Social Finance Round Up: World’s First Impact Investing Exchange Board Launches at SOCAP/Europe
SocialFinance.ca produces a weekly round up featuring social finance related news, insights, job openings, and events. We source the content for these round ups from Twitter, an RSS reader, and directly from our community of social finance practitioners. Below is our round up for the week of May 30, 2011.
Last Week on SocialFinance.ca
Anshula Chowdhury posted The Road to SOCAP/Europe on May 24, 2011
Jo Reynolds posted Today is Launch Day for Your Guide to Social Finance on May 25, 2011
Stacey Corriveau posted Are You Ready to Access Social Finance? on May 26, 2011
Jo Reynolds posted Meet the Impact Investors: The Canadian Alternative Investment Cooperative [VIDEO] on May 27, 2011
Canadian and International News
The world’s first impact investing exchange board, the iX, launches at SOCAP Europe.
Morgan Solar, a top Canadian solar company, raised $16.5 million in its Series B funding round.
GLG Partners launches a Global Sustainability Equity Fund that will use a top down approach using sustainability themes to identify value chains and a bottom-up fundamental company analysis.
British Prime Minister David Cameron launches £10m Social Action Fund to “renew Britain’s culture of philanthropy.”
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country must create a favourable investment climate in order to join the world’s top five economies at the first Social-Business Forum in Moscow.
West Africa needs $65 billion of invested capital over the next five years to meet its growth expectations in sectors that have economic, social and environmental impact, a new report says.
U.S. federal, state and city governments are moving toward testing Social Impact Bonds for social programs.
Vancity Credit Union becomes the largest living wage employer in Canada.
Social Finance Learning and Best Practices
Alex Wood argues that social finance is a “ready-made opportunity” that needs to be seized by the Conservative government on iPolitics.ca.
A group of prominent Quebec activists, government representatives and community practitioners published a Declaration on Social Innovation, examining why a culture of social innovation is needed in Quebec and who will benefit.
David Ainsworth looks at the slow road it may take for social impact bonds to attract commercial capital and the five items investors are looking for.
Nicole Skibola of The Huffington Post profiles the Bay Area Medical Academy in The New Face of Microfinance.
Hima Batavia and Rob Katz examine the Non-Fundable Zones – driven by age in the developed world and geography in the developing world – in social enterprise funding on NextBillion.
Local government has more to offer social innovators than simply cash, says Carrie Bishop in The Guardian.
Aaron Elstein profiles Antony Bugg-Levine, managing director at The Rockefeller Foundation, on the difference between impact investing and philanthropy.
Bill Roth of TriplePundit.com talks to First Light Ventures on best practices for raising raising funds for a social enterprise.
Jonathan Jenkins of UnLtd, one of Europe’s largest supporters of social entrepreneurs, reflects on the rapid growth of the global impact investment market.
Upcoming Events
SoCap/Europe (Amsterdam, NL)
May 30 - June 1, 2011, Beurs Van Berlage
Drop by Drop: How Market-based Solutions are Increasing Access to Clean Water (Toronto, ON)
Jun 1, 2011,
Network Orange, 7pm - 10pm
2011 Impact Investment Summit (Chicago, USA)
June 13, 2011, 8:00am - 6pm, Chicago
Canadian Responsible Investment Conference (Victoria, BC)
Jun 20-22, 2011,
The Fairmont Empress Hotel
Did we miss any news, insights, or events? Use the comment form below to add to this round up.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benimoto/603815615/
