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Capital deepening which leads to increased economic growth occurs when society increases

Can ~100% More Ventures In Majority Black Areas Lead To Faster Economic Development?

by www.forbes.com Leave a Comment

The good news: More entrepreneurs are starting ventures in majority black areas, according to a study by the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity . The study found a marked surge in entrepreneurial activity in areas with a majority of black residents. New business applications in majority black areas increased by 103% from 2019 to 2021 compared to 54% nationally, and were about 3.5 times higher in 2005.

The study gives a number of reasons for this trend, including:

· More government financing

· Greater necessity, even with pandemic relief

· More remote work potential, and

· Higher local and regional support

Is this good news? Some key questions include:

· Are these ventures being started out of need for more income during tough times or are they potential growth ventures?

· If they are started out of need and do not lead to growth, will they be abandoned when the entrepreneurs find better options?

· Can these ventures be the foundation for the development of growth ventures?

· If they can be the foundation for growth ventures, what can be done to help them grow stronger and faster

· And most importantly, can the long-term benefits of the growth accrue not only to the black entrepreneurs and their venture financiers but also to the majority black areas?

If the increased number of entrepreneurs leads to higher income levels, increased net worth, and acts as a stepping stone to more growth ventures and more unicorns in majority black areas, this could be one of the most important trends in recent economic development, and perhaps one of the positive aspects of the misery of the last two years. But will it? And can it?

Emil Ekiyor is one of the community developers who has grabbed this phenomenon and is working at developing ventures to accelerate economic productivity in black communities in Indiana . Ekiyor moved to the U.S. from Nigeria and became an NFL player. In the last few years, he has started the Innopower project in Indianapolis where he has organized programs that have helped 150 entrepreneurs in the U.S. and 350 in Nigeria. He has brought expertise, role models, and funding through a strategic alliance with the Minority Enterprise Institute led by current NFL athlete Jaylon Smith . He has found that in black communities, entrepreneurs are starting out of necessity to feed their families both in the U.S. and in Nigeria. It is not necessarily to build a unicorn and create wealth.

Now he is focused on developing more unicorn entrepreneurs with a goal to generate wealth in black communities – not just to get out of poverty. The goal is to create an environment to create high-growth, scalable ventures and import wealth into black communities in the U.S. and in Sub-Saharan Africa by increasing the number of ventures that sell regionally, nationally, and globally. Here’s why.

There are three principal business strategies to create jobs in an area and impact wealth creation. But only one makes a community richer :

· Job Catalysts – Wealth Importers: These are mainly midsized to large businesses that sell to regional, national, and global markets, and import wealth into an area. But they often do not create many jobs because they need to be highly productive and labor-efficient if they are to be competitive on a global basis.

· Job Creators – Wealth Circulators: These are mainly small businesses, often retail or service, which cater to local consumers who circulate the wealth generated by the Job Catalysts. They need the wealth importers and are usually more labor-intensive than capital-intensive.

· Job Destroyers-Wealth Exporters: These are mainly product or service importers who may create jobs, but export area wealth generated by the Job Catalysts. These businesses need the Job Catalysts to generate wealth.

By developing more Wealth Importers, economic developers in majority black areas can build on this growth of entrepreneurial activity and make it into the foundation for the creation of unicorns. To do so, they need to:

· Recognize that the first step to develop growth ventures is the growth of unicorn-entrepreneurs, not VC

· To develop unicorn-entrepreneurs, areas need to teach local entrepreneurs the skills that were used by unicorn-entrepreneurs to start and launch unicorns

· To help launch unicorns, develop reverse-VC financing because VCs wait for Aha. Before Aha, VCs can point out the weaknesses and reasons why the venture may fail. After Aha, they show interest

· Welcome VC funds as they follow the unicorn-entrepreneurs into majority black areas. VCs follow unicorn-entrepreneurs and finance after Aha! – entrepreneurs build the venture from idea to Aha!

But the danger to attracting VC is this – if VC exits are via strategic sales of the ventures to larger corporations outside the majority black areas, these ventures may leave the area and future benefits accrue to the VCs and the entrepreneurs – but not to area residents?

VC needs to be brought in where the black entrepreneurs stay in control of the venture and hopefully keep the venture in the area. To do this, we may need a new kind of VC fund that helps the venture grow but keeps local control .

MY TAKE: The Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity article notes that “it will be critical to address the structural inequities that hold people of color back from growing and scaling their ventures.” Absolutely. The mistake that people have made is to introduce VC without teaching skills. That would be a huge mistake. Hopefully, this time will be different.

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IBISA Seed Funding | Ankur Capital: Agri-insurtech company IBISA raises seed funding from Ankur Capital

by economictimes.indiatimes.com Leave a Comment

Synopsis

70% of the global food supply comes from smallholder farmers and more than 50% of the Indian workforce is into agriculture and allied sectors that contribute to just 20% of India’s GDP.

MUMBAI: Agri insurtech company IBISA announced that Ankur Capital , an India-based leading early-stage venture capital fund focused on transformative technologies in deeptech and climate tech has joined its seed round. Luxembourg-based IBISA is on a mission to

the Agri value chain players with innovative weather protection insurance solutions .

Founded in 2019, IBISA started its operations in India with the DHAN Foundation to provide parametric insurance against drought coverage in Tamil Nadu. Fast forward to now, IBISA is scaling its operations in India with operations in Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana for coverage against excess rainfall, excess wind speed and drought. They have also opened a registered office in Feb 2022 in Bengaluru.

70% of the global food supply comes from smallholder farmers and more than 50% of the Indian workforce is into agriculture and allied sectors that contribute to just 20% of India’s GDP . With climate change happening at a rapid scale, most of these smallholder farmers are vulnerable to unforeseen climatic conditions that lead to damage of crops. It is not that there are not any insurance solutions to cater that, but there is a huge gap between the cost of insurance and the willingness to pay premiums and the relevance of the existing insurance products and the need of the farmers.

Ritu Verma, Partner at Ankur Capital stated, “The unavailability of data has hampered the growth of the agricultural insurance industry in developing countries for decades. Legacy crop insurance involved long manual processes making them impractical for developing markets where smallholder farming is the norm, and parametric insurance has historically been unviable due to the lack of detailed climate-related datasets.”

“Farming is an integral part of both our societal and economic infrastructure. The impact that the war in Ukraine is having on food prices and food security seriously underscores the importance of global agriculture. And yet the support isn’t there. With IBISA, we sought to create technology that would help reduce costs for the active players in the insurance space. Finding a way to responsibly protect farmers in the event of extreme weather, by slashing distribution and operating costs, making it affordable to many groups in the value chain. And it’s no small challenge. But we’re already seeing results. A small evidence of our success is the fact that when the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Odette in Dec 2021, our insurance partner, CLIMBS was able to do payouts within 10 days after the typhoon hit Philippines with IBISA’s weather protection coverage in place,” commented Maria Mateo Iborra, CEO & co-founder, IBISA.

Apart from India, IBISA has its operations in New Zealand, Guatemala, Senegal, Philippines, and other African countries. With strong insurance and reinsurance partnerships across different geographies and tailor-made products for lack of rain, excess rainfall, extreme temperatures, excess wind speed and cyclones, IBISA is able to address the needs of various Agri value chain players.

So whether there is a risk pertaining to defaults, securing the supply chain, strengthening farmer connection or increasing sustainability practices in agriculture, weather protection insurance solutions act as a tool to mitigate unforeseen climate-risks and empower organizations and ultimately farmers to increase their resilience against climate change.

The company is also in talks with a number of large lenders, food processors, and agritech clients across different geographies to mitigate their credit risk against default, reduce their supply chain risks and increase their sustainability practices in agriculture and strengthen farmer connection with smallholder farmers in India and abroad.

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PM Promotes ‘Nari Shakti’ During Independence Day, Female Industry Leaders Say Women Force Crucial for India’s Growth

by www.news18.com Leave a Comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the nation on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence from the Red Fort on Monday underscored that empowering women is crucial for the growth of the country, which is currently in the decade of digital revolution and innovations.

Modi said: “Be it education or science, women of the country are at the top…Be it sports or battlefield, India’s women are stepping forward with a new capability and confidence.”

“I see the immense contribution by women in 25 years to come, much more than that in the 75-year journey,” he noted.

His Independence Day speech also included the major factors which emerged as the wheels of India’s growth vehicle. These include technological innovations, as well as startups from tier 2 and 3 cities.

It is believed that participation from more women, in all these fields, will boost the growth of the country, while India is projected to be the world’s 3rd largest economy in the next 10 years.

But many believe that there is a gender divide and it also exists in the flourishing startup ecosystem.

To look at the big picture and understand women’s participation graph, as well as how women leaders are equally capable of taking a company to its peak or transforming it into a unicorn, ultimately helping India to be at its best, News18 has spoken to a few female leaders from various industries.

Understanding the gender divide

Anjali Rawat, co-founder and director of Design Thinking, Digital Dogs Content and Media, and Misbah Quadri, founder of Monofys Media, both believe that this issue still exists in a lot of large-scale national and multinational companies in the country.

As per Rawat, the gender divide starts with “culture, outlook and Indian value system of looking at and treating women with special feelings” such as extra respect, extra care, and extra concern.

“Many roles, especially those thought to require ‘extra’ effort and sacrifice are not even open for women. In our quest to be extra nice, we have ended up being extra discriminatory. It isn’t easy to change this soon,” she explained. “Mere activism won’t alter it completely. The time it needs to change over a generational value system is required, I suppose.”

She highlighted the fact that businesses do not make gender distinctions and neither markets nor customers do. According to her, the distinction comes from within — boardrooms, cap tables, and career decisions.

Similarly, Quadri said that a male and a female employee with the same academic qualifications and skill set are usually not compensated at the same level because a male leader is almost always paid more.

“This stems from the fact that the image we picture as a ‘leader’ is that of a man. A woman with the same designation and authority is considered to be a bully while the man is labelled assertive,” she added. “Pay disparity and perspective inequality are the real catalysts of the gender divide in the Indian corporate workforce.”

While describing the challenges, she stated: “I am a female founder of a startup and in this journey of setting up an organisation, after spending 15 years in the industry, has made me realise that even now, I need to constantly network with the who’s who of the market and be in the know-how of people with power if I want to make the right cut.”

Dr Divyani Sharma, who is the co-founder of the Catalyst Group, and also a mental health expert and a member of the American Clinical Psychologists Association, believes that these issues across the Indian startup ecosystem narrowed only a little in 2021 and there are several reasons for this, some of which are factual, while others may be hidden biases that have crept in over time.

“There is a lesser number of female founders in the ecosystem and we have real supply-side issues, particularly in tech, operations & sales, where the talent pool of experienced professionals is overwhelmingly male,” he said. “Then there are cases where some qualified women professionals may choose not to join a start-up, given the unpredictable work schedule and work/life balance issues.”

Amulya Kulkarni Kanade, who is the head of people operations, Log9 Materials, believes that the gender divide issue is a result of the representation of women in the workforce which translates to inequality in pay or progression.

However, according to her: “Today, companies are making conscious efforts to welcome more representation through various initiatives like returning to workforce post maternity or career break, driving focused programmes to upskill women leaders to take on larger roles through active mentoring and coaching and creating forums for women to learn and grow from each other.”

Dr Merin Liza Jacob, co-founder of Green And Beige, told News18 that according to her the gender divide is so deeply ingrained in society that it will take a great deal of awareness and education to completely eradicate it.

However, she also believes that this stark line is gradually fading thanks to many women who have been courageous enough to break these shackles and the men who have been supportive of their colleagues or significant others.

Women in startups and unicorn making

As per Dr Jacob, many startups in the last decade have featured women as the face of a company or as the driving force behind it.

“Pondering deeper reveals a level of dissatisfaction behind the traditional ways of carrying out business or product delivery that has triggered them to tread on this path less travelled. This has created a huge change in the way businesses have evolved to see products having a more nurturing touch to it and businesses become more all-inclusive,” she said. “With both genders having a role to play now with businesses, especially the new startups that are predominantly women-led, there is clearly a balanced approach that has seeped into businesses.”

Kanade from Log9 also has a similar view regarding the importance of women in the ecosystem, as she clearly stated that female forces play a critical role in “building and scaling organisations”.

“The representation of women surely role models and encourages more women to join the startup ecosystem that is considered fast-paced and challenging. Women in startups strengthen ‘inclusion’ as a cultural anchor”, she noted.

Rawat from Digital Thinking said that women across the world and also in India are leading from the front “when it comes to starting up”. Citing the new entities which were formed in the last five years that have women founders or co-founders, she said that “it is encouraging to see women leading this and not merely supporting it”.

Quadri cited a study according to which only 15% of the Indian unicorns have at least one female founder while the funding raised by startups founded only by women is also stated as being negligible.

“This is a very dark picture to look at,” she stated, while pointing out the fact that neighbouring China has 70% of the world’s most successful women entrepreneurs.

“We are making a dent in the glass ceiling recently with three of our women making it to the global Hurun list of women self-made billionaires but I think the number is too low vis-à-vis our population,” Quadri stated.

Push for more women in the ecosystem

Quadri believes that while women continue to bear the brunt of societal pressures, even in the most modern setups, the surrounding situation is changing and mindsets are evolving.

But she claimed that the pace at which it is happening is still pretty sluggish. So she suggested a collective effort across every stratum of the society if India wishes to see more female founders and female leaders coming up.

Additionally, Quadri said: “Professional workshops must be organised and encouraged by the Indian government free of cost across all levels, at regular intervals in order to provide women with the right business acumen so as to not allow themselves to get economically deflated at the cost of a poor business decision.”

Dr Sharma from Catalyst Group, which has an employee ratio of 80% women and 20% male, said that more women in the tech sector will help address the issues women face and it can lead to more women tech entrepreneurs.

According to her: “Extending digital knowledge, access and providing connected devices to lower income females will be impactful. Regulations should be placed to have companies introduce a minimum quota for women hired. Tax incentives should be given to companies in the tech sector who support greater gender equality.”

Furthermore, Dr Sharma noted that boardroom representation of women has to be increased to give more leadership roles to women.

“Women entrepreneurs are discriminated against when seeking loans and investments. There must be a concerted effort to have more women on the corporate boards of banks and venture capital firms, to mobilise funding for women entrepreneurs,” she said.

Kanade from Log9 put forward the facts that helped not only her but also others personally and professionally.

She urged women to start with the word “I”, as she stated that “the determination to carve your own path is the beginning and the rest, as they say, becomes history”.

Secondly, she talked about the “power of networking” and “a woman backed by her own tribe of women who can stand tall, clap for each other and fix each other’s crowns”.

While pinpointing “advocacy through sponsorship/mentorship”, she suggested having “a person who can always call out your name in a room full of opportunities”. Lastly, she advised to “pay forward the experience to help and shape other women who are passionate and aspirational”.

Dr Jacob believes that the more people will talk about successful women leaders, their struggle stories, men who supported their female colleagues and leaders who noticed the passion in those women as well as the possibilities, the more people will try to look at the bigger picture, avoiding the gender bias.

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15 Steps Executives Can Take To Prepare For An Economic Recession

by www.forbes.com Leave a Comment

Once news stories on the current economic climate have turned to talk of an impending recession, senior corporate executives are already seeking ways to lessen the blow to their organizations. While public debate around the inevitability of an economic downturn rages, smart business leaders are hoping for the best and planning for the worst.

Corporate executives should always be on the lookout for signs of a potential decline in economic activity and have strategies in place to brace their companies against possible negative impacts. Below, 15 members of Forbes Coaches Council discuss some of the most important steps leaders can take to prepare the businesses they lead to withstand a recession.

1. Help People Get Their Brains Working Properly

Help your people to get their brains working properly. Why? Because if they are not, your business will fail. Many people developed bad habits during Covid that silently and negatively impact good brain function and performance. How can you help? First, equip your people with the skills to build better habits. Then, equip your leaders with the skills to create a “purposeful development” culture. – Dr. Jon Finn , Tougher Minds

2. Map Out A Plan For The Labor Force And Processes

Begin mapping out a plan for key areas of the company: the labor force and processes. For most, the most obviously impacted area during a recession is staff/personnel. Start thinking of individuals who could be “cut loose” and training/development or support necessary for those who remain, as well as processes, tools, teams and other “behind the scenes” operations that could be hard hit. – Alana Henry , The Writique, LLC

3. Act Proactively Versus Reacting Defensively

Acting proactively versus reacting defensively is key. Reacting positively means thinking through alternative scenarios or making contingency plans that have buy-in from the relevant leaders. Organizations that fail to do this often make deep reactive cuts to their activities and workforce, which ultimately mean they find it difficult to recover when transitioning out of survival mode. – Shamila Mhearban , Shamila M. Ltd

4. Think Creatively And Embrace Innovation

Organizations that think creatively and embrace innovation will succeed during adverse times. Embracing innovation means being willing to take risks to move an idea forward, identifying new opportunities (as there is always a better way to solve a problem) and generating new ideas by encouraging and empowering team members to function as equal partners in the innovative process. – Lisa Herbert , Just The Right Balance LLC

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

5. Use Positive Psychology In The Workplace

Using positive psychology in the workplace allows companies to focus on the well-being of their employees, especially in times of crisis. When there is fear, bringing a sense of community to the fore and focusing on well-being and strengths can really help with productivity and profitability, especially in times of economic crisis. This creates a robust team that is ready to face the challenges ahead. – Caroline Strawson , School of Embodied Trauma Informed Living

6. Look At Team Performance In The Last Recession

Looking at how the company performed in the last recession is not enough. The corporate executives should also be looking at the team. How did they perform? Who on the team do you need to replace, promote or leave in place? Look at what could go wrong. What would cause these problems? Should they happen, having plans and the right people in place will ensure your success. – Linda Patten , Wayneflete, Inc. dba Dare2Lead With Linda

7. Take Time To Rejoice, Reflect And Reblend

On a quarterly basis, we need to take time to look back and celebrate how far we’ve come. We need to self-evaluate where we are in the present moment. And we need to ask ourselves, “What are one to three things 100% within our control that, when we do them over the next three months, will make us feel as if we are making significant progress?” – Dave Resseguie , The Resseguie Group

8. Seek Feedback Continuously And Be Flexible

Complex and changing times demand that we, as leaders, seek feedback continuously and be flexible. Make sure you are tapping into key stakeholders and inputs regularly so that you have a strong sense of what is going on and can make the best quick decisions. Encourage your people to do the same. And be ready to make changes. Flexibility is key to pivoting to new opportunities. – Cheryl Breukelman , Epiphany Coaches Inc.

9. Resist The Urge To Achieve Quick Cost Savings

Resist the urge to achieve quick cost savings at the expense of long-term growth opportunities. When you cut back too much, or in the wrong area, you potentially run the risk of not being able to meet demand when things start to get better. While it is tempting to think that if you don’t act now, you won’t have a company to save, taking the time to assess alternative options could serve you better. – Anita O’Connor-Roberts , AOC Consulting

10. Look Closely At Available Opportunities

C-suite executives need to look closely at the opportunities that are available when a recession happens. Looking closely at previous recessions and the changes in the marketplace will provide a large number of ideas. Now is the time to start doing this forward-looking exercise. Carefully selecting and implementing opportunities often produces better results than only reducing expenses. – Gregory Stebbins , PeopleSavvy

11. Introduce Language To Normalize Preparations To Rebound

C-level executives can introduce new language to normalize how the company is preparing for the economic recession rebound. This could be giving employees a word or a visual picture that represents this challenging yet opportune time to strengthen the company’s purpose in this world, then using it. This will allow employees to be realistic and open about the future. Be in it together! – Linda Allen-Hardisty , Allen-Hardisty Leadership Group

12. Get Clear On Your Revenue Streams

Dive deeper into your current product or service offerings. Manage the risks by reviewing your profit margins, supply chain and market opportunity. Know your customer and look for opportunities to diversify and expand to include low-risk, high-profit options in your existing customer base. – Sara Phelan , Evalu8-Evolve Business Coaching

13. Create A Long-Term Vision For Growth

Create a long-term vision for growth with short-term action plans and robust scenario planning. Motivation is an important muscle to develop to face obstacles and adversity and be prepared to fight until we win. As Peter Drucker says, “The best way to predict the future is to create it” —then, as I say, you can “fly above the wings.” – Tania Tome , Ecokaya

14. Reduce Costs And Increase Productivity

Reducing costs and increasing productivity should be top priorities. One simple and powerful activity is to gather your team and ask everyone for their top ten strategies to reduce department costs by 10%. You can then group the ideas, condense them into a maximum of three to five and create a plan that could carry out each efficiently. This same exercise can apply to find the best ideas to increase productivity. – Maria Ines Moran , Action Coach

15. Don’t Fear It

Recessions are defined simply as two consecutive quarters of decline in gross domestic product. This has happened many times in our history. Many pro service leaders have lived through one or more recessions. Those who take bold action during a decline are most likely to survive it and to catapult forward when recovery comes. And it always comes. Don’t be afraid. Be bold. Dream big. – Randy Shattuck , The Shattuck Group

To sustain loan growth of 15% in current fiscal, says SBI chairman

by www.moneycontrol.com Leave a Comment

SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara at the SBI-FICCI Economic Conclave in London. (Photo by Danish Khan)

SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara at the SBI-FICCI Economic Conclave in London. (Photo by Danish Khan)

State Bank of India (SBI) has said it expects to sustain credit growth of about 15 per cent in the current fiscal with rising demand from retail and corporate borrowers despite hardening of lending rate. The country’s largest lender reported a 14.93 per cent rise in advances to Rs 29,00,636 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2022 as compared to Rs 25,23,793 crore during the same period a year ago.

Of this, retail loan registered a growth rate of 18.58 per cent while corporate advances improved by 10.57 per cent year-on-year at the end of June quarter. SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara also said that the bank will soon come out with only YONO which is YONO 2.0 with many more advanced features and functionalities.

“The digital leadership journey of the bank is continuing. More than 96.6 per cent of the transactions are now routed through alternate channels. The registered users on YONO have already crossed 5.25 crore, a big milestone and which has created a significant value for the bank. Sixty-five per cent of the new savings accounts are opened through YONO,” he said at an analyst call recently. On maintaining 15 per cent credit growth, he said, “I am quite hopeful the reason behind is kind of a term loan and also the underutilisation of the working capital, which is all aggregating to almost Rs 5 lakh crore, and the pipeline is almost Rs 1.2 lakh crore. So, I’m quite hopeful that we should be in a position to sustain this in the subsequent quarters.”

Corporate book should grow to the extent of about Rs 2.5-3 lakh crore during the year, he said, adding, even in SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) there are traction and pipeline is getting created. With the latest rate hike by RBI, the repo rate (short term lending rate at which banks borrow from the central bank) increased to 5.40 per cent, an increase of 140 basis points since May this year.

On the prevailing economic situation, Khara said the effect of the Covid pandemic has subdued to a large extent, thanks to the governments’ massive vaccination programme. The economy is almost on track with the resumption of air travel and removal of other containment measures by most of the countries, he said.