07 Feb Weekly Roundup, 07.02.2015: ‘Electricity for all’ by 2019

In this week’s roundup we analyse a key strategic goal as identified by the Indian Government, review a social entrepreneurship conference and share details of upcoming business modelling workshops.

One of the key strategic goals identified by the government of India is providing access to a clean reliable source of power to nearly 30 per cent of the Indian population, which has unreliable access to grid connected electricity or none at all. Electricity for all by 2019 holds the potential of improving the productivity, quality of life and per capita income. Currently a bulk of the population depends on inefficient, antiquated sources such as kerosene, which apart from limited use, has substantial health, social and environmental hazards. Utilising modern infrastructure can transform the social and economic parameters of the rural ‘bottom of the pyramid’ population by increasing their productivity and providing them access as healthcare and education, among other facilities.

The Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur recently hosted the ‘7th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship’. The conference facilitated and supported dialogue and debate among educators, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability. For a detailed summary of the conference, click here

Do you have an idea to tackle a social problem? Applications are now open for the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia 2015, which aims to identify and support new social ventures that have the potential to generate scalable and sustainable social impact. Social ventures in Asia will compete for SGD $100,000 in seed funding and the opportunity to refine their ideas with mentors, attend hands-on workshops and gain exposure to impact funding. Ennovent will be organising four workshops as part of the challenge in Jaipur, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad between February 27 and March 10. These free workshops will educate entrepreneurs on the use of Business Model Canvas in the social sector. There are limited seats available, so register today by clicking on the city where you would like to attend.

In some investment news, Fidelity Growth Partners India has invested $10 Mn in clean tech product company Greenlight Planet, who are seeking to expand distribution in India and Southeast Asia. Greenlight Planet manufactures solar lamps and have claimed to have sold 3 million solar lamps and phone charging devices across 30 countries in the world and is aiming for 100 million off-grid households by 2020.

Did you know, three members of the Ennovent Circle closed a Series A equity investment round in North India-based clean energy access company, Boond Engineering & Development. You too can be part of the Ennovent Circle – an exclusive group that collaborates to accelerate innovations for low-income markets