VentureBeat - Latest Comments in Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

Re: Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

khaled Ismail — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:08:38 -0000

Dear Drew
Thanks for mentioning SySDSoft. In fact, you highlighted the most important reason behind establishing SySDSoft, which many people have overlooked. Please drop me an email (kismail@sysdsoft.com), so we can stay in touch.

Khaled Ismail (CEO)

Re: Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

Percy — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:33:10 -0000

Mr. Clark,
Thanks for mentioning our company (BoliviaMall.com). Ironically we have been interviewed by CNN, BBC, Le Monde, etc. We have been selected by the Schawb Foundation as finalists for their social entrepeneur foundation. We were selected as entrepreneurs of the year in our country. Selected as one of 20 innovative projects in Latinamerica to be invited to the InterAmerican Development Bank Annual Meeting, selected as one of 3 projects to showcase at the "The UN meets Silicon Valley" event. Triple digit growth for over 5 years....but 0% capacity to raise venture capital or any significant capital besides local bank loans. What message does that send to other social entrepreneurs in developing countries?. By any chance do you have any recommendations for us?

Thanks!
Percy

Re: Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

niti — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 23:40:53 -0000

It is in that overlap where modern high technology meets the poorest of the poor living without the infrastructural support systems we take for granted that genuine innovation/invention will occur. for if necessity is the mother of invention, for those who have nothing, necessity is food, shelter, work and dignity.

here is an example of what happens when you add the mobile phone to a moped.
http://ecophilo.blogspot.co...

Re: Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

Drew Clark — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:20:19 -0000

Bret, thanks for your comments. Two of the best I know of are the Reuters Foundation Digital Vision program at Stanford (http://rdvp.org/)which provides social entrepreneurs with a creative environment and platform to design and implement scalable technology-based solutions for developing markets; and Acumen Fund (http://www.acumenfund.org/), a non-profit venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. What's cool about them is their philosophy of financial sustainability that's built in to their model, providing a disciplined approach to selecting and managing and measuring the social and financial returns that so critical to providing lasting impact.

Re: Social enterpreneurship can make money in the developing world

Bret Tobey — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:12:04 -0000

Mr. Clark -

Excellent observations. Are you aware of other groups dedicated to developing world infrastructure technology or groups that support it other than the examples cited in your post?