Funding announced for emerging market entrepreneurs

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) recently announced the winners of the 2016 ANDE Catalyst Fund.

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is awarding five grants with support from S&P Global and The Lemelson Foundation. With this support, the winners can further examine hurdles facing women’s access to finance and credit and create solutions for additional invention-based entrepreneurship initiatives.

The following programs are the five 2016 ANDE Catalyst Fund Recipients. Here is what they are working on:

(1) Trends in Guatemala reveal an entrepreneurial environment fueled by necessity rather than opportunity. To address this challenge, Alterna: INCUBA seeks to stimulate new small businesses or strengthen existing ones that address social and environmental problems by investing in local talent.

(2) The World Bank estimates that 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises in emerging market economies are underserved by financial institutions. To enhance the loan application process and even the playing field for women business owners applying for financing, el Buen Socio and Value for Women will test the effectiveness of a psychometric scoring process for borrowers. 

(3) The credit gap is one of the most problematic constraints for women entrepreneurs seeking to scale their small businesses. With the understanding that the best informed banks will provide the best service to women entrepreneurs, Enclude plans to conduct a six-month pilot of its Gender Benchmarking Tool with partner financial intuitions.

(4) The Kiva database spans two million people from more than 80 countries who have borrowed nearly $900 million dollars through their platform. With the help of the ANDE Catalyst Fund, Kiva will leverage its data to create new insight about women entrepreneurship and their access to capital. 

(5) To further support the development of a technically trained and skilled labor force in Cambodia, Synergy Social Ventures will partner with Swisscontact and TRYBE Makerspace. The project’s goal is to create the supportive infrastructure needed to facilitate and expedite impact invention and entrepreneurship for underserved populations and the agricultural sector in Cambodia.

ANDE is a global network of more than 250 organisations from 150 countries that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets. ANDE members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs). To read more about these projects, please visit: http://www.andeglobal.org/catalyst.