX
Facilitated
$8.1 million
invested in
10impact investment
deals impacting
7.4 Million People across Asia
benefitting from improved
access to water, education,
renewable energy, inclusive
finance, and environmental
protection
$10.9 million Social value created over
next 3 years
…………………………………
Shujog
1.3 million
underserved
people benefitting from increased
efficiency and effectiveness
of social value creation
1403 professionals introduced to the ecosystem
through education and training
20,000 people exposed to social enterprises
and impactinvesting
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*|MC:TOC|*
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What's on? _________________
Impact Chat: Innovations on Health Financing
Shujog and IIX are excited
to host a second Impact
Chat that explores
innovative financial
instruments that together
could move the needle on
achieving Universal Health
Care. We are privileged to
have expert panelists from
Quadria Capital and
SingHealth Foundation to
participate and comment
on Shujog’s research
paper “Innovations on
Health Financing” and
share their experiences
in healthcare. Come join
us and be part of the
research paper that is
being created by Shujog
but influenced by many! Read more
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Limited Offer: Impact
Forum ticket
Book before 31st March 2014
to get your 2-day Forum ticket
and cocktail reception ticket
for a special price of SGD $650
(usual price SGD $775). To
take advantage of this great
offer click here.
Dharisha Mirando, Corporate
Finance Team, IIX "It’s great to have the chance
to work with so many
impactful social enterprises,
led by remarkable and
dedicated people. Our work
will hopefully lead to these
organisations expanding and
furthering their impact." Read more
Srina Patel, Business
Development Team, IIX "Working on business
development at IIX is an
exciting opportunity. I'm
privileged to be part of such
a passionate team
committed to turning
the vision of providing
a meaningful capital raising
platform for impact
investment into a reality." Read more
Chun Wei Keh, Corporate
Finance Team, IIX "I am excited to be able to
contribute to the work of
IIX in fostering the growth
and investment-readiness
of social enterprises in
Asia." Read more ………………………………… Volunteers …………………………………
Claire McEneaney,
Advocacy Team, Shujog "I am thrilled to be
working once again with
social enterprises, this
time in Asia. Through the
work of the IIX and Shujog
teams I hope we are able
to support many more SEs
working with communities
who need them the most" Read more
Kah Yan Li, Advocacy Team, Shujog "An amazing and
interesting journey with
Shujog and IIX that has
been blessed with daily
inspirations as we
brainstorm and work
together to be global
social change makers." Read more
Sarah Lynch, Research Team, Shujog "I am excited to have the
opportunity to work with
Shujog in assisting social
enterprises in Asia." Read more
Nelly Martin, Corporate
Finance Team, IIX "I am eager to learn more
about impact investing as
an innovative approach to
addressing environmental
and social issues and am
excited to contribute to
IIX’s work." Read more
Wang Yang, Corporate
Finance Team, IIX "IIX and Shujog provide
excellent platforms for
like-minded people to
solve social problems
more efficiently and
creatively, to reality and
broaden the impacts of
these projects." Read more
Joel Tok, Corporate
Finance Team, IIX "It has been a great
experience learning
about Social Enterprise
and Impact Investments,
and I hope to continue
to learn and grow more
through the rest of
my time here at IIX." Read more
Wei Zheng, Research
Team, Shujog "It is an eye-opening
experience for me to
learn about the
landscape of social
entrepreneurship and
impact investing in Asia
through the research
work here at Shujog." Read more
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Case Studies
IIX recently facilitated
investments into Frontier
Markets (FM), a last-mile
sales and distribution
company that offers
clean energy products
and superior after-sales
service to low-income,
base of the pyramid (BOP)
households in rural India.
Read our latest case
studies here
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Shujog Research
Shujog Research is targeted
at impact investors, Social
Enterprises (SEs), policy
makers and any practitioners
interested in the SE space in
Asia. The dissemination
of Shujog’s research work
ensures the lessons learned
inform active engagement
with SEs, NGOs, government
and impact investors. Read more
