Entrepreneurship

A Special Report by The Economist. While it is the big companies and their CEO’s that get the headlines and the red carpet treatment, it is the small and medium sized businesses that make up the bulk of the world’s economy.  They are the employers of most people, produce the most goods.  They also are …
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Microfinance: Banking on the poor – Ethical Corp

Microfinance – Banking on the poor As the global financial system buckles, microfinance institutions continue to grow on the back of their record for low risk and solid returns by Rajesh Chhabara, Ethical Corp Microfinance gives small-scale financial services such as loans, savings, insurance and money transfer to poor customers who would otherwise not have …
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Swimming in dwindling waters – Ethical Corp

Water resources: Efficiency and conservation – Swimming in dwindling waters As the planet’s once plentiful blue resource gets used up, companies are acting to secure supply and be more efficient users of water by Oliver Balch, Ethical Corp Kazakhstan’s mapmakers have their work cut out. No sooner do they chart the boundaries of the Aral …
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Dealpedia – business deal info …

Michael Rbertson, founder of Linspire (formerly Lindows 🙂 ), has just launched Dealipedia – a business wiki for mergers, acquisitions, venture investments, IPO and other deals. Launching with nearly 20,000 deals, but also never before revealed info like how much Yahoo paid for Flickr, how much Google paid for Grandcentral and how much the founders …
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October VC deals and data

A123Systems, which is developing nanophosphate lithium ion batteries to be used in everything from power tools to hybrid/ plug-in and electric vehicles, completed a $30 million round of funding, bringing the total capital invested in the company to $132 million. Investors include General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Alliance Capital, Motorola, Qualcomm, North Bridge Venture Partners, …
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China seeking stakes in more global investment businesses

The FT reports that China’s $61.5 billion social security fund has held talks to acquire ownership stakes in Carlyle Group, KKR and TPG. It’s unclear how far along any of these discussions are, but China has already acquired positions in both The Blackstone Group and Bear Stearns.  This further supports the view that China (and …
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China to invest in Africa’s biggest bank

China’s largest bank, the state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, announced plans to acquire a 20% stake in Africa’s biggest bank, Standard Bank, for US$5.5 billion. If approved by South African regulators and ICBC shareholders, the deal would lead to the creation of a US$1 billion private equity fund that will be established by …
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VC social networking

Next month, the New England Venture Network, a regional social group for venture capitalists, is launching VentureNetwork.vc, an online social network for professionals looking for another channel to connect and talk shop.  It would be great to see a global portal of this nature, especially if it contains substantial public access.