The elixir of life has been the subject of a dispute of life-threatening proportions between industry and communities.

As Capital Float's first investor, Aspada congratulates the team for leading the way in unlocking much-needed capital for small businesses in India. This round will allow Capital Float to scale to over 20,000 borrowers in 100 Indian cities.

CTI PFAN is now accepting proposals from Asian Region for participating in the seventh Asia Forum for Clean Energy Financing (AFCEF-7) Business Plan Competition.

Article by Vikram Upadhyaya

The Indian startup scenario is currently on a high growth trajectory owing to immense support from the entire ecosystem, including a slew of government initiatives to boost the startup culture in the country. No wonder, startups have been mushrooming across the country at a rapid pace.

Editor’s Note: Hemendra Mathur is managing director for SEAF India Investment Advisors, the SME-focused venture capital investment firm, and has been actively investing in food and agribusiness over the last five years. During this time, he has invested in eight companies ranging from food ingredients, animal feed and fertilizer businesses to seeds and spices companies. He’s also invested in India’s organic food sector, which he believes is ripe for further investment. Mathur has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and is currently leading the $150 million fundraising efforts for SEAF India’s second agribusiness fund. Want to write a guest commentary? Email Media@AgFunderNews.com

India has recently announced laudable measures geared towards broadening opportunities for foreign investment in several sectors of its economy while, at the same time, enhancing investor confidence on the domestic tax system through mechanisms being implemented to handle unreasonable tax assessment cases.

About the Program The Clinton Fellowship is an immersive, 10-month service program matching highly skilled young professionals with high impact NGOs and social enterprises across India based on their interests and skills. Fellows work on scalable and sustainable development projects in the fields of education, livelihoods, public health, and human rights. 

Through collaboration and capacity-building, AIF Clinton Fellows and civil society leaders form dynamic partnerships where they exchange knowledge and skills, and share a mutual passion for advancing social and economic development.

The Fellowship includes an orientation and training at the start of the program in September, a midpoint retreat in January/February, and an endpoint conference at the Fellowship's conclusion at end of June.

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PUNE: Rural distribution company Inthree has devised a hybrid ecommerce model that allows customers to place orders online on its portal boonbox-.com and pay in advance with the help of its agents, an innovation that the company said has allowed it to better tap into the growing demand for daily and aspirational products from its target areas.

By Genevieve Edens Sep. 1, 2015

What good is a business plan if you can't get the financing to implement it? This is a question that we've heard many Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) members ask. Our members help hundreds of promising small businesses—led by entrepreneurs who have the ambition and passion to grow their ventures—plan for growth, but they continue to struggle over early-stage financing.

Are you looking to start scaling up your social enterprise? Then apply to Growth Challenge for support!

The Growth Challenge is a one year incubation program that provides selected scale stage social enterprises with focused, high level inputs (hands-on coaching, connections to peers and experts) and capacity building (workshops and training sessions) to ready the founders for scale. In addition, the program provides funding to help the organization embark on its growth journey.

Past investees include Milaap, SMV Wheels, Student's Fuel, Sakha Cabs, ROSE Computer Academy, BareFoot.Slums, Equal Community Foundation, Greenway Grameen, Sampurn(e)arth