Enterprise Financing Journey: Khainza Energy
Published: 18 June 2020
Khainza Energy (SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2018) is committed to transform organic waste into clean, safe, and affordable cooking fuel and to provide this renewable energy solutions to Ugandans. It is an innovative circular economy business that obtains organic waste from smallholder farms and local households for processing and refinement into high-purity methane. Read more
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Enterprise Financing Journey: Village Energy
Published: 18 June 2020
Village Energy (SEED Africa Award Winner 2015) provides lasting solar solutions to institutions and households, through providing customised systems and specialised after sales servicing and repair in Kampala, Uganda. Village Energy recruits and trains technicians to build a regional servicing, distribution and supply chain network.
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Rebooting the economy during and after COVID-19 crisis by supporting eco-inclusive enterprises
Published: 28 May 2020 Ebenezer Kumi, Jonas Restle-Steinert
In many emerging countries like Ghana, reducing the impact of COVID-19 and charting the path to a regenerative economy during and after the pandemic may not lie in big financial stimulus packages for all types of businesses in general. A targeted and tailored support for eco-inclusive SMEs that are more concerned about social and environmental issues is essential. Read more
Adapting to business-not-as-usual during COVID-19
Published: 18 May 2020 Sonya Ong
Business was looking up for Fadzai Munyuki and her team at Kudiwa Waste & Energy Solutions earlier this year. Then operations had to stop suddenly following the orders of the Zimbabwean government, who like many others, initiated a 21 day restricted movement order as a response to the corona virus. Read more
Filling the Missing Middle Financing Gap | Scoping Paper, Indonesia 2020
Published: 08 May 2020 Maggie Sloan, Net Pornlumon Nirachatsuwan
This scoping paper provides the basis for the implementation of the collaborative, multi-step process of the SEED Practitioner Labs Climate Finance in Indonesia in 2020. Indonesia’s richness in biodiversity and vibrant landscape of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) present a significant opportunity for the country to meet its development objectives while reducing its climate impacts and improving climate resilience across sectors. In particular, climate-smart SMEs – offering products and services for climate change adaptation and/or mitigation – are well positioned to absorb and scale the environmental, social and economic impacts of global climate finance flows in line with Indonesia’s climate action objectives. Read more
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Supporting the Resilience of Eco-Inclusive Enterprises during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published: 06 May 2020
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, enterprises around the world are now facing several sudden challenges such as not generating revenues anymore, missing customer base, productions on-hold, transport constraints et cetera. In order to support eco-inclusive enterprises that are or have been part of the SEED programme, SEED has launched an online workshop series tackling these issues eco-inclusive enterprises are currently encountering. Read more
How to Make the Most of the Lockdown Period for Your Enterprise?
Published: 21 April 2020 Kathrin Kirsch
The current global lockdown, finds many of us working from home, limiting interactions with team members, customers and partners and reducing new business opportunities. Henry Othieno, CEO of Tusafishe, shares some inspiring strategies on how Tusafishe is nonetheless making the most of the situation, and may just come out stronger from the lockdown. Read more
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Eco-Inclusive Enterprises Innovating to Fight COVID-19
Published: 17 April 2020 Khawla Rammali, Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
A few innovative SEED-supported enterprises are coming up with resourceful ways to not only keep themselves afloat but also to solve the problems their communities are facing due to the COVID-19 crisis. Read more
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Digital Innovations by Eco-Inclusive Enterprises: In the Waste Sector
Published: 08 April 2020 Khawla Rammali, Sonya Ong
The improvement of waste management systems across the world is vital to reduce environmental degradation, but only 9% of the world’s plastic waste was recycled by 2015. But digital solutions can support changes in consumer behaviour and increase the education of residents on proper waste sorting techniques and the availability of door-to-door collection. Read more
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How to improve your enterprise immunity to COVID-19? Some food for thought from SEED Indonesia Winner 2019 Mycotech
Published: 07 April 2020 Linde Wolters, Supapim Wannopas
The term “survival of the fittest” suggests that organisms best adjusted to their environment are the most successful in surviving, it seems this also applies to business in tough times.
Adaptiveness is certainly a quality that Adi Reza Nugroho, the CEO of Mycotech, an enterprise producing leather and leather products from mushrooms, has in spades. Resilient to changes, positive but not too optimistic, he hopes for the best but prepares for the worst. Here he shares his coping strategies dealing with the COVID situation. Read more
Adaptiveness is certainly a quality that Adi Reza Nugroho, the CEO of Mycotech, an enterprise producing leather and leather products from mushrooms, has in spades. Resilient to changes, positive but not too optimistic, he hopes for the best but prepares for the worst. Here he shares his coping strategies dealing with the COVID situation. Read more
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Digital Innovation for Eco-Inclusive Enterprises
Published: 30 March 2020 Khawla Rammali, Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
Digital innovation is a great way to accelerate social, environmental and economic transformation, for enterprises to tackle challenges such as climate change, food security, gender equality, and scale-up solutions more quickly through technology. Read more
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Promoting Zimbabwean entrepreneurship at Sankalp Africa Summit 2020
Published: 13 March 2020
As part of a panel at the Sankalp Africa summit 2020, four SEED representatives joined a panel on impact investing in Zimbabwe to do some myth busting and explain present investment opportunities in the country. Read more
SEED Congratulates Seven Malawi Enterprises on their Latest Success
Published: 28 February 2020
Seven of our SEED Malawi eco-inclusive enterprises - Chonona, Green Impact Technologies, Green Ventures, Honey Products, Hortinet, Inte Waste and Ziweto – were recently able to raise funds that will help them scale-up and achieve their full growth potential. Read more
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Seed Award Winner Gorilla Conservation Wins the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2020
Source: THE ST ANDREWS PRIZE
Celebrating its 22nd award in 2020, the Prize is an environmental initiative by the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The award recognises significant contributions to environmental issues and concerns with a focus on sustainability, conservation, biodiversity and community development. Read more
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Bottom-up Solutions to the Climate Emergency: Three Innovative, Eco-Inclusive Enterprises Take a Local Approach
Linde Wolters / Marlena Kiefl / Khawla Rammali Source: Next Billion
The threat of climate change exacerbates already existing inequalities, and increases the urgency of the need for resilient communities. But building this resilience presents a complex challenge: How can the world’s most marginalized communities effectively pursue growth, work toward the Sustainable Development Goals and overcome climate-related crises – while involving the rural households, women and youth who are most affected by climate change? Read more
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SEED Award Winner Lifepack Featured as an Eco-Friendly Biodegradable Packaging Solution to Plastic Pollution
Dan Edel Source: Intelligent Living
SEED Gender Equality Award Winner 2013 Lifepack, based in Colombia, has developed an amazing, 100% compostable product that can germinate plants within 8 days and biodegrade within 3 weeks. Each plant that germinates from a Lifepack will help to filter up to 1 ton of CO2. Read more
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SEED หนุนอาเซียน ผลิตสินค้ารักษ์สิ่งแวดล้อม-ใช้เทคโนโลยี | SEED supports ASEAN to produce environmentally friendly products
Published: 10 February 2020
SEED Symposium Bangkok 2020 on TNN TV Thailand features SEED supported enterprises in ASEAN Read more
SOLFIN: Affordable Lease-to-Own Financing for Solar System | Climate Finance, Ghana 2019
Published: 27 January 2020 Kathrin Kirsch, Marlena Kiefl
SOLFIN is a climate finance product that targets SMEs in the solar energy sector and supports them to provide affordable solar systems through enabling a lease-to-own financing model. Thereby, SOLFIN addresses the lack of high upfront investments for solar technologies by enabling solar technology providers to offer solar systems complemented by the necessary finance product. In this way, reasonable interest rates and longer tenors can be offered to SMEs, end-users and households. Read more
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Low Carbon Award Winner Hustlenomics featured on Global Ideas (DW)
Global Ideas Source: Deutsche Welle
SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2019 Hustlenomics featured as an inspirational best practice climate and biodiversity protection project in South Africa by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Read more
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SEED Malawi National Dialogue Forum 2019
Published: 12 December 2019
Brought together around 130+ entrepreneurs, policymakers, financial institutions, business development service providers and others to celebrate the journeys of eco-inclusive enterprises and collaboratively mobilise support for building the capacities of socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship in Southern Africa. Read more
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SEED at the COP25 in Madrid
Published: 11 December 2019
SEED’s Executive Director Dr. Lewis Akenji was present in Madrid and participated in multiple events to share how SEED supports climate-smart small and medium sized enterprises to develop innovative solutions to major climate finance challenges. As well as the innovative approaches of the SEED Low Carbon Award Winners & Finalists to reduce plastic waste. Read more
Proplanet SEED Low Carbon Award 2014 Winner featured on El Espectador (SP)
www.elespectador.com Source: El Espectador
The recycled material allows the manufacture of school and urban furniture, construction materials, sheets for automotive application, vertical gardens, matera, ecological points. Read more
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Platform for climate-resilient SME financing: Institutionalising access to climate finance | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Julia Haack, Maggie Sloan
The platform will build on existing infrastructure to support investors and SMMEs by building a common understanding of the climate resilience market, facilitating investment-readiness and deal flow matchmaking processes, while building SMMEs’ capacity through a customised “capacity building journey”. Read more
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Equity plug for energy efficiency financing: Direct lending model for SMEs | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Maggie Sloan
This model for energy efficiency financing for SMEs “plugs the gap” with equity by generating a paradigm shift in commercial banks through market, technology and supplier engagement and systematic technical assistance. Read more
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Climate-Smart Impact Investment Fund: Extending capital to SMEs in emerging markets | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Maggie Sloan
The solution for an Impact Investment Fund for Climate-Smart Entrepreneurial Solutions brings together networks of active impact investors and potential future investors to deliver equity to climate-smart SMEs in their efforts to reach commercial scale. Read more
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