Slava Rubin Talks Equity Crowdfunding (Video)

Slava Rubin, Indiegogo Co-Founder and CEO, talks crowdfunding on Bloomberg Surveillance today, specifically he comments on the opportunity with equity crowdfunding. Slava has spoken about Indiegogo’s interest in popular or retail crowdfunding before in the past. This has to do with “Title III” of the JOBS Act where companies may raise up to $1 Million in any given year by soliciting small or un-accredited investors. Note these equity crowdfunding rounds may occur in concert with a private placement which may be unlimited in the size of the raise.

Slava states he wants to disrupt

“the gatekeeper who decided who gets money”. Indiegogo is “really excited about equity crowdfunding”.

Indiegogo funded campaigns in 76 countries for #GivingTuesday. Slava uses this as an example how they can scale raising funds by applying technology for crowdfunding.

While they have not made an official announcement, it is becoming more apparent that Indiegogo is on a path to enter into retail crowdfunding once the regulations are finalized at some point in 2014.

VIDEO

SOLiPOWER ist nicht von Apple

Richtung Süden, wo es weniger touristisch zugeht, hängen die Stromkabel bedrohlich tief und wirken wie skurile Kunstwerke. Altmodische Geschäfte haben bemalte Holzrahmen. In den meisten Hotels gibt es nur eine einzige Steckdose. Das reicht, denn Strom gibt es nur für etwa 100 Stunden pro Woche. Wenn andere Bezirke der Stadt vesorgt werden, ist er hier eben weg. Die Menschen haben sich in ihrem Alltagsleben darauf eingestellt. Wer es sich leisten kann, betreibt einen Dieselgenerator. Die Umwelt leidet unter Lärm, Gestank, Abgasen und Ruß. Kathmandus Schönheit erschliesst sich nicht auf den ersten Blick.

Quelle: Happy Children e.V.

Die Kindersterblichkeit liegt bei 43 Toten auf 1000 Lebendgeburten. Männer werden nicht älter als durchschnittlich 65,2 Jahre, Frauen 67,8. Nur 10 Prozent der Bevölkerung haben Zugang zu medizinischer Versorgung. 84 Prozent der Menschen fehlen sanitäre Anlagen. Für fünf Euro kann ein Kind einige Tage essen. Für 45 Euro pro Monat geht es auf eine gute Schule. 55 Euro monatlich kostet ein Heimplatz mit voller Verpflegung, Schulunterricht und Kleidung. 

Märchenhafte Kleider für Momente des Glücks

Das ist das Motto der Österreicherin Ingrid Gumpelmaier - Grandl. In Eferding bietet die diplomierte Kindergarten- und Hortpädagogin bio-faire Damenmode an, Fairytale Fashion. Wer textile Augenweiden sucht, die sowohl ökologisch wie sozial verantwortungsvoll hergestellt werden, wird bei ihr fündig. 

Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl

Sie verwebt traditionelle nepalesische Sticktechnik mit europäischem Design. Verkauft wird online und in zahlreichen EineWelt - Läden. Für eine kleine Schneiderei in Kathmandu ist Ingrid mehr als nur ein verlässlicher Handelspartner. Die faire Geschäftsfrau ermöglicht den Frauen, die dort arbeiten, ein würdiges Leben. Anerkennung und eine wirtschaftliche Existenz, mit der sie ihre Familien über die Runden bringen. Bei regelmäßigen Besuchen überzeugt Ingrid sich davon, dass soziale Standards eingehalten werden. Die Bedingungen unter denen tagtäglich gearbeitet wird, sind schwer. Vor allem wegen der häufigen Stromausfälle. So wie überall in Kathmandu ist ein mit Diesel betriebenes Notstromaggregat unverzichtbar. Auch wenn es ungeliebt ist, schmutzig und ungeheuer laut. Das ständige Dröhnen der Aggregate ist Kathmandus Grundgeräusch. Der grösste Luxus, den man sich hier vorstellen kann, ist ein Hörgerät. Esther Leist und ihr Partner Markus Schraermeyer machten auf ihrer einjährigen Motorradreise Station in Nepal. Gemeinsam mit der Hilfsorganisation Nepal Association of the hard of hearing fertigten sie einige Wochen lang Ohrpassstücke für Hörgeräte an. Wie ein Lauffeuer habe es sich herumgesprochen, dass in Kathmandu Hörgeräte angepasst werden. Esther Leist schreibt:

"Betroffene haben oft keine Chance, ihre Kommunikationsstörung zu überwinden, einen Beruf zu lernen und ihr Leben selbstbestimmt zu meistern. Aus Mangel an Hilfe teilen sie zumeist das Los der Gehörlosen. Sie leben mehr oder weniger jenseits lautsprachlicher Kommunikation."

Foto: Christian Ostendorf

Bei uns in Europa ist alles so wie in jedem Jahr. Deshalb gegen wir dorthin, wo eben nicht alles so ist wie in jedem Jahr:

"Aber hätten wir dieses Elend entschuldigen können - mit Karma? Nein!

"Happy Children e.V.

Ärmel hochkrempeln und anpacken. Photovoltaik statt Diesel. Für die Schneiderei in Kathmandu ist Hari Gautam verantwortlich. Er möchte eine umweltschonende Solaranlage installieren. Das kostet zwischen 15.000 und 18.000 Euro. Eigentlich vollkommen unerschwinglich. Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl weiß das.

Quelle: Happy Children e.V.

Im März 2009 wurde in Kathmandu - Tilganga, direkt am heiligen Fluss Bagmati, unweit des Tempels Pashupatinath, das neue Zentrum der Shanti Leprahilfe eröffnet. Mit Hilfe einer Spende von Hape Kerkeling, der beim Promi-Special von Wer wird Millionär 500.000 Euro gewonnen hatte. Die Klinik, die Shanti in Tilganga führt, trägt seither seinen Namen. Auf dem Dach des imposanten Rundbaus ist eine Photovoltaik - Anlage installiert, um von den ständigen Stromunterbrechungen der Stadt unabhängig zu werden.

Quelle: Happy Children e.V.

Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl hat nicht die Prominenz eines Hape Kerkeling. Sie geht einen anderen Weg: Auf der deutschsprachigen Webseite von Indiegogo begann sie vor wenigen Tagen eine Crowdfunding - Kampagne. Dadurch erreicht sie außerhalb ihres eigenen Lebenskreises Gleichgesinnte, die sie ohne Indiegogo nicht gefunden hätte. Österreich, die Schweiz und Deutschland sind reich. Beat Bühlmann vom Schweizer Tagesanzeiger sagt: 

"Armut heißt hierzulande keine neuen Turnschuhe für die Kinder. Kleider nur im Ausverkauf. Zahnarztbehandlung verschieben. Wegen der Stromrechnung beim Pfarrer oder bei einer gemeinnützigen Stiftung betteln. Ferien vergessen. Auf die Van-Gogh-Ausstellung im Kunstmuseum verzichten. Auswärts essen streichen."

Wer mit Armen in Nepal spricht, merkt, wie wir auf verschiedenen Planeten leben. Die nepalesische Bevölkerung hat nicht den Hauch einer Chance, sich selbst zu helfen. Der Strom wird nach Indien verkauft, um Devisen zu erwirtschaften, die gebraucht werden, um dringend benötigte Waren zu importieren. Nepals Außenhandel entfällt zu 86 Prozent auf Einfuhren. Aus Indien kommen Medikamente und Reis. Wenn Nepal ein Geschäftsmodell wäre, würde es mit dem Bauch nach oben schwimmen, schrieb die Nepal Times im August 2013 voller Resignation. Das Land sei moralisch bankrott! Mit welchen Maßstäben wird das gemessen? Der Philosoph Richard David Precht bringt es auf den Punkt:

"Der Mensch ist nicht von Natur aus gut. Der Mensch besitzt auch keinen angeborenen Sinn für Fairness. Er weiß nur, wann er unfair behandelt wird. Der Mensch passt seine Moral seinem Umfeld an. Gibt es dort keine Moral, entwickelt er sie auch nicht."

Zum Glück sind wir in einen anderen Teil der Welt hineingeboren worden. Mit wenig Geld können wir viel Gutes tun!





Diese Kampagne erhält alle eingenommenen Finanzmittel, selbst wenn das Fundingziel von 18.000 Euro nicht erreicht wird. Es ist noch Zeit bis zum 21. Dezember 2013. Zeit für ein gutes Ende für Alle!

Auf den Gipfeln der Welt: solipower

Fairytale Fashion Team Nepal

Das Fair Trade Modelabel „Fairytale Fashion” aus Eferding (Oberösterreich) setzt auf Engagement und Online-Unterstützung bei der Finanzierung einer notwendigen Anschaffung für die Partner-Schneiderei in Nepal: Mithilfe einer Crowdfunding-Aktion, die bis zum 21. Dezember 2013 läuft, soll das in Kathmandu verwendete Diesel-Notstrom-Aggregat durch eine umweltschonende Photovoltaik-Anlage ersetzt und 15.000 Euro dafür gesammelt werden.

Die täglichen, stundenlangen Stromausfälle in Kathmandu/Nepal behindern die Partner-Schneiderei des Eferdinger Fair Trade Modelabels „Fairytale Fashion” erheblich bei der Arbeit. Das bisher verwendete Diesel-Notstrom-Aggregat durch eine umweltschonende Photovoltaik-Anlage zu ersetzen – dieses Ziel hat sich die Eferdinger Designerin und Projektleiterin Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl nun zum Auftrag gemacht und setzt bei der Form der Unterstützung auf eine neue Finanzierungsmethode: dem Crowdfunding, auch „Schwarmfinanzierung” genannt. Dabei wird für künstlerische oder soziale Projekte Geld über eine Online-Plattform eingesammelt. Der „Schwarm”, also die breite Masse der Internet-Nutzer, ermöglicht die Durchführung eines Projekts, indem sie es finanziell unterstützt.

Gegenleistungen für die Unterstützer

„Es handelt sich dabei jedoch nicht um eine herkömmliche Spendenaktion, da die Unterstützer attraktive Gegenleistungen in Form von Produkten oder originellen Prämien erhalten“,  

betont Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl. Insgesamt 15.000 Euro sollen auf diese Weise in den kommenden Wochen für das Projekt über die Internet-Plattform „Indiegogo“ zusammenkommen. Dabei verspricht die Eferdingerin den Unterstützern attraktive Prämien, etwa einen Fair Trade Mode-Workshop für den Entwurf eines individuellen Einzelstücks oder ein exklusives Foto-Shooting im Fairytale Fashion Style.

„Als Klimabündnispartner-Betrieb ist es mir ein großes Anliegen, nicht nur hier in Österreich Ressourcenschonend zu arbeiten, sondern umweltfreundliche Maßnahmen auch in Kathmandu umzusetzen, damit wir an beiden Enden der Welt umweltfreundlich agieren können”, weiß Gumpelmaier-Grandl. Überzeugung aus tiefstem Herzen und der Glaube daran, dass Menschen sich für eine gute Sache begeistern lassen, ist dabei Grundhaltung Ihrer Arbeit. „Regelmäßig sieht, hört oder liest man erschütternde Berichte aus der Textilproduktion. Die Menschen erzählen mir immer wieder, dass sie froh sind, wenn es eine Alternative gibt”, erklärt Gumpelmaier-Grandl die Beweggründe der außergewöhnlichen Aktion.

Die Crowdfunding-Aktion läuft noch bis 21. Dezember 2013:

Über Fairytale Fashion:

Fairytale Fashion ist ein Fair Trade Modelabel aus Eferding/OÖ. Zusammen mit einer kleinen Partner-Schneiderei in Kathmandu/Nepal produziert die Designerin und Projektleiterin Ingrid Gumpelmaier-Grandl bio-faire Damenmode - designed in Austria, handmade in Nepal. Dabei werden die einzelnen Kleidungsstücke überwiegend aus Biobaumwolle hergestellt, Taschen aus edlen Khadi-Stoffen. Die Mode erfreut sich großer Beliebtheit und wird mittlerweile in ganz Österreich sowie neuerdings auch in Deutschland vertrieben.

Fairytale Fashion im Web: www.fairytale-fashion.at 

Zwei kleine Länder mit hohen Bergen: Happy End für alle!

GoGo

Worldwide Crowdfunding 2012 (Infographic)

Origin Dragon's About BankToTheFuture (Video)

The Future Of No Is Yes: Slava Rubin (Video)

Crowdfunding's Potential For The Developing World

Foreword

by Steve Case
Chairman and CEO, Revolution
Co-Founder, America Online
Chairman, The Case Foundation

Crowdfunding is an innovation in entrepreneurial finance that can fuel “the Rise of the Rest” globally

What would the world look like if there were Silicon Valleys everywhere? While I am happy for innovative entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, I am passionately focused on helping to create “the Rise of the Rest” so that entrepreneurs globally can build successful businesses. This initiative is to create focus and action in cities and towns of all sizes, to form entrepreneurial ecosystems that can ignite innovation, create jobs and grow economies. 

In the past, because of the high cost of technology development, lack of mobile/web infrastructure and restrictive financial regulations, entrepreneurs had to travel to places like San Francisco or Boston to find the technologies and investors to build their companies. For most, this was cost prohibitive and logistically impossible. Entrepreneurs had a more challenging time executing their plans and potential investors were scarce. Today, technology development costs are plummeting and tools are available to build software more rapidly and cheaply than ever before:

• One third of the world’s population has access to the Internet and, according to the United Nations, approximately 85 percent have access to a mobile phone. 

• Based on the adoption curve of feature phones in Africa, it is possible that 40 percent of people living in Africa will have access to a smartphone within five years. 

• Innovative new broadband solutions are becoming available and smartphone penetration is growing as costs decline and demand increases. 

• With an increase in connectivity, new and larger markets for goods and services are now available and we need talented entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions to customer needs, to create jobs, and drive economic and social stability. 

Now we are ready to address the lack of capital for entrepreneurs through innovation in the financial markets that leverages these technical advances. 

I believe that equity, debt, and rewards-based crowdfunding open new possibilities for funding more entrepreneurs in more places around the world. These changes enable entrepreneurs to utilize social media and the web to offer rewards, ownership of a shared vision, or even equity stakes to potential investors. Crowdfunding websites are creating transparency and more open communication by enabling investors to engage with these companies over time to monitor their progress and continue to support their success as the company grows. This technology makes it possible for an entrepreneur in Kenya to more easily engage investors and customers anywhere; whether that be locally, the diaspora, or with others anywhere in the world. 

Now is the time for leaders in the developing world to engage in a spirited discussion and analysis regarding crowdfunding and how it should be utilized to benefit businesses and communities while providing prudent safeguards and investor protections. It may be possible for developing nations to use this new funding mechanism as a means to spur domestic innovation and create a larger number of high-growth entrepreneurs. Innovative policies, technology, education and safeguards will be important in determining if this new financial tool can deliver on its promise. I appreciate infoDev’s early participation in this conversation via this research and I hope they and leaders of countries and institutions will use this report as a starting point in creating and testing appropriate, country-specific approaches to crowdfunding across the developing world. 

I believe that crowdfunding may have the potential to help catalyze existing efforts to create entrepreneurial cultures and ecosystems in developing nations. Development organizations like the World Bank and other institutions will play an ongoing role to act as “trusted third parties” in creating these new models of funding and providing mentorship, capacity building as well as ongoing monitoring and reporting. 

This research is also demonstrating the important role that academia must play in building deeper, more robust bodies of knowledge in this arena. Major research institutions and other multilateral development banks can use this infoDev report as a platform for additional research in this exciting new nexus of finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. This report, and the research that follows it, can help to shape global best practice. I hope this report can provide new opportunities for multilateral organizations and academia to collaborate to provide appropriate measures and tools for the development of this new form of finance. 

This confluence of developments in public policy, technological innovation, academia and economic trends can alter the playing field in developing countries to enable businesses to start, scale, and succeed outside of Silicon Valley. If successful, crowdfunding can support ”the Rise of the Rest” and will play a key role in sparking economic growth, innovation, and jobs. We have seen how technology has revolutionized many sectors of the global economy, however to date, the way that entrepreneurs are funded has either remained unchanged or become even more challenging. Crowdfunding is not a panacea and there are still risks and unanswered questions remaining. 

Nevertheless, I have faith that through ingenuity and technology, appropriate regulation and investor protections can be built. I believe that crowdfunding has the potential to enable innovative developing economies to leverage the explosion of social media to leapfrog forward to build a network of vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Report

Bitcoin: Dive Deeper

All For One

Technofunding is a free to use crowdfunding platform for technological projects and inventions. The Project Creator will offer "Rewards" for people who fund the project. Rewards may range from a simple "Thank you" to a copy of the finished project. August 30 2013 was the official launch date.

The project will be published for a period between 1 to 60 days. Within that period, sponsors from all around the world may fund the project with as little as $1, €1 or ₤1 or as much as they want. 

Recently launched projects

Technofunding


Navigating Chaotic Environments

Gimball: Video

Bitcoin's Revolution Is Over

Source:Pandodaily

Bitcoin's Radical Days Are Over. 
Here Is How to Make It Mainstream.

by David Wolman, WIRED

Done right, it could put small ecommerce sites on a level playing field with the likes of Amazon and Apple. Instead of running from Bitcoin, we should commandeer it from the radicals and make it work for the rest of us.

This cashlike quality largely results from Bitcoin’s fulfillment system. Picture a 19th-century shopkeeper’s ledger. Bitcoin works similarly, except that instead of the ledger sitting on one person’s desk, Bitcoin’s ledger—called the “block chain”—is distributed over the entire network. There’s a shared record of every Bitcoin-denominated transaction ever, with the user info concealed by encryption. So while all Bitcoin network activity is essentially public (to protect against double spending), identities are private.

t’s time to empower a central authority to help regulate Bitcoin as it grows. There’s already some precedent for such a move: Just this past summer, a group called the Digital Asset Transfer Authority formed to establish guidelines for digital currencies, including safeguards against money laundering. And leadership, despite all the rhetoric about decentralization, has already proven crucial to Bitcoin’s survival.

View Full Story

Important Comment by Florian Bösch:

You still don't understand bitcoin in a few fundamental aspects, and that's inexcusable at this point.

Mining is the act of confirming transactions. Miners get rewarded for this activity in two ways, by the block reward and by the transaction fees. Currently the block reward is the majority of the compensation, but that is set to change in the next 4 years as the block reward tapers off, and, inevitably, transaction volume and fee goes up.

Mining isn't "inefficient". It's exactly as efficient as it needs to be. This is because it uses a concept called "proof of work". This is cruical to the security of the network as well as to the economic viability. Proof of work combined with the mining difficulty parameter, guarantees that nobody can credit themselves with infinite bitcoins out of thin air. It takes effort (the proof of work) to mine.

This is cruical because on the one hand, it incentivices miners to provide the network. Without miners, there wouldn't be a bitcoin network. Without a bitcoin network, the protocol would be useless. Mining also provides a certain fundamental value for bitcoin, because mining requires effort, i.e. expenses, it means that mining is an economic activity with expenses and profit. This is where the underlying value of bitcoin stems from.

Regarding a "central authority" for "price control". This would violate the principle that the network is self regulating. Because, it'd reqire creating bitcoins out of thin air. This would compromise the network, because miners couldn't trust that "authority", because miners have expenses, and they need to estimate those expenses far into the future to stay profitable. With a willy-nilly agency creating bitcoins out of thin air, mining would not be economically feasible, because at any time it can throw off your calculations of profitability. This would mean you end up controlling the price, but you've no longer got a network.

Bitcoin the protocol is useless without a network. And Bitcoin the currency is priced based on the trust and economics people place in that network. So if you create a central authority, you essentially destroyed bitcoin, completely.

But beyond that, it's not like there are no atlernative cryptocurrencies. There are countless, most of them clones of bitcoin with some variations. The matter of the fact is that, none of them are terribly popular, they're very much an excotic niche, and have remained to be that. The reason is that they either deviate too little from bitcoin as to make it seem worthwhile, or that they deviate so much that they're no longer bitcoin, and don't offer similar advantages.

And this is why you don't understand bitcoin, why you probably will never understand it, probably never write anything intelligble about it, and why your grand alternative schemes for some modified bitcoin that makes it "all work" are nothing but an uneducated pipedream.

Save time: Use CrowdsUnite

Find the best crowdfunding website for your project

For example

Platform Type: Equity

Country of Requester: Germany

Campaign Type: All or Nothing

Innovestment

About CrowdsUnite

CrowdsUnite

Global Crowdfunding Report

In one years operations, Crowd Valley, the US-based platform, back office and ecosystem service provider, has gained a broad view on the global crowdfunding market. With data collected on over 6,000 individuals and companies from all over the world, Crowd Valley releases an overview of facts and figures in the global report, presented at UC Berkeley’s Academic Symposium on crowdfunding .

The report examines planned applications and statistics and concludes that the crowdfunding market is diverse, with several opportunities highlighted for professional actors such as asset managers and broker dealers. Read more

Bitcoin: Banking to the Unbanked

Crowdfunding With Content Marketing

Salvador Briggman:

From my experience, whenever you begin with the product and try to “sell” a consumer or “get people to pledge” to your crowdfunding campaign, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. The reason I am mentioning this is the last sentence of his question “without looking like I am harassing blog readers about a product that I want them to spend their money on.”

The beauty of social media, blog comments, and receiving emails from readers as a result of finding your blog is that you can engage in a discussion with your future customers and really begin to understand their problems.

The sole purpose of a product is to solve a problem that a consumer has. When you create a product that genuinely makes someone’s life better, easier, or more enjoyable, they are no longer spending money and you are no longer SELLING to them. They are investing money in their own life and they are BUYING from you.

Salvador Briggman

From a practical standpoint, I would first try to engage your readers in a discussion about the problem that your project or product will solve. Take a genuine interest in the readers that experience this problem. Seek to understand why the existing solutions do not solve their problem adequately. Only then, would I mention my own product or solution.

In addition, the more that you can involve them in the creation and eventual launch of the campaign, the better. This can include: taking pictures of the box your first prototype comes in, giving updates once a week to explain how excited you are for this project and how you are pouring all of your energy into it, or inviting readers to a special pre-launch facebook event or live meetup to give feedback for the campaign in exchange for a mention in the video or on the website.

I launched CrowdfundingPr after many discussions with crowdfunding campaign creators. It was only after these discussions that I could understand their problem (publish a press release on a tight budget) and then come back in a few weeks with a solution to their problem.

At the same time, I do break my own rules. Sometimes I’ll mention a website idea on social media or the blog just to see how people will react. I’m planning to do this with my new website  CrowdfundingClassifieds (in beta mode) where you can create a free classified listing related to your campaign (hiring a marketer/video editor/etc).

You know your readers or customers best! When in doubt, ask for feedback is a great way to introduce the idea of a product to your audience along with emphasizing your passion and excitement for the upcoming campaign.

The Full Story

Mobile Is Eating The World

Global P2P-Support For Social Entrepreneurs

Global Social Entrepreneurs Network

The Global Social Entrepreneurs Network (GSEN) is a new platform, supported by the Cabinet Office, working with social entrepreneurs around the world. It utilises the learning, models and expertise from the UK and from all other country members who join. It will be a peer learning service for support agencies, with the potential to open out to social entrepreneurs themselves as a virtual social incubator at a future point.

Agencies supporting early stage social entrepreneurs are springing up across the world. We can all benefit from learning and sharing as well as technology transfer and this will be vital to achieve the social transformation we all want in our countries.

The secretariat coordinating the approach will be UK based and hosted initially by UnLtd, and expand out to contributions from members on a sharing economy model.

06 June 2013

UnLtd, The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to funding a Global Social Entrepreneurs Network (GSEN) and calls on social investors at the G8 Social Impact Forum to see the potential in supporting start up social entrepreneurs.

Nick Hurd

Announced today by Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd at the G8 Social Impact Investment Reception, hosted by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office, the aim of the Global Social Entrepreneurs Network is to create a worldwide network for social entrepreneur support agencies to ensure the sector continues to develop and thrive.

Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, said: 

The social enterprise movement is a really important one. This global network looks the right idea at the right time and we are happy to support it. It is another example of the UK leading the way in supporting social entrepreneurs and socially responsible investors.

Cliff Prior, chief executive, UnLtd said: 

We believe that the Global Social Entrepreneur Network will play a critical role in improving the accessibility and quality of support for social entrepreneurs around the world. It will share knowhow, innovations and results to help develop new support agencies and assist us all to improve our work. Support to start up social entrepreneurs is vital to create the pipeline of investible social ventures.

At the moment there’s an intense focus on supporting proven social ventures that show promise of reaching large scale – and that’s great. However, the social investment market is chasing too few viable social ventures. Today, it’s more vital than ever that more social entrepreneurs are supported at an early stage of their development to achieve their full potential. It’s wonderful to see Government and venture philanthropy backing for this work,

he said.

Led by UnLtd in collaboration with early stage social entrepreneur support agencies around the world, the Global Social Entrepreneurs Network will share learning and best practice around how to stimulate and best support social entrepreneurs. For example, UnLtd UK has already successfully shared its Big Venture Challenge programme – a model now adopted in India – and its programme for supporting social entrepreneurs in higher education institutions, now to be replicated in Thailand.

About UnLtd

UnLtd is here for social entrepreneurs. It is the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK and offers the largest such network in the world. UnLtd resources up to 1,000 individuals each year through their Awards programmes. UnLtd operates a unique model by investing directly in individuals and offering a complete package of support; its Awards include advice, networking, mentoring and practical support as well as funding from £500 to £15,000.

UnLtd enables individuals from age 11 upwards to start and run ventures with the aim of creating social impact on a local, regional or national level. It conducts research to identify the impacts created by social entrepreneurs and to learn how best to support them to succeed. UnLtd’s surveys show that its award winners gain confidence and skills to run social ventures. Nearly half employ at least one person, while over three quarters create volunteering opportunities. They typically reach a median average of 100 beneficiaries each year, while some reach thousands. UnLtd is also committed to developing an ecosystem of support to make it easier for new social entrepreneurs to find the help they need. It actively helps other agencies to develop social entrepreneur support services.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Harding and Harding 2008) found that there were 1.7m people leading social organisations in the UK, 238,000 trying to start one, and that 35% of all early stage entrepreneurs were starting with social ventures. UnLtd is focused on UK social entrepreneurs. Its model has been replicated in four other countries with several more in the pipeline.

UnLtd

Nachhaltigkeit: Gewinn ohne Kompromisse

Nachhaltigkeit: Gewinne ohne Sozialromantik

Fail Better

Farrukh H Khan, the Author

First microinsurance agency proves the point of 'failure'

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Samuel Beckett's words could almost have been written about social innovation. In a new series on failure, Farrukh Khan, director of Acumen Pakistan says failing is crucial if we are to solve the most intractable social problems, particularly in developing countries where social investing can be a tricky business.

In the start-up world of Silicon Valley, failure is a badge of honor that entrepreneurs and investors wear proudly on their sleeve. In the social sector, however, failure is often swept under the rug or treated as a one-off exception. Over the past 12 years at Acumen, we’ve seen that a key part of successfully supporting emerging social enterprises is the ability to take a risk on an untested idea, and have the patience to test, fail, and re-test the idea until the model is proven. The mindset and ability to learn from failure is a critical success factor. 

In 2005, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) launched a new company, First Microinsurance Agency (FMiA), with the help of a $5.4M grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to test new micro-insurance products for the poor in Pakistan. Acumen invested $384,000 in equity capital. In addition, to help the company grow, Acumen and AKAM provided a $1.8M stop loss facility that would bear 90 percent of the company’s cumulative underwriting losses (i.e., the shortfall of premium income over claims payments) in order to encourage a mainstream commercial insurer to underwrite FMiA’s policies. The business plan envisaged that the firm would grow rapidly and break even within three years. 

At the time there were no successful precedents for commercially viable health micro-insurance products for the poor; the company was as much an experiment as it was a business model, but one whose social impact had the potential to revolutionize the way poor communities access healthcare. FMiA’s approach was to leverage existing micro-finance networks to sell their micro-insurance products, and gradually increase their customer base until they could become financially sustainable. Their initial products focused on mitigating two commonly faced risks: death of a family breadwinner and hospitalization due to severe illness or maternity complications. View Full Story

Civilized Tears

New Crowdfunding Project:

British rocker Tim Bennett and California girl, Bambi Monroe’s band Civilized Tears perform intimate stories told like open heart surgery laid upon a roaring bed of thrashing guitars.

Bennett has supported his musical passions by any means possible. He’s acted in award winning commercials, canvassed for political organizations; cleaned toilets and been photographed for Vogue.

Monroe, raised in Britney Spears’ hometown; is the anti-pop princess. Struggling with her own identity, constantly being pigeonholed as a beauty queen, Monroe’s defining moment came when she severed her golden locks, plugged in an electric guitar and screamed “Miss World” by Hole.

Plan:

Thank you for being a part of our debut music video for the first single “STARS” off our new album.

We intend to shoot a high quality, low budget music video in Austin Texas using the vibrant and unique city-scape as a back drop. We’ll also be making a trip out to the desert to film some stark, hot, contrasted imagery.

Sellaband

ArtZoco

Art Zoco about:

We connect you directly to artisans in the developing world. No more middle men: we want you to be able to buy handmade goods from the artisans who produce them.

How does it all work

We have coordinated with artisans in the developing world to manage an online shop: they created their storefronts, posted their products, and uploaded their stories. They did this all in their native language and then the website auto-translated the text for you to view. In fact, you can even message them and we will auto-translate that too.

When you purchase a product, we send the artisan a text message reminder to ship your order. Once they receive the text, they go to a local internet cafe to print the order info from our website. With the info in hand, they package your order for delivery and then drop it off at a local post office. In a short period of time, your products are on your doorstep. It goes to show just how technologically interconnected we really are.

How we revolutionize trade

The developing world is experiencing their version of Web 1.0; social networking is spreading like wild fire. E-commerce though is still shockingly absent from the equation. 

Our goal is to spread the peer-to-peer internet commerce model we know well in the United States to truly everyone. And in the process, help the poor climb the ladder of economic success.

Sustainable development

On ArtZoco, the artisans are creating their own products, setting up their own online stores, shipping their products directly to you, and receiving feedback from the whole process. They have complete control of their business from start to finish. When you buy products from them, you are helping support them and their businesses in a sustainable and meaningful way. 

Sign Up and stay connected. They will let you know when they're open for business! 

Help ArtZoco soon bringing handmade goods directly from international artisans to you.

Their story:

We served as Peace Corps volunteers and felt it was time to change up the model of how to buy artisan products from abroad. From our service, we recognized that the infrastructure exists for e-commerce to succeed for many artisans in the developing world. ArtZoco bridges the gap of the internet for those artisans. We empower them to sell their products to you directly, where they make a better profit and you witness the impact your buying makes on their lives.

ArtZoco.com




The Founder of ArtZoco

Vince Hartman

Visit ArtZoco Blog for more information