Paul Polak is an accomplished man and a very busy man. After spending a few decades researching and trying out various innovations to lift poor farmers out of poverty, he wrote Out of Poverty in 2008. Making the treadle pump affordable to low income farmers was among his earliest invention. IDE (International Development Enterprises) is possibly [...]
[Editor's Note: Last year, I attended the Anantpur Cooperative Federation Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Gutturu village of Anantpur district (Andhra Pradesh). Conversations with a few farmers and related observations provided valuable insights into the workings of a farmer cooperative and the healthy dynamic between Center for Collective Development (CCD) and the cooperative. This is a (11-months delayed) [...]
By now they should have changed the venue of Sankalp Forum from Mumbai to Bangalore. I attended the third edition of Sankalp in 2011. The only reason I missed it last year (and will sadly be missing this year’s edition too) is because it’s in Mumbai, and not Bangalore. Is there any other metro that [...]
[Update (Apr 8, 2013): Simpa's CEO Paul Needham wrote back with a few details. ADB joins other investors such as Schneider Electric, DOEN Foundation, Invested Development, Hilti Foundation, Village Capital and some HNI angel investors that either joined this round or participated in earlier rounds.] Bangalore-based Simpa Networks recently closed a $2 million Series B round [...]
Just read an intriguing Mother Jones article on the adoption of solar power in India’s slums. The two solar startups profiled in the article? Bangalore-based Simpa Networks and Bangalore-based Pollinate Energy. Here’s another interesting nugget – the co-founders of Simpa are two Americans and one Canadian while the co-founders of Pollinate are Australian. Australia vs. [...]
[Editor's Note: A few weeks ago, I had an engaging coffee chat with Unitus Seed Fund's (USF) Srikrishna Ramamoorthy and Eleanor Horowitz. The bulk of our discussion was on early stage social enterprises (USF's sweet spot) and brainstorming on social entrepreneurship's 'top of the funnel'. If you are a current (or aspiring) social entrepreneur, you definitely [...]
Gram Vikas (GV) is my favorite Orissa organization. Heck, if I ever curated a Top 5 pan-India list, it would probably be in it. When I asked Bangalore’s rainwater harvesting guru for his Top 10 list of Indian NGOs, Gram Vikas inevitably made it there. I don’t wax eloquent about too many non-social enterprise organizations on this blog [...]
A year ago I had a brief encounter with a young SELCO employee (Nikhil Nair – NN) following a scintillating chat with Harish Hande. Outside in the parking lot, NN cast a curious look at my Reva while I looked approvingly at his Royal Enfield Bullet and we struck up a conversation. Two recollections stood [...]
Newton’s Law of Corruption: an Indian babu’s likelihood of being corrupt is inversely proportional to the number of times he’s transferred. Higher the transfers, lower the likelihood of being corrupt. While babudom and anti-corruption agitation are topics that are not within the primary ambit of this blog, every once in a while I feel compelled to stray (for [...]
Last evening, I visited the The Ugly Indian Facebook page after a long time. While I was sleeping, they’ve apparently continued doing what they do best, you know, beautifying Bangalore and changing people’s behavioral patterns. The latest iconic street that received their makeover was Commercial Street. It’s all Mr. Manivannan’s fault that I’m writing this [...]
A farmer’s son deliberates on the cooperative decision
Why you should attend Sankalp Forum 2013
Paul Polak, SunPower and good news for poor farmers
Paul Polak, SunPower and good news for poor farmers
A farmer’s son deliberates on the cooperative decision
Why you should attend Sankalp Forum 2013
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