Artha News 01/ Oct 13

The Artha Platform’s Bi-Monthly Newsletter 2013
Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.



Dear Readers,

It has been another busy month, as we are tracking the various investor discussions around AVC finalists and planning how to best showcase each venture, along with the great partner organizations and networks (like Impact Circle, I3N, IAN, Toniic, and others) with whom we work. Please contact us if you have any thoughts about how to get involved with the AVC or the Artha Platform. On the tech front, v1.2 of Artha is well underway with a goal of delivery by year-end, with a new user experience in the works and much more flexibility in how we incorporate and customize new due diligence modules. Stay tuned!  – The Artha Team

In Short:

Artha Webinar on KrishiStar: The webinar is to showcase one of our AVC applicant called KrishiStar (KS). KS’s vision is to increase and stabilize incomes for small farmers in India by giving them greater ownership of the food value chain through farmer-owned processing units. Read more

Global green energy awards announces calls for entries: The Ashden Awards – the world’s leading green energy awards scheme  is seeking entries for its 2014 Awards. They want to hear from trailblazing sustainable energy enterprises and programmes from developing countries that are increasing the poor’s access to energy and improving lives, while protecting the environment. Read More

Five Indian start-ups get funding from venture capital companies:  Early-stage start-up incubator GSF Accelerator is investing between $100,000 and $200,000 each in five Indian start-ups, along with other venture capital firms such as Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups. Read More

Quick guide – India Inclusive Innovation Fund:  All you need to know about India’s latest investment fund for social enterprises. Read more

Paul Basil: Spearheading change: Ever since social entrepreneurship crusader Paul Basil sowed the seeds of change with social enterprise incubator Villgro (formerly Rural Innovators Network – RIN) more than a decade ago, millions of India’s rural poor and many social entrepreneurs have been reaping the benefits. Read more

The AVC in Full Swing

Of the 116 ambitious early-stage social enterprises that applied for the Artha Venture Challenge (AVC), the final cohort of 15 enterprises has been hard at work for well over a month with AVC development partners Villgro and Ennovent. The AVC is a national competition designed to identify, provide mentoring to and ultimately funding for the best socially focused ventures focused on delivering high social impact in India. Diagnostics and thorough review of the state of each venture has been underway, and nearly all 15 have serious interest from at least one investor in the impact investment arena. Artha will provide match funding in the form of equity investment, triggered on the decision of any lead investor to proceed. Most AVC finalists and their details are now listed on the Artha pipeline, and investors are heartily encouraged to sign in and have a look. Please contact us if you have questions.

News

Aavishkaar invests in housing microfinance
New Delhi-based Swarna Pragati Housing Microfinance has received a primary infusion of capital led by Aavishkaar Goodwell II in its first investment in the segment. Existing investor NBFC Asia Pragati, has also participated in this round. Read More

More News here

Good to Know

The Indian Sustainability Congress (ICS) 2013 will be held in Bangalore, India the first week of December. In partnership with the Centre for Green Technology and Management (CGTM), the Institute on Climate Change and Sustainability (ICCS) and the Foundation for Educational Excellence (FLE), this event is also supported and endorsed by the Government of India. The ICS is seeking eminent and expert individuals and organizations from all over the world to join them as Knowledge Partners for the convention. Read More

Programmes

Impact Academy
Shujog is running its second Impact Assessor Accreditation course, starting with the first module on November 1, 2013. By joining this course you will learn how to assess social impact and take your first step toward becoming an accredited Impact Assessor. The course consists of three modules that span over 6 months. Read more

Blogs

PowerStart
IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) has joined hands with the Asian Development Bank to launch PowerStart to strengthen the cleantech entrepreneurship ecosystem and build technical and business capacity in cleantech entrepreneurs, and providing more access to early stage funding. Read more

Follow our Blogs here

Events

Investment Forum – New Ventures India 2013
The New Ventures Investor Forum is the annual flagship event of New Ventures India, a premier platform for enterprise development and investor engagement in support of green enterprises across India. The Investor Forum attracts investors and entrepreneurs from all over the world who are interested in learning more about the green business industry in the country. Read more

More Events:

Sankalp Awards 2014:  Applications for Awards 2014 now open. Read more

Reports

From the Margin to the Mainstream: Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors. A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Investors Industries prepared in collaboration with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Read more.

Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved.

*|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|*

Our mailing address is:

*|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|**|END:IF|*
*|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*