Rob Katz, a NextBillion staff writer, recently interviewed Martin Fisher, co-founder of KickStart, and Upendra Bhatt, co-founder of Aavishkaar, in writing an article for GreenBiz.com. KickStart and Aavishkaar are, dare I say, two of the most innovative and robust businesses operating at the BOP.

KickStart is an inventions and business incubation company in Kenya. They develop technologies (e.g., micro-irrigation pump, oilseed press) specifically for the BOP and build the linkages, from product manufacturing to micro-retailers, necessary to bring these technologies to market. Aavishkaar, an Indian company, is one of the world's very few venture capital funds providing loans above microcredit amounts (say, USD 1000) and below traditional venture capital investments (below USD 1 million), in addition to providing business development services for loan recipients.

Find out more about Fisher and Bhatt's perspectives toward doing business and growing businesses at the BOP in Rob's article, "Strategic Thinking: Sustainable Business from the Bottom Up."

Over the weekend, Microsoft posted information about the six editions of Windows Vista it plans to offer -- only to remove the information from its Web site a day later, saying it has yet to make a final decision. Interestingly, one of these editions appears to be a more limited version aimed at developing countries.

This wouldn't be Microsoft's first foray into BOP markets. In 2004, the company released it's Windows XP Starter Edition, a stripped-down version of its OS that was initially installed on PCs shipped to Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and then later to Brazil, India and Mexico.

Although at first reluctant to distribute a cheaper version of Windows, Microsoft's hand was forced when the government of Thailand's Peoples PC

The Acumen Fund Blog today reports a new for-profit water services project launched in one of India's poorest urban neighborhoods. The provider, Heritage, receives strategic management support and assistance raising capital from the Acumen Fund. I am excited to hear companies saying that "[poor] people are ready to pay, provided the service is good." Want to achieve the MDG for water? Engage the private sector. An article in The Hindu goes into some detail about the project:

"The idea is to provide safe drinking water to the urban poor in areas where there is no network of piped supply," HLSP executive trustee Nalini Gangadharan said. The program would be implemented in slums where laying of infrastructure is expensive, technically unfeasible or not on the immediate agenda...

"Apart from providing clean drinking water to the urban poor, it will also generate revenue to the water board, indicating that people are ready to pay provided the service is good."