Resources

It seems like every week that there is another venture fund which is announcing that they are now also making seed investments. The question for you as an entrepreneur is whether it makes sense for you to take a seed

There are a lot of different definitions of who qualifies as living at the base of the economic pyramid (or “BoP”) in India. We reviewed a number of studies with varying conclusions and have created our own working definition for

India is at a unique position of being able to meet both its internal skills demand while at the same time fulfilling requirements of other countries and growing its economy. How? Much of the developed world has an aging population,

We have the opportunity to hear a LOT of pitches from seed-stage entrepreneurs in India. As expected, the pitch quality is highly variable. First impressions do matter, so it is worth the effort to prepare to deliver the right content

Billboards could possibly become more than an eye sore in Lima, the capital of Peru. The University of Engineering and Technology of Peru partnered with the ad agency Mayo DraftFCB, to engineer and build the first ever billboard that extracts

Vivek Kumar talks about Bodhicrew’s new venture “Bodhijobs”, a job portal aimed at the informal sector workers. USF: What are your plans with Bodhicrew in the near future? We’ve recently launched our new and exciting online jobs portal, www.bodhijobs.com, dedicated

Vivek Kumar Kaushik is the CEO of Bodhicrew, an exciting startup in New Delhi. Bodhicrew is an employment and skill services company for those working in unorganized/informal sector. They aim to provide complete domestic work solution to the rapidly growing

Village Capital and IIM-Ahmedabad’s CIIE have announced a The Technology for Impact Accelerator to help promising seed stage companies to make sufficient business progress in order to raise their first venture capital round (aka Series A). The program is focused

High-growth startups are having to use expensive equity for their working capital because of the lack of venture debt availability There has been some recent good news about the emergence of a more predictable regulatory environment for the microfinance sector

Like any venture firm, we get pitched continuously. Listening carefully is our job. We love hearing from inspired entrepreneurs, especially those that have developed a business that has the potential to positively impact the lives of hundreds of thousands –

Along with seven others on a photographic trip through Myanmar, I recently received a first-hand lesson in “bottom of the economic pyramid” (or “BoP”) family finances and life. The experience was informative to my continued efforts in thinking through what

Dick Richards is one of the founding investors in Unitus Ventures. A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Mr. Richards immigrated to Canada before attending the University of British Columbia. He sold his own real estate company to Colliers in 1984 whereupon

In a study involving more than 50 social entrepreneurs, Endeavor Insight discovered that some of their businesses have been far more successful at scaling both their financial success and their social impact than others. Authors Rottenberg and Morris offer an

Norm Bontje is one of the founding investors in Unitus Ventures, our new seed-stage venture fund investing in BoP Startups primarily in India. Norm Bontje is a graduate of the University of Washington and worked in the finance and investment

Sanjay Anandaram joins up as a venture advisor with Unitus Ventures to help mentor CEOs of Unitus Ventures portfolio companies operating in India. Sanjay Anandaram is an executive turned investor, educator and mentor. In the 1980s at Wipro (NYSE: WIT)

Mohandas Pai, founder of one of India’s largest tech companies, Infosys, and Chairman of Aarin Capital Partners. He is also a founding investor in the Unitus Ventures (USF). The interview below is republished from a 4 January 2013 post by

Michael “Luni” Libes, founder of startup ‘conscious company’ incubator, Fledge, shares his thoughts on options that all businesses — large and small — have for how they operate. Is your business focused only on profit maximization with no regard for

At Unitus Ventures, we get a LOT of inquiries for seed investments. Here are some tips for what gets our attention and interest. 1. Great Team. What is your team’s experience and how is that relevant to your business? Remember,

A growing number of the best entrepreneurs are choosing to create (for-profit) businesses (rather than non-profits) because they believe that they can realize more sustainable and scalable impact on those living at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) Stanford

There is no doubt that there is new wave of entrepreneurship brewing in India. Venture Intelligence estimates that nearly $787 million was invested across 210 venture capital investments in 2011 growing from 137 in 2010 and 112 in 2009. The