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Hello!
The end of the calendar year is always filled with reflection. We look back on 2018 with pride for the strides made by FINCA Ventures portfolio companies. More people have access to affordable and reliable energy, dignified sanitation, agriculture activities that grow incomes, and other essential services. The arc of progress may be slow, but we’re confident it bends toward a better tomorrow.
In this moment of reflection, we find ourselves thinking about our organizational and individual qualities, and about those of the entrepreneurs we’re honored to support. We realized that while the entrepreneurs we work with are incredibly diverse—from their backgrounds and educations to the problems they’re solving—they share certain qualities that inspire us. Here are just a few of the things we love about the folks we work with and where we learn from them:
1. Questioning the fundamental
The Amped Innovation team kicked-off the year with a productive trip to China, building prototypes for a new $200 refrigeration product. After visiting dozens of vendors, Kurt Kuhlmann (Co-CEO & Co-Founder) suggested a different way to think about building a truly affordable cold chain solution. Sharing Amped’s traction with distributors in emerging markets and the potential for a competitive edge, Kurt recruited a factory management team that was ready to partner in the mission. Kurt has already finished designing the ultra-efficient cooling drivetrain. Look out for Amped's refrigerator solution in the coming months: the first mass-market cold chain product, designed for extreme affordability.
2. Pushing the envelope
Good Nature Agro works with over 5,000 smallholder farmers in Zambia. Their team has demonstrated that the right system of activities can grow farmer incomes more than three-fold within just two growing seasons. Always looking to raise the bar, Carl Jensen (CEO & Co-Founder) is now working with FINCA to create new financial tools for outgrower schemes so that his team can rapidly work with a greater number of farmers.
3. Persistence pays
In 2012, Emily Woods went to Naivasha, Kenya to work on a pit latrine project. Shortly thereafter, she convinced Andrew Foote to come out and work with her to tackle sanitation challenges sustainably. By 2014, the two had a pilot of what would become Sanivation up and running. A year later, their first waste treatment factory was operational. And this past November, Sanivation’s 70-plus employee team cut the ribbon on a modern sanitation facility in Naivasha, a model that can become the standard for African municipalities.
As we move into 2019, the FINCA Ventures team commits to being more persistent, to questioning the fundamental, and to pushing envelopes, inspired by the folks we get to work with.
At present, we’re conducting due diligence on some exciting companies in the health sector, gearing up for follow-on funding rounds with our existing portfolio, and preparing to grow our team by 50 percent (looks impressive when the base is only two people). More to come on this soon, so stay tuned!
Here's to a great 2019,
Ami and Alex at FINCA Ventures
P.S. If you pass through DC, stop by our office and let's chat!
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Education / Nairobi, Kenya
In December, Eneza was selected as a member of the third cohort of the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund. This program harnesses the power of mobile technology to deliver impact in emerging markets. |
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Agriculture / Chipata, Zambia
GNA has its sights set on expansion in 2019. To get there, the team is rolling out the Smallholdr app to customize training and financing packages for its farmers, and to track crop production. Also, we're working with FINCA's microfinance institution in Zambia to get a savings product into the hands of GNA farmers. |
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Agriculture / Accra, Ghana
Ignitia introduced its tropical weather forecasting service to Nigerian farmers last October in partnership with 9mobile, and has seen rapid growth since. To make its forecasts even more reliable, Ignitia's team of meteorologists and scientific developers optimized their forecasting model, making 48-hour weather forecasts just as accurate as the first day. |
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WASH / Naivasha, Kenya
Sanivation was officially issued a patent on a process for combining waste products into biomass fuels. Also, on World Toilet Day, the team cut the ribbon on their newest treatment facility, in partnership with the Naivasha municipality. |
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Catch up with our latest posts on Medium:
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- Power Problem in a Changing Climate: The Renewable Energy Movement is Shortchanging Women and the Poor - In this refreshingly candid op-ed, the co-founder of Solar Sister calls out a disturbing trend in the energy access space where socially-driven enterprises "are shamed and excluded."
- The Daily Show - Everyone's favorite philanthropist (Bill Gates) went on The Daily Show to spread the word about the need for innovation in sanitation (warning: some explicit language in the clip). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The World Bank also announced more funding to speed up sanitation for all.
- Global Gender Gap Report 2018 - Women's financial exclusion is a global phenomenon, but it's just one issue of many rife with gender inequality. This report from the World Economic Forum is the definitive guide to the global state of gender parity in economic, educational, health and political spheres.
- Winners Take All - We may be late to the game, but Winners Take All was our most recent book club selection, and one we are glad to have read. How do we work to "give up instead of give back"?
- Perceived Health Benefits of Off-Grid Products: Results of an End-User Survey in Uganda - This study from FINCA International's research team shows that, according to customers, the most frequently cited benefits of solar lanterns, solar home systems and improved cookstoves relate to family health.
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Lagos, Nigeria
Ami and Alex spent time in Nigeria in mid-January to complete due diligence on a company in the health space (hopefully more news soon!), and meet with some of the main entrepreneurship ecosystem supporters.
Chipata, Zambia
Our marketing communications advisor, Michael Leen, is currently visiting GNA in Zambia. He's meeting with GNA founders and growers to help tell their stories through interviews, photos and other communications. Then, in April, Ami will be in town for a GNA strategy meeting.
Alex will be based out of Nairobi thru March, supporting the existing portfolio and meeting with new entrepreneurs. If you'd like to meet up, let him know! You can be sure to find him at Sankalp Africa Summit 2019 in late February and helping to host a pre-conference workshop sponsored by ANDE on seed-stage investment. |
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Alex Evangelides, Senior Investment Manager
Alex helps lead all aspects of the investment process at FINCA Ventures. This includes anything from pipeline development, to due diligence, to portfolio support. Prior to FINCA Ventures, Alex spent time at Fenix International, Dalberg Capital and Deloitte Strategy Consulting. He did his undergrad at Carleton College and his MBA at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
When not on the job, Alex plays Ultimate Frisbee competitively, regularly participating in tournaments around the world. He also enjoys reading every Murakami novel, watching basketball, failing to solve math riddles and giggling at bad puns.
Check out the next FV newsletter to get to know more of the team!
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FINCA Ventures Legal Disclaimer
This publication has been prepared solely for informational purposes and has been prepared in good faith on the basis of information available at the date of publication without any independent verification. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. Nothing contained herein constitutes investment, legal, tax, or other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. This publication should not be viewed as a current or past recommendation or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities or to adopt any investment strategy.
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