I’ve written about Zopa before on this blog— it’s a microfinance venture based out of London that enables person-to-person lending. Zopa just announced today that they have raised $12.9 million dollars from several VC firms, including Bessemer, Benchmark, and Wellington Management. The extra money will be used to enter the US market. Zopa isn’t focusing… Continue reading Microfinance Venture Zopa Raises Another Round of Venture Capital Financing
Category: Tech + Social Ventures
Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with charities
i’m is a new initiative from Windows Liveâ„¢ Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with some of the world’s most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We’ve set no cap on the amount we’ll donate to each organization. The sky’s the limit. So… Continue reading Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with charities
Update on Freepledge
Several months ago, I featured a social venture called FreePledge on this blog. Here is my post: FreePledge Lets You Donate To Non-Profits While Shopping At Your Favorite Online Retailer Since then, they have made big strides to enhance their product, including an updated design, new reporting functionality for non-profits and registered users, and a… Continue reading Update on Freepledge
Give to ninemillion.org with every search
Just saw this on a text ad from an email sent from hotmail. For every search performed from this page between January 17 and March 31, 2007, Microsoft will make a contribution to ninemillion.org. All contributions will benefit ninemillion.org to support educational programs for refugee youth. Microsoft doesn’t provide any details on how this really… Continue reading Give to ninemillion.org with every search
A Digg For Articles About Social Responsibility– dotherightthing.com
TechCrunch, blog that reports on new Web 2.0 organizations just featured a new one called DoTheRightThing. I haven’t had time to check it out yet but it sounds interesting. Here is what TechCrunch writes: I took a look at new startup DoTheRightThing this evening. This is a Digg-like site where people submit stories about companies… Continue reading A Digg For Articles About Social Responsibility– dotherightthing.com
How The Technology World Is Changing Philanthropy
Douglas McGray writes an interesting article in West (the new Sunday mag for the LA Times) about how Omidyar and Skoll, the founders of Ebay, are changing the face of philanthropy. Since EBay went public in 1998, Omidyar, now worth about $8 billion, and Skoll, worth about $5 billion, have become two of the nation’s… Continue reading How The Technology World Is Changing Philanthropy
Ebay Giving Works Helps Nonprofits Raise Money
Ebay Giving Works is a program that allows non profits to use ebay to generate revenues and a way for consumers to support non profits by buying on eBay. Giving Works is powered by MissionFish, which is the exclusive “charity solutions provider” of eBay. MissionFish helps you support your favorite causes through trading on eBay!… Continue reading Ebay Giving Works Helps Nonprofits Raise Money
cMarket – A Charity Auction Startup
cMarket, a online charity auction site, is creating some buzz these days. The venture was recently written about in a Businessweek article detailing the company’s goal: Having already raised $20 million in venture capital, Carson says the company is out to fine-tune the charity-auction process and develop a “national marketplace.” The article also delves into… Continue reading cMarket – A Charity Auction Startup
Acumen Investment Gives Fund Stake In Growing Technology Platform Transforming Rural India
Drishtee Kiosks Harness Technology to Increase Accessibility of Critical Information and Services Including Healthcare and Education New York, NY – Acumen Fund, a leading catalyst for sustainable, scalable solutions addressing poverty in South Asia and Africa, announced today that it has invested $1.6 million (~Rs.72 million) in Drishtee Dot Com, a rural Information and Communications… Continue reading Acumen Investment Gives Fund Stake In Growing Technology Platform Transforming Rural India
Microfinance- Making A Big Difference In The Developing World- A Plug For Kiva
Microfinance has gained tremendous momentum in the last year following a large infusion of venture capital. Two companies dominate the mindshare in this space: Prosper and Zopa. However, a lesser known microfinance venture, Kiva.org, is already using the model to demonstrate remarkable social returns by focusing specifically on “loaning money to businesses in the developing… Continue reading Microfinance- Making A Big Difference In The Developing World- A Plug For Kiva