January 2012
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InVenture Projects!
InVenture welcomes the new year with some bigger and better things in store for our website — we’ll keep you updated! In the interim, we don’t want to be radio silent so we created a way for you to support InVenture Foundation projects & to stay involved in the work we do!
Introducing…InVenture Projects!
Some examples of InVenture Projects include...
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Happy 2012! InVenture Featured in Fast Company!
Happy 2012 everyone! As we return from the holidays, we had fun reminiscing our 2011 beginnings with “Our Year of InVenture” to see how far we’ve come! Check out our Facebook to see our month by month timeline & take a stroll down memory lane!
We enter the new year with some very exciting news! One of which is a feature of our InSight SMS money management tool in Fast...
December 2011
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Our Year of InVenture!
At year end, InVenture wants to thank our supporters in helping us get this far! Follow us on Facebook as we create our own monthly timeline of InVenture reflections! Be a part of the conversation to share some of your favorite InVenture memories in 2011!
Below is a peak at our first post! :)
Our Year of InVenture: APRIL 2011
Our year began in April kicking off our 1st Year Anniversary...
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InVenture Team is India Bound & Rolling Out...
Our InVenture team is heading to India starting next week to roll out our beta mobile money management tool — InSight! We’ll be taking lots of photos & sharing some great stories while abroad — so keep us bookmarked and we’ll keep you updated!
And just this week, Microfinance Focus conducted an interview with Stuart Rutherford, who stated: “Poor People Need...
November 2011
3 posts
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A Day in the Life: Asaía Palacios
InVenture is excited to continue our “A Day In the Life” series, which gives first-hand and personal insight into what InVenture Fellows experience while they work on-the-ground with our entrepreneurs and NGO/MFI partners.
Meet Asaía Palacios, our InVenture Mexico Fellow, whose journey spans Mexico to the Czech Republic to New York City and back to Mexico, where she is currently working with...
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InVenture Announces Release New Mobile Application...
InVenture is proud to announce a new mobile technology tool called “InSight” — leveraging the power of SMS texting in the developing world. We have partnered with Intuit’s Txtweb platform to bring this technology to life for small businesses worldwide! Read our official Press Release (via PRWire) below.
Peer-to-peer micro-investment platform InVenture is proud to...
October 2011
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8 more days left!
Only eight more days to go for our Fostering Social Economies Campaign!
Check out our Santa Monica Patch spotlight HERE!
Fostering Social Economies is as simple as one, two, three…
Give $25 to a small business owner on InVenture.org
Receive exclusive discounts to local Santa Monica businesses valid thru November!
Save Money & Do Good!
Don’t miss out on this opportunity...
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Small Businesses - We need You.
In her September 22nd Triple Pundit piece, Gerri Stengel makes a passionate case for the ability of small businesses to foster communities and social connections, arguing that by supporting local small businesses, we can prevent economic downturns and create jobs. Thriving small business not only help to build communities but they also help to solve problems - even global problems such as...
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Fostering Santa Monica!
Just a few days ago, we started a campaign, Fostering Social Economies, partnering with local Santa Monica based businesses to foster small business growth right here at home and all around the world! With every $25 you give to one of the three remaining entrepreneurs on our site, you receive exclusive discounts to local stores in Santa Monica. In this way, you can support small businesses...
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FOSTERING SOCIAL ECONOMIES CAMPAIGN!
JOIN our Campaign!
We want to share some exciting news. InVenture is launching a brand new campaign to foster social economies everywhere! We’re partnering with local Santa Monica-based businesses to provide exclusive discounts to InVenture users with the goal of building local economies right here at home as well as around the world!
How does it work?
You INVEST $25 on our site from now...
August 2011
4 posts
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Spotlight on: Mrs. Selvi
Micro-Entrepreneur: Mrs. Selvi Micro-Business: Salt and Rangoli Powder Location: Cheyyar, India InVestment Needed: Rs. 50,000 (approx $1100.00 USD) InVestment Used For: Traditional Rangoli Artwork Target Disbursement: August 2011
In the spirit of Janmashtami (a...
What’s Happening on MyInVenture? John M. “the...
When we launched the MyInventure feature on our website earlier in July, we were obviously very excited. When our supporters tweeted about their new profiles and encouraged more people to join, we loved the love. And today, when we noticed one of our InVentors (John M.) very creatively take a picture of himself posing as our insignia on the Inventurer Patch, we absolutely loved it! (Screenshot...
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Socializing with Social Enterprise!
InVenture + #SocEntLA Summer Tuesday Happy Hours + You!
(Pictured Above) InVenture, the HubLA & StartingBloc connects at Rush Street for our second #SocEntLA Happy Hour Notice our flurry of tweets and Facebook posts about #SocEntLA Summer Tuesdays these past weeks? This summer, we’re bringing the Los Angeles community together to engage with the growing social enterprise scene and we are...
Spotlight on: Kamala Sekar
Micro-Entrepreneur: Kamala Sekar Micro-Business: Toy-Making Location: Tamil Nadu (Chennai), India InVestment Needed: Rs. 53,060 (approx. $1250.18 USD) InVestment Used For: Material Dyes Target Disbursement: August 2011
The Business. When we think of India, we picture vibrant colours: spices, dyed cloth, mosaic tiles and handicrafts. This is...
July 2011
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Spotlight on: Chitra Kumar
Micro-Entrepreneur: Chitra Kumar Micro-Business: Cold Drinks Shop Location: Tamil Nadu (Chennai), India InVestment Needed: Rs. 30,000 (approx. $676 USD) InVestment Used For: Fresh Juice Grinder/Mixer Target Disbursement: August 2011 The Business. In the tropical country of India, soda stalls along sidewalks and on street-corners are extremely popular....
A Day In The Life: Anurag Saha
InVenture Fellow: Portfolio Management
Location: Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu, India
InVenture NGO Partner: ASSCOD
Timeline: Summer 2011 You were introduced to our India fellow, Anurag Saha, last month. Now catch up with him as he gives his impression during his time as an InVenture fellow in Tamil Nadu, India
In Anurag’s Words:
It...
Spotlight on: The Elumalais
From L to R: ASSCOD, Ankit, Mr. & Mrs. Elumalai, 2 hired laborers
Micro-Entrepreneurs: Santha Elumalai & Mr. Elumalai Micro-Business: Wood Furniture Workshop Location: Tamil Nadu (Chennai), India InVestment Used For: New Wood Polishing Machine (qty=1) Target Disbursement: August 2011 InVenture Web Profile: Mr. & Mrs. Elumalai
...
June 2011
12 posts
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Meet: Our Fantastic Summer 2011 Interns
Summer is a time for sunny blue skies, warm beach water and… internships :P We are pleased to introduce two young’uns who’ve joined us at InVenture’s HQ in Santa Monica for the summer to contribute to and learn about Portfolio Management and Marketing/Communications. They come to us from the land of USC - and we are thrilled to have them with us for the summer. Give a...
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A Day In The Life: Anurag Saha
A DAY IN THE LIFE InVenture is excited to introduce our “A Day In the Life” series, which gives first-hand and personal insight into what InVenture Fellows experience while they work on-the-ground with our entrepreneurs and NGO/MFI partners.
Read about Anurag’s “first time eagerness” below as he navigates his way to Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu, India and meets with InVenture micro-entrepreneur,...
UPDATE: Griselda Flores (Mexico)
Micro-Entrepreneur: Griselda Flores Micro-Business: Health Clinic Location: Milpa Alta (Mexico City), Mexico InVestment Used For: New Ultrasound Machine InVestment Disbursed: February 2011
Griselda in her clinic
Before there was a new InVenture website with 9 new micro-entrepreneurs in India - there was Griselda Flores.
What’s her story?...
InVenture 2.0!
You may have noticed the exciting buzz from InVenture’s recent tweets & posts! The reason? On June 16, 2011, InVenture re-launched the website to a beta version (pun intended). :) The transformation will provide users the transparency of tracking InVestments with a new “My InVenture” profile and the platform to build unique online communities through Rallies around specific causes and...
Happy 1st Birthday InVenture!
04/15/2011
Indeed, it was a very happy birthday for all of us here at InVenture as we celebrated our one-year on April 15th at the William Turner Gallery/Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. We reached out to our local community and invited fellow Angelenos to come out not only to celebrate with us but to also preview the reimagination of our new website. With over 100 supporters coming out to...
Apples to Oranges? - InVenture and other...
05/13/2011 We always get asked one major question: “How does InVenture differ from other micro-lending platforms” Though we get tired of the question - its a good one - and it means people are knowledgable and curious about this industry - and its not like they’re comparing apples to oranges ;-) Our answer is — We’re very similar in that we have a online platform and that is...
InVenture is maturing!
04/30/2011
We’ve been going through a bit of a metamorphasis this past six months - think catepillar to butterfly :)
Starting up an organization is definitely no easy feat. Visualizing an idea and actually going through the motions to materialize it into something you can see, touch and experience are two different things - its about implementation at the end of the day and making sure your...
Nurturing Entrepreneurs through Micro-Investments
06/01/2011
The microfinance industry has come under intense scrutiny over the last several months. Once dubbed “the silver bullet” of poverty eradication by the mainstream media, development organizations, and governments, alike microfinance as an industry is in turmoil. While we don’t intend to enter this debate at this point, we found this recent article in the WSJ quite enlightening. ...
Unreasonably Excited!
06/13/2011 I can’t believe InVenture is heading to the Unreasonable Institute tomorrow. It’s an honor to be affiliated with the folks through this program, and obviously, I have to say that we’re UNREASONABLY excited :) We are also excited for everything that the Institute will offer us over the next six weeks. While I’m sad to be leaving the team - I am also excited to see us rise up to this...
InVenture Sparks!
May 24th, 2011
Studying International Development in college changed my world view. But it also convinced me that real progress meant changing bureaucratic institutions from within. My political science professors lectured on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals as solutions, but these were slow panaceas, often criticized for lack of accountability and impending deadlines. My frustration...
InVenture Moves! (forward and into a New Office)
June 6, 2011 I think that going to work used to mean cramming four laptops around a small table in a shrinking apartment, makes InVenture sound like college all over again. The reality is that start-ups have to actually start somewhere — in this case, it was in the spare room of Shivani Siroya’s (InVenture CEO/Founder) humble apartment where the InVenture brainstorming grew its roots. More...
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Introducing InVenture’s Inaugural India Fellows!
06/09/2011
We are excited to announce the inaugural class of our India Fellows program. In a partnership with the National Social Entrepreneurship Foundation (NSEF), InVenture has selected two talented young men to help spearhead our Fellows program in Tamil Nadu, India. Ankit Khandelwal will be entering his third year as an electrical engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology,...
August 2010
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Check out some views of Mexico from out Fellows!! →
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Fiestas, parks, museums, and markets: Our Fellows... →
July 2010
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Manvi falls ill but experiences the Mexican health... →
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Our Fellows take a trip to the local market and... →
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Vote to Support InVenture Fund!!! Inventure Fund... →
Make sure that you vote to support InVenture Fund.
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Manvi and Sarina meet Mario Rechy a federal... →
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Manvi and Sarina check in on Griselda Flores, our... →
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Check out how Shivani and Lisa explain... →
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InVenture Interactions! →
Check out our latest Fellows blog!!! Get up to date info on what our fellows are up to, both in the US and abroad!
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Manvi and Sarina discuss their love for Mexico... →
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Check out how Manvi and Sarina are expanding... →
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Read about Griselda Flores’s backstory and the... →
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Read about our newest InVenture entrepreneur... →
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Check out how our InVenture Fellows are adjusting... →
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Check out how our InVenture Fellows are adjusting... →
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Read the story of Manvi and her travels from MIT... →
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Our Fellows have landed!!
Manvi & Sarina have arrived in Mexico City to help launch our FOURTH pilot! Stay tuned for regular updates in the coming weeks, and be sure to check out our entrepreneurs at www.inventurefund.org/invest!
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Read about Sarina's Journey to InVenture Fund. →