Publication database

IIC releases an annual “Year in Retrospect" publication that throws light on investment trends and emerging market developments across key impact sectors such as Financial Inclusion, Agriculture, Healthcare, Technology for Development and Climate-tech. Their research highlights that 2021 has proven to be a strong year for the Indian impact sector, with more than 300 impact focussed enterprises raising $7 Bn in capital. While investment activity was robust across sectors as well as the stage of development of the enterprise, several late-stage companies have raised significant amounts of capital leading to a 135% growth in overall capital raised in 2021 vis a vis 2020.

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) launched the Advancing Women’s Empowerment Fund (AWEF) in 2019 with support from the Visa Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The overall goal of AWEF-funded projects is to address the gender financing gap for women-owned small and growing businesses (SGBs) in developing economies. The first round of grantmaking, AWEF Asia, funded eight entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) in Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines, Pakistan, and India, as well as programs serving the region as a whole. This report summarizes the lessons learned from these grants.

Between November 2018 and November 2019, Gates Foundation and Mars Edge discussed collaboration opportunities to accelerate the urban go-to-market strategy of Mars Edge’s nutritious savory snack GoMo™, specifically designed to help address nutritional deficiencies of 6-18 year olds in India, with a focus on reaching low-income consumers. The Growth for Growth (G4G) network of service providers set up by the Foundation’s PSP program co-designed this strategy to reach lower-income urban areas. In December 2019, the PSP approved a grant to assess and adapt the model during a market test. As part of the grant, the collaboration between G4G and Mars then continued until December 2020. This case study aims to share the lessons learned throughout this journey, in terms of public-private collaboration and innovation process.

This publication shows how Japanese retailer MUJI has built an inclusive supply chain positively impacting on small producers at the base of the pyramid (BOP), and how its stakeholders perceive its benefits. The report reflects direct feedback gathered during interviews and surveys conducted by IFC with different stakeholders in MUJI's supply chain, including producers, customers, employees, and management. The report highlights key challenges and opportunities that stem from engagement with the BOP producers in emerging markets. It also provides insights into good practice in incorporating the BOP producers into global value chains, drawing on MUJI’s experiences.

This study endeavours to add to the existing literature on understanding the finance gap for women entrepreneurs. An understanding of their challenges, coupled with a greater appreciation of their unique non-financial needs which have a direct bearing on their ability to access finance, can assist global financial institutions in engaging with them in a more focused manner, and customizing offerings. This study interviewed 207 women entrepreneurs across different segments in four emerging economies including India, Kenya, Indonesia and Rwanda.

Research on impact investing is often conducted from the perspective of the investor, failing to account for the perspective of the impact entrepreneur on the ground. In particular, little primary research has concentrated on those who applied for impact investment funding but were turned down.This report details the ways in which local impact entrepreneurs have experienced the impact investing process, including the expectations of and communications with investors.

In India, there has been a rise in the number of social enterprises and a growing interest in impact investing, as social enterprises look to expand and seek alternate means of funding. However, there is a knowledge gap among entrepreneurs and accelerators in understanding the legal landscape and managing negotiations related to impact investing in India. This report is an attempt to address a gap in the impact investing ecosystem in India, where there are numerous complex structural and legal concepts that require understanding, both for investors and entrepreneurs.

Around the globe, a wave of innovation is sweeping across the financial sector, from public equities to bonds, real estate to insurance, venture investing to small-business lending. In each of these areas, innovative players are using an ever-growing range of instruments to achieve social and environmental benefits, while producing attractive returns. This is the exciting field of sustainable finance, and it is growing fast. Nowhere is the opportunity for sustainable finance greater than in Asia, and only a sliver of this opportunity has been realized.

This report presents the global landscape of gender lens investing and examines the strategies used by gender lens investors across the globe. In doing so, it also examines ways in which businesses promote social and economic empowerment of women and correlates investment strategies to them. The report studies patterns and draws insights about the evolution of the gender lens investing strategies, the financial instruments used in adopting them and regions where they are implemented. It also highlights the challenges gender lens investors face in emerging geographies both in terms of raising capital and accessing an investible pipeline for the adoption of this strategy. It is notable that almost 70% of the funds using this strategy were seeded by women investors and/or raised funds from women. The report concludes with a discussion on the various aspects that need to be considered for promoting gender lens investing – especially in developing countries.

India is the largest producer and consumer of spices in the world today. However, the scope of agrarian production in India, positions sustainability as an immediate and fundamental topic demanding attention on account of non-discriminate use of agrochemicals, farmer livelihood, labour issues and health & safety.

To address these challenges, Sustainable Spices Initiative – India (SSI-I) has designed Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP) handbook, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Spice Research (IISR), that lays down a package of practices for sustainable spices production.