All posts in Uncategorized

Do You Know Who Caught Your Fish? Direct Relationships Cut Seafood Fraud and Boost Fishing Income
September 20, 2013 · No comments

When it comes to sustainable seafood, barcode identifiers and environmental certificates only go so far. The real key is genuine relationships with the people who hauled in the catch. From Alaska to Boston to San Francisco, conservationist Native Americans, nonprofit...

Giving Voice, and Business Advice, to African Fish Farmers
September 2, 2013 · No comments

The ‘aha’ moment came during a simple phone call from Alloysius Attah’s aunt. If Ghanaian women like the cassava farmer who raised him were using basic mobile phones, Attah realized Farmerline could help them increase their yields and their incomes....

Accelerating the Accelerators: New Tools for Impact Entrepreneurs and Their Allies
September 2, 2013 · 2 comments

The impact investing world has borrowed a page from the tech-investing world, where accelerators like 500 Startups, Y Combinator and TechStars have helped launch Dropbox, Airbnb and hundreds of other companies. In the last few years, dozens of “impact accelerators”...

Building An Operating System for the Good Economy
August 28, 2013 · No comments

Vibrant startup ecosystems are growing across the globe. Among them are communities of entrepreneurs and the individuals and institutions working with them to build enterprises that deliver both financial and social returns to all of their stakeholders. We call this...

Financing Sea Grass Restoration with Carbon Credits
August 16, 2013 · No comments

Sea grass restoration helps halt erosion and arrest habitat loss. And sea grass meadows may also be one of best carbon investments around. That suggests an economic model for seagrass restoration projects and a win-win for the oceans - by...

Incubating Aquaculture Businesses at the Base of the Pyramid
August 12, 2013 · 4 comments

Successful projects, dwindling funds. What’s an innovative NGO to do? One answer: Build a deal pipeline for impact investors looking for investable ventures. WorldFish, a Malaysia-based spinoff of the the “green revolution” pioneer CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research),...

On the Impact Frontier: Leaders Who Are Shaping Market Systems
August 5, 2013 · No comments

In Bangladesh, a thousand families still weep for loved ones who perished in April when the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed. Who is to blame? Is it the factory owner who was trying to keep costs down to prevent the...

Shrimp and Sea Cucumber Farms Offer Models for Aquaculture Investments
July 31, 2013 · 7 comments

From shrimp in Mexico to sea cucumbers in Madagascar, pioneering NGOs are testing new approaches to open ocean aquaculture that emphasize environmental stewardship and increasing local wealth — and lay the foundation for financially investable models. In the Gulf of California, Olazul, or “blue wave,” is...

Q & A with Fish 2.0: Beyond Seafood Business as Usual
May 20, 2013 · No comments

Converting fish waste into food. Powering fish farms in the desert. Generating value from oceans of data. I caught up with Monica Jain recently to learn what business opportunities are emerging from the Fish 2.0 contest she has organized to...