NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - South Asia

Gram Mooligai Co. Ltd. - Village Herbs

Seema Patel — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:30:06 -0500

Managing Organization: Gram Mooligai Co. Ltd.

Activity URL:

http://www.nextbillion.net/files/rv22-gmcl.pdf

Activity Description: With three quarters of its national population living in rural areas, access to primary healthcare is one of the most pressing issues facing India’s businesses and policymakers. Further complicating this picture is the fact that the government has so far had difficulty making a sufficient financial commitment to fund free, needs-based health services. Although currently on the rise, this spending only accounts for less than one percent of the gross domestic product. Private healthcare groups have also been unable to fill this gap in a country where nearly a third of the populaiton lives in poverty. The entrepreneurs behind Gram Mooligai found a unique opportunity within this seemingly insurmountable challenge to deliver much needed health services to India’s rural poor while tapping into new markets underserved by public and private actors alike.

Aavishkaar: Microventure Capital in India

Seema Patel — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:57:13 -0400

Managing Organization: Aavishkaar

Activity URL:

http://www.aavishkaar.org/

Activity Description:

Aavishkaar (a Hindi word that means innovation) India Micro Venture Capital Fund (www.aavishkaar.org) came into existence to finance socially relevant, commercially viable and environmentally friendly enterprises that do not have access to project financing – loan or equity – from traditional financial institutions. Aavishkaar India fills an important niche as it is positioned between microfinance and traditional venture capital funds with its promise of equity support to small businesses. The projects that Aavishkaar support are in the range between Rs.500,000 (USD 10,000) and Rs.5,000,000 (USD 100,000).

Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund (‘Aavishkaar’) concentrates on supporting micro enterprises based on grassroots innovations and seeks to:

SKS Microfinance - Corporatising the NGO Sector

Seema Patel — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 13:54:10 -0400

Managing Organization: SKS Microfinance

Activity URL:

http://www.sksindia.com/index.htm

Activity Description:

"Do it the right way (no short-cuts); Be innovative; Execute with discipline." - Vikram Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance

SKS Microfinance empowers the poor to become economically self-reliant by providing financial services in a sustainable manner. Vikram Akula, the 37-year-old founder of SKS Microfinance, who was featured in Time’s list of 100 ‘People Who Shape Our World’, believes corporatising the NGO sector is a must for meaningful poverty alleviation programmes. “A for-profit business model is the fastest way to put more money into more poor hands,” he says.

Launched in 1998, SKS Microfinance is one of the fastest growing microfinance organizations in the world, having provided over $ 92 million (Rs 425 crores) and has maintained loans outstanding of $38 million(170 crores) in loans to nearly 320,000 women clients in poor regions of India. Borrowers take loans for a range of income-generating activities, including livestock, agriculture, trade (such as vegetable vending), and production (from basket weaving to pottery). SKS also offers interest-free loans for emergencies as well as life insurance to borrowers. Its affiliate, SKS Education, provides education services to poor children, including running a government-funded school for girls who have dropped out of school.

SKS currently has 138 microfinance branches in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. This year, SKS aims to reach 700,000 clients by March 2007. In the last year alone, SKS Microfinance has achieved nearly 161 % growth, with 98% on-time repayment rate.

For this American-educated Fulbright scholar, a for-profit business model is not about maximising profits. It’s about maximising resources. “It allows you to tap private funds, unlike NGOs, where you survive on grants. You are accountable to your shareholders and, thus, cannot develop bad habits. You become more client responsive and allow them to guide your business,” says Akula, echoing the thoughts expressed by Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, the only other Indian on the Time’s powerlist.

Set up in 1998 with a sum of Rs 20 lakh that Akula managed to raise from 360 individual donors, most of them friends and family in the US where he was brought up, today SKS has a capital base of Rs 13.9 crore.

It has private equity participation from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Vinod Khosla, Ravi Reddy and Sandeep Tungare. Sidbi, a public financial institution, holds 7% for a crore invested. However, its client community remains its largest shareholders.

Apart from having a fully-automated, proprietory management information system (MIS), it has pioneered the use of smart-card technology at the village-level. The MFI is currently working with VISA International on a pilot project to develop and deploy wireless POS devices that would automate field operations and reduce transaction costs.

Medicine Shoppe India – High-Quality Rural Health Centers

Seema Patel — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:42:13 -0400

Managing Organization: Medicine Shoppe India

Activity URL:

http://www.ms-india.com/HOME.htm

Activity Description:

Medicine Shoppe India, the second largest pharmacy chain in India, is establishing health centers in rural India aimed at providing high quality yet affordable health services for poor and marginalized rural consumers.

Medicine Shoppe India has considerable success serving India’s urban populations – with a strong emphasis on safety and quality – and with the help of Acumen Fund’s expertise will be able to expand into rural market.

In addition, Medicine Shoppe India has innovated a new store format where health services would be offered at no cost, but medicine or other pharmacy products would be sold at affordable prices. To build awareness of their products and services at the village level, Medicine Shoppe India hopes to partner with one or more rural ICT network orchestrators.

The Challenge
In India, close to 12% of rural income is spent on healthcare and 66% still do not have access to critical medicine.Hospitalized Indians spend on average 58% of their total annual expenditures on healthcare, with over 40% borrowing heavily to cover expenses and over 25% falling below the poverty line because of hospital expenses. Almost 7 out of 10 medicines sold in rural India are either substandard or counterfeit.

The Impact
The company currently operates 103 stores across six states, mainly in urban areas as of May 2006. Over the course of the next five years, Medicine Shoppe will establish 130 health centers in rural areas.

International Development Enterprises India (IDEI)

Ethan Arpi — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 17:13:25 -0400

Managing Organization: International Development Enterprises India (IDEI)

Activity URL:

http://www.ide-india.org/ide/index1.shtml

Activity Description:

On their website, IDEI writes that their mission is, "To improve equitably the social, economic and environmental conditions of families in need, with special emphasis on the rural poor, by identifying, developing and marketing affordable, appropriate and environmentally sustainable solutions through market forces."

More specifically, IDEI provides the tools and expertise for farmers to improve their productivity and total output.

Shell Solar

Ethan Arpi — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:08:17 -0400

Managing Organization: Shell Solar

Activity URL:

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=shellsolar&FC2=/shellsolar/html/iwgen/leftnavs/zzz_lhn1_0_0.html&FC3=/shellsolar/html

Activity Description:

Shell Solar is part of Royal Dutch Shell and its project to develop alternative sources of energy. It currently has rural electrification projects in India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China and Indonesia, which provide power to people who are not connected to the electricity grid. The energy comes from CIS (Copper indium diselenide) thin-film technology and silicon solar technology.

George Foundation

Ethan Arpi — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:08:20 -0400

Managing Organization: George Foundation

Activity URL:

http://www.tgfworld.org/home.html

Activity Description:

The George Foundation was established in January 1995 in Bangalore, India, as a not-for-profit organization under the Indian Trust Act. Its mission is to work towards poverty eradication in India, promote environmental health, and strengthen democratic institutions and values in developing countries.

The New York Times writes this about the George Foundation: "Among the foundation’s projects is a commercial banana farm, which employs largely unskilled women from untouchable castes in the rural area near Bangalore, one of India’s showpiece technology centers."

Rahimafrooz Batteries Limited

Ethan Arpi — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:13:06 -0400

Managing Organization: Rahimafrooz

Activity URL:

http://www.rahimafrooz.com/best_bangladesh_motor_batteries/rahimafrooz_batteries_profile.asp

Activity Description: Rahimafrooz Batteries Limited is a subsidiary of Rahimafrooz Energy Services, a private energy company operating in Bangladesh. In an attempt to tap Bangledesh's underserved and rural markets, Rahimafrooz Energy Services created Rahimafrooz Batteries Limited, which sells and installs a wide variety of solar powered devices, including solar powered water heaters and solar emergency lanterns.

Foundation of Occupational Development

Ethan Arpi — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:13:41 -0400

Managing Organization: Foundation of Occupational Development

Activity URL:

http://foodindia.org.in/index.html

Activity Description:

Based in Madras, India, the Foundation of Occupational Development, or FOOD, is a non-profit organization that works to implement sustainable development projects that often involve ITC.

In a recent project, FOOD provided cellular technology and marketing information so that urban women could receive higher payments for their domestically produced goods. FOOD in partnership with infoDev established a closed group communication network for community based women organizations to promote inter-city direct sales of products made by artisans and skilled workers. This is accomplished by providing the community based organizations (CBOs) with communications links by way of cellular phones to enable them to network for marketing their products. Existing CBOs are organized in such a way that products made by CBOs in one city will be sent to a CBO in another city for marketing in their area.

Xayan-IT

_Alex Bloom — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:18:52 -0400

Managing Organization: Xayan-IT

Activity URL:

http://www.xayanit.com

Activity Description: Run by students of the University of Dhaka and based in Mirpur, Dhaka, and Bangladesh, Xayan-IT is an ICT-driven social venture which provides youth with theoretical and practical ICT education. The objective of Xayan-IT is to harness the skills and talents of young people to help them create sustainable and challenging employment for themselves.