social impact
-
DATABASE (236)
-
ARTICLES (395)
Omidyar Network is a private equity fund and venture capital firm. Founded in 2004 by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, it focuses on “impact investing” in diverse startups that are able to cater to the needs of even the poorest consumers worldwide. Omidyar provides investment funds and nonprofit grants, as well as management support services including talent recruitment.
Omidyar Network is a private equity fund and venture capital firm. Founded in 2004 by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, it focuses on “impact investing” in diverse startups that are able to cater to the needs of even the poorest consumers worldwide. Omidyar provides investment funds and nonprofit grants, as well as management support services including talent recruitment.
The owner of WeChat, Tencent is China's biggest online entertainment and social network company. While the company is best known for QQ and WeChat (with 846m active users, and counting), online gaming is actually its biggest money-spinner. Within China, Tencent is the distributor of various international online game titles, such as League of Legends and Call of Duty Online. The company also publishes Honor of Kings, known as Arena of Valor outside China, which regularly tops the list of highest-grossing mobile games globally.Tencent has invested in various gaming-related companies, including Epic Games (creator of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine creation framework), PlatinumGames (Japanese game developer), and Riot Games (creator of League of Legends). Outside of video games, it has developed and invested in products related to video streaming, such as bilibili and Kuaishou, music (JOOX), and even healthcare.
The owner of WeChat, Tencent is China's biggest online entertainment and social network company. While the company is best known for QQ and WeChat (with 846m active users, and counting), online gaming is actually its biggest money-spinner. Within China, Tencent is the distributor of various international online game titles, such as League of Legends and Call of Duty Online. The company also publishes Honor of Kings, known as Arena of Valor outside China, which regularly tops the list of highest-grossing mobile games globally.Tencent has invested in various gaming-related companies, including Epic Games (creator of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine creation framework), PlatinumGames (Japanese game developer), and Riot Games (creator of League of Legends). Outside of video games, it has developed and invested in products related to video streaming, such as bilibili and Kuaishou, music (JOOX), and even healthcare.
Silicon Valley-based Almaz Capital was co-founded in 2008 as a bridge VC fund by Alexander Galitsky, a serial techpreneur and former senior executive at the Soviet Space Agency and Defense Industry. Almaz also has an office in Berlin and partners with interests in the UK, Poland and Ukraine. The global fund has invested in over 30 startups and managed 15 exits within its portfolio.Recent investments in 2021 include co-leading the $54m Series B round of Refurbed with Evli Growth Partners in August. Almaz was also the lead investor for the $6m funding round for US-based precision audio software Sonarworks in July.
Silicon Valley-based Almaz Capital was co-founded in 2008 as a bridge VC fund by Alexander Galitsky, a serial techpreneur and former senior executive at the Soviet Space Agency and Defense Industry. Almaz also has an office in Berlin and partners with interests in the UK, Poland and Ukraine. The global fund has invested in over 30 startups and managed 15 exits within its portfolio.Recent investments in 2021 include co-leading the $54m Series B round of Refurbed with Evli Growth Partners in August. Almaz was also the lead investor for the $6m funding round for US-based precision audio software Sonarworks in July.
CPO and Co-founder of Kuaishou
Cheng Yixiao began his career as a software engineer at HP in Dalian where he met Kuaishou co-founder Yang Yuanxi. Cheng left HP to join Renren as an iPhone client software developer.In 2011, Cheng started a photo-sharing platform GIF Kuaishou and obtained some seed funding. In 2013, he was introduced to a successful entrepreneur Su Hua. They decided to pivot GIF Kuaishou into a video-sharing app, with Cheng as CPO and Su as CEO.Many believe that his earlier experiences of living in Tieling, a county in northeast China, and later in Beijing’s suburb Tiantongyuan, have helped him to identify business opportunities and develop social media tools for the grassroots. He has quite a reputation for his creativity and passion for product development in tech circles.
Cheng Yixiao began his career as a software engineer at HP in Dalian where he met Kuaishou co-founder Yang Yuanxi. Cheng left HP to join Renren as an iPhone client software developer.In 2011, Cheng started a photo-sharing platform GIF Kuaishou and obtained some seed funding. In 2013, he was introduced to a successful entrepreneur Su Hua. They decided to pivot GIF Kuaishou into a video-sharing app, with Cheng as CPO and Su as CEO.Many believe that his earlier experiences of living in Tieling, a county in northeast China, and later in Beijing’s suburb Tiantongyuan, have helped him to identify business opportunities and develop social media tools for the grassroots. He has quite a reputation for his creativity and passion for product development in tech circles.
Born in 1973, Li graduated from the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China in 1997. After graduating, he worked as an IT journalist for China Youth Daily, where he interviewed tech giants such as Jack Ma. In early 2003, Li became chief editor of the IT section of web portal Sohu and then joined web portal NetEase as chief editor of its IT section later that year. In 2005, he resigned from NetEase and founded gaming portal Duowan. In 2008, Li founded YY Inc., a live streaming social media platform that went public on Nasdaq in 2012.
Born in 1973, Li graduated from the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China in 1997. After graduating, he worked as an IT journalist for China Youth Daily, where he interviewed tech giants such as Jack Ma. In early 2003, Li became chief editor of the IT section of web portal Sohu and then joined web portal NetEase as chief editor of its IT section later that year. In 2005, he resigned from NetEase and founded gaming portal Duowan. In 2008, Li founded YY Inc., a live streaming social media platform that went public on Nasdaq in 2012.
Formerly known as hoopCHINA.com, Hupu is a sports news portal founded by Yang Bing and Cheng Hang at the end of 2003. Its business has expanded to include social networking, e-commerce and sports marketing. In June 2019, Hupu raised RMB1.26 billion in its pre-IPO funding round from ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. Hupu has incubated e-marketplace for trending sports gears Shihuo and sneakers resale platform Poizon. The latter became an independent business as a spin-off from Hupu in 2018. Poizon became a unicorn when its valuation exceeded US$1 billion in April 2019 due to a Series A funding round led by DST Global.
Formerly known as hoopCHINA.com, Hupu is a sports news portal founded by Yang Bing and Cheng Hang at the end of 2003. Its business has expanded to include social networking, e-commerce and sports marketing. In June 2019, Hupu raised RMB1.26 billion in its pre-IPO funding round from ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. Hupu has incubated e-marketplace for trending sports gears Shihuo and sneakers resale platform Poizon. The latter became an independent business as a spin-off from Hupu in 2018. Poizon became a unicorn when its valuation exceeded US$1 billion in April 2019 due to a Series A funding round led by DST Global.
Founded in 2012 in San Francisco, Joyance invests in the “vectors of happiness” that it classifies as areas of science, including genetics and bioscience, the microbiome, neuroscience, virtual and augmented reality, and foodtech. It also invests in the area of social networking. Its investments are made through its management company, Ataraxia, and many have a European focus. It currently has 115 companies in its portfolio, with recent investments including in the August 2021 $3.6m seed round of Polish bionic limb manufacturer and in the July 2021 $8m Series A round of Israeli sports injury AI platform Zone7.
Founded in 2012 in San Francisco, Joyance invests in the “vectors of happiness” that it classifies as areas of science, including genetics and bioscience, the microbiome, neuroscience, virtual and augmented reality, and foodtech. It also invests in the area of social networking. Its investments are made through its management company, Ataraxia, and many have a European focus. It currently has 115 companies in its portfolio, with recent investments including in the August 2021 $3.6m seed round of Polish bionic limb manufacturer and in the July 2021 $8m Series A round of Israeli sports injury AI platform Zone7.
CEO of Krakakoa
Sabrina Mustopo is the founder and CEO of Krakakoa Chocolate, a "farmer-to-bar" social enterprise that works directly with smallholder cocoa farmers to produce chocolate. She is also an independent consultant with experience in strategy, project management, agriculture and sustainable development. Mustopo previously worked in Singapore as an associate and research analyst for international consultancy McKinsey & Co., where she focused on climate change and agricultural topics and served public sector clients in the Asia-Pacific region and East Africa. She graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development.
Sabrina Mustopo is the founder and CEO of Krakakoa Chocolate, a "farmer-to-bar" social enterprise that works directly with smallholder cocoa farmers to produce chocolate. She is also an independent consultant with experience in strategy, project management, agriculture and sustainable development. Mustopo previously worked in Singapore as an associate and research analyst for international consultancy McKinsey & Co., where she focused on climate change and agricultural topics and served public sector clients in the Asia-Pacific region and East Africa. She graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development.
Managing Director and co-founder of String Bio
Vinod Kumar originally founded Samrat Wears clothing company in India in 1993 and went on to graduate in mechanical engineering in 1997 at BMS College of Engineering in India.In 2000, he completed a master’s in supply chain management, industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Ohio University in the US. He started his career at Bell Labs as a product engineer. In 2000, he worked at telco Alcatel-Lucent that later became part of Nokia. In 2008, he held various senior roles and became senior director at tech company Juniper Networks in Silicon Valley. In 2013, he joined his wife Ezhil Subbian to set up String Bio in India. He became a full-time managing director of the company in 2015. In 2019, he became a fellow member at Unreasonable, an investment fund and organization for supporting innovative entrepreneurs to solve social and environmental issues worldwide.
Vinod Kumar originally founded Samrat Wears clothing company in India in 1993 and went on to graduate in mechanical engineering in 1997 at BMS College of Engineering in India.In 2000, he completed a master’s in supply chain management, industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Ohio University in the US. He started his career at Bell Labs as a product engineer. In 2000, he worked at telco Alcatel-Lucent that later became part of Nokia. In 2008, he held various senior roles and became senior director at tech company Juniper Networks in Silicon Valley. In 2013, he joined his wife Ezhil Subbian to set up String Bio in India. He became a full-time managing director of the company in 2015. In 2019, he became a fellow member at Unreasonable, an investment fund and organization for supporting innovative entrepreneurs to solve social and environmental issues worldwide.
CEO and co-founder of OLIO
Tessa Clarke is the British CEO and co-founder of food-sharing app OLIO that was inspired by her experience of having to throw away perfectly good unused food when she was packing up to move from Switzerland back to the UK in 2014.After graduating with a first-class degree in social and political sciences at the University of Cambridge in UK in 1997, she worked for three years at the Boston Consulting Group as a junior associate. She joined an MBA program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2002 and met Saasha Celestial-One, who was also studying for an MBA at Stanford. In 2015, Clarke and Celestial-One decided to use their savings to create a food-sharing app OLIO after successfully testing the idea as a private WhatsApp group in North London.Before becoming an entrepreneur in 2015, Clarke has held various senior management roles since completing her MBA in 2004. She worked for global business publisher EMAP from 2005 until 2009, when she joined Dyson Inc as e-commerce managing director (MD). In 2013, she left Dyson to become MD of fintech PayLater based in Switzerland run by the Wonga payday loan company. Known then as Tessa Cook, she later became Wonga’s MD for eight months when she was tasked with “cleaning up” the tarnished reputation of the high interest loan company. From 2013 to 2021, she was also chair of the management board of St George’s Palace, a boutique apart-hotel and spa complex in Bansko, Bulgaria.In 2018, she became a fellow at Unreasonable, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. For two years until 2021, Clarke was ambassador for the Meaningful Business 100 global event that advocates the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She was also a board member for six years at Contentive, a global B2B media and information company. In 2021, her busy schedule now includes becoming a business mentor for not-for-profit Virgin Startup.
Tessa Clarke is the British CEO and co-founder of food-sharing app OLIO that was inspired by her experience of having to throw away perfectly good unused food when she was packing up to move from Switzerland back to the UK in 2014.After graduating with a first-class degree in social and political sciences at the University of Cambridge in UK in 1997, she worked for three years at the Boston Consulting Group as a junior associate. She joined an MBA program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2002 and met Saasha Celestial-One, who was also studying for an MBA at Stanford. In 2015, Clarke and Celestial-One decided to use their savings to create a food-sharing app OLIO after successfully testing the idea as a private WhatsApp group in North London.Before becoming an entrepreneur in 2015, Clarke has held various senior management roles since completing her MBA in 2004. She worked for global business publisher EMAP from 2005 until 2009, when she joined Dyson Inc as e-commerce managing director (MD). In 2013, she left Dyson to become MD of fintech PayLater based in Switzerland run by the Wonga payday loan company. Known then as Tessa Cook, she later became Wonga’s MD for eight months when she was tasked with “cleaning up” the tarnished reputation of the high interest loan company. From 2013 to 2021, she was also chair of the management board of St George’s Palace, a boutique apart-hotel and spa complex in Bansko, Bulgaria.In 2018, she became a fellow at Unreasonable, an organization that supports social and environmental entrepreneurship. For two years until 2021, Clarke was ambassador for the Meaningful Business 100 global event that advocates the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She was also a board member for six years at Contentive, a global B2B media and information company. In 2021, her busy schedule now includes becoming a business mentor for not-for-profit Virgin Startup.
Nigerian investment bank and investor CardinalStone Partners was founded in 2008. It invests in enterprises with the potential to transform diverse sectors deemed to be strategic to the development of the economies in Nigeria, Ghana and other West African countries.The VC also reviews potential investments in relation to their ESG impact. CardinalStone currently has six companies in its portfolio including Nigerian gym chain i-Fitness and Nigerian fintech Appzone. In 2020, it raised $50m for a new private equity fund, CardinalStone Capital Advisers Growth Fund.
Nigerian investment bank and investor CardinalStone Partners was founded in 2008. It invests in enterprises with the potential to transform diverse sectors deemed to be strategic to the development of the economies in Nigeria, Ghana and other West African countries.The VC also reviews potential investments in relation to their ESG impact. CardinalStone currently has six companies in its portfolio including Nigerian gym chain i-Fitness and Nigerian fintech Appzone. In 2020, it raised $50m for a new private equity fund, CardinalStone Capital Advisers Growth Fund.
Founded in 2012 in Geneva, Seedstars is one of the world’s largest accelerators with programs operating globally including Seedstars Global Startup Competition for emerging economies and seed-stage investors. Seedstars is also an investor, focusing on supporting startups founded in emerging economies across market segments. Its portfolio of 60 companies includes startups from its accelerator programs and participation in the $30,000 pre-seed round for Mexican loan fintech DB Menos. It is also one of two impact investors backing the $530,000 seed funding round for Bangladeshi cloud-kitchen and delivery startup Kludio.
Founded in 2012 in Geneva, Seedstars is one of the world’s largest accelerators with programs operating globally including Seedstars Global Startup Competition for emerging economies and seed-stage investors. Seedstars is also an investor, focusing on supporting startups founded in emerging economies across market segments. Its portfolio of 60 companies includes startups from its accelerator programs and participation in the $30,000 pre-seed round for Mexican loan fintech DB Menos. It is also one of two impact investors backing the $530,000 seed funding round for Bangladeshi cloud-kitchen and delivery startup Kludio.
Sky Ocean Ventures is a £25m impact investment fund and part of the Sky Media Group. It was launched in 2018 with the goal of accelerating businesses that can tackle global plastic pollution with innovative ideas and disruptive technologies. The firm has backed 20 startups that have developed solutions that help mitigate plastic disposals in the environment, such as disposable bottles made of paper, reusable delivery boxes, sachets made from seaweed and packaging made from wood chips. Sky Ocean Ventures also partners with, among others, The National Geographic and the Imperial College in London.
Sky Ocean Ventures is a £25m impact investment fund and part of the Sky Media Group. It was launched in 2018 with the goal of accelerating businesses that can tackle global plastic pollution with innovative ideas and disruptive technologies. The firm has backed 20 startups that have developed solutions that help mitigate plastic disposals in the environment, such as disposable bottles made of paper, reusable delivery boxes, sachets made from seaweed and packaging made from wood chips. Sky Ocean Ventures also partners with, among others, The National Geographic and the Imperial College in London.
Founded by pioneering tech investor Ozi Amanat in 2015, K2 Global is a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley and Singapore. Amanat, who moved to Singapore in 2012, is one of Twitter’s early backers, raising $25m to invest in the social media startup that later went public in 2013. The Harvard graduate in psychology and economics also invested in Uber, Spotify and Alibaba during his career as a venture capitalist. Amanat is the chief investment officer of K2 VC, K2 Global and Singapore-based Spice Global controlled by Indian billionaire B K Modi.In 2017, K2 also announced a $183m VC fund focusing on early-stage startups that aim to address global challenges. The majority of K2 limited partners are based outside the US in countries like Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Founded by pioneering tech investor Ozi Amanat in 2015, K2 Global is a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley and Singapore. Amanat, who moved to Singapore in 2012, is one of Twitter’s early backers, raising $25m to invest in the social media startup that later went public in 2013. The Harvard graduate in psychology and economics also invested in Uber, Spotify and Alibaba during his career as a venture capitalist. Amanat is the chief investment officer of K2 VC, K2 Global and Singapore-based Spice Global controlled by Indian billionaire B K Modi.In 2017, K2 also announced a $183m VC fund focusing on early-stage startups that aim to address global challenges. The majority of K2 limited partners are based outside the US in countries like Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Founder and CEO of Orain
Xavier Sans Serra is the founder and CEO of payment and interactive chat app and IoT hardware startup Orain. He is based in Barcelona, where he has worked since 2016. Prior to this, he founded two other tech startups: Knowxel, which has been in operation from 2013 to 2016, and Neqta, which operated from 2011 to 2013. Knowxel was a social network for seeking skilled people for one-off work projects while Neqta was a research project to develop hardware to power portable devices. Both companies were developed at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where the initial development of Orain also took place. Sans holds two master's degrees from Barcelona's Ramon Llull University: one in Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering and the other in Networks and Telecommunications. Between 2010 to 2012, he was a member of the Electromagnetism and Communications Research Group at Ramon Llull University's La Salle campus, where he was involved in a research project on geomagnetically-induced currents, which led to publications in scientific journals.
Xavier Sans Serra is the founder and CEO of payment and interactive chat app and IoT hardware startup Orain. He is based in Barcelona, where he has worked since 2016. Prior to this, he founded two other tech startups: Knowxel, which has been in operation from 2013 to 2016, and Neqta, which operated from 2011 to 2013. Knowxel was a social network for seeking skilled people for one-off work projects while Neqta was a research project to develop hardware to power portable devices. Both companies were developed at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where the initial development of Orain also took place. Sans holds two master's degrees from Barcelona's Ramon Llull University: one in Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering and the other in Networks and Telecommunications. Between 2010 to 2012, he was a member of the Electromagnetism and Communications Research Group at Ramon Llull University's La Salle campus, where he was involved in a research project on geomagnetically-induced currents, which led to publications in scientific journals.
Start with the little things: 5 Indonesian social impact startups
From providing student loans to empowering marginalized groups and farmers, these Indonesian startups are revitalizing local communities
Impact investing: Spanish startups with a cause and the ecosystem backing them
As more thought and money go into socially and environmentally responsible projects, Spanish entrepreneurs, investors and big businesses are following suit
Clarity AI uses machine learning and data analytics to effectively assess and score environmental, social and governance performance of companies and investment portfolios
Patamar Capital’s impact investing: On preferred business model, backing women, Mapan
The pioneer in impact investing in Asia gives us the lowdown on its investment criteria, its new focus on women entrepreneurs and related sectors, how it helps its portfolio companies and more
Koiki: Delivering social advancement, one parcel at a time
Social enterprise startup Koiki seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of e-commerce deliveries and provide jobs for Spain's most vulnerable people
Tutellus.io: Creating social change by tokenizing education
Tutellus.io has built an incentive-based tokenized education system to boost students’ motivation and teachers’ commitment while facilitating global access to education
Future Food Asia 2021: Impact assessments – getting the metrics right
Common impact measures are useful but each situation requires specific, sometimes subjective considerations. The priority is to gauge if the impact has led to positive changes
Auara: Social enterprise and environmental sustainability in a bottle
Auara, with its 100% recycled-plastic mineral water bottles, aims to reduce its manufacturing carbon footprint while helping the most water-stressed citizens
Civiclytics is a Covid-19 information crowdsourcing and sharing platform supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, as Citibeats reports increased demand for its data analytics and actionable insights
Indonesian angel investor network ANGIN launches agrifood incubator
Program targets ESG investment and builds on the strong potential of Indonesia’s agriculture sector, which kept growing despite the Covid-19 pandemic
Solatom plans overseas expansion with backing from energy giants, impact investor
With a US patent in hand, the Valencian startup is banking on international sales of its concentrated solar power modules, targeting €1m in revenue by end-2021
SWITCH Singapore 2021: Driving renewable energy impact through better business models
Startups need to communicate the business benefits of green solutions to their customers, rather than just pitching the hi-tech
Citibeats, a social trends monitoring tool for governments and businesses, wins €1.4m funding
Citibeats tracks and analyzes what the public is saying online in any language; wants to boost its presence in LatAm and Asia
Alpha JWC Ventures bets on Indonesian fintech, analytics startups for big impact
A commitment to mentoring and supporting its portfolio companies also lies at the core of its business
Jakarta Aman uses social networking to improve neighborhood security
Backed by Jakarta's provincial government and MDI Ventures, neighborhood security app Jakarta Aman seeks to reignite the “gotong royong” spirit to keep communities safe
Sorry, we couldn’t find any matches for “social impact”.
