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Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs

Capacity Development Fund

About the Fund
The ANDE Capacity Development Fund (CDF) fuels initiatives aimed at interorganizational collaboration and capacity building. The goal of the CDF is to increase the productivity and effectiveness of ANDE members, while creating tools and insights that can help the SGB sector as a whole. It was originally seeded with $1M in funding from the Lemelson Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Shell Foundation. These funds were disbursed in two rounds of grants in 2009 and 2010.  In 2011 the CDF was replenished with $350,000 of funding from Citi Foundation and the Lemelson Foundation.  This third round had an extra emphasis on proposals with the potential to alleviate human capital constraints.  Results were announced in October at the 2011 ANDE Annual Conference.  A detailed description of all funded proposals are described below.

Results of the Capacity Development Fund
In August 2009, the Selection Committee awarded $522,000 to fund eight proposals. (Read the October 8, 2009 press release). Fifteen ANDE member organizations were part of these grants: Agora Partnerships, the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), Alitheia Capital, E+Co, Endeavor, Fundacion Bavaria, IGNIA Partners LLC, Root Change, ShoreBank, TechnoServe Inc, Universidad de los Andes, VisionSpring, World Resources Institute, and Villgro. Learn more about the round one winning proposals.

In March 2010, we made seven grants for a total of $460,000. Organizations collaborating on these grants were: African Agricultural Capital, Agora Partnerships, E+Co, the Center for Creative Leadership, Financial Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST), the Grassroots Business Fund, Mercy Corps, Root Capital, Root Change, the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF), CapitalPlus Exchange, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, and TechnoServe. Learn more about round two winning proposals.

In October 2011, the CDF Selection Committee awarded $349,000 to nine proposals with 16 ANDE member organizations contributing: Acumen Fund, B Lab/GIIRS, The Dalberg Group, Dasra, Grassroots Business Fund, Gray Ghost Capital (Village Capital), IFC, IGNIA, New Ventures Mexico, Oxfam America, Oxfam GB, Root Capital, Root Change, RTI Consulting, Technoserve Inc., Villgro, and Yo Emprendedor.  Learn more about round three winning proposals.

A key ingredient of all funded proposals is the benefit the outcomes will produce for the broader sector. With funding periods of 1-2 years, projects from both rounds of funding are coming to a close. Projects can be divided into four categories:

Networking, Tools/Platforms, Research, and Training.

 

NETWORKING

Title: Advancing the SGB Movement in Colombia - SGB Acceleration Program
Organizations: Universidad de los Andes, World Resources Institute, Fundacion Bavaria
Outcomes:

  • 22 companies participated in the Acceleration Program beginning December 2009 from which 13 companies were chosen to present at Investment Forum in August 2010
  • Investment Forum attended by 350+ entrepreneurs and stakeholders from Colombian entrepreneurial ecosystem and neighboring countries
  • Post-Investment Forum, 5 companies began negotiations with investors: to date, Cyclus has received a $250,000 investment, Acai-Naidi has received a $50,000 investment, and 3 additional companies are in negotiation for $300,000, $1.5m, and $2m.
  • 2 case studies were developed from New Ventures SGB companies in Colombia (will be available on ANDE member portal) and new New Ventures website developed to further Colombian ecosystem

Title: Small Business Banking Network
Organizations: CapitalPlus Exchange
Outcomes:

  • Developed first of its kind industry-wide initiative to provide global and open access for small business banking institutions to small business finance resources
  • Advisory Board consists of CEOs and senior bankers from: Equity Bank (Kenya), Planters Development Bank (Philippines), BRAC Bank (Bangladesh), Diamond Bank (Nigeria), and Standard Bank (South Africa)
  • Created, beta-tested, and launched the SBBN Portal, a full-fledged knowledge and networking platform; as of May 2011, 215+ senior bankers currently enrolled hailing from 25 countries
  • First Leadership Summit held in Addis Ababa in November 2010

Title: Taking ANDE to Latin America
Organizations: Agora Partnerships, Root Capital, Technoserve
Outcomes:

  • First ANDE Latin America conference held in March, 2010, with 144 participants from 77 organizations from 16 countries
  • Signing of the Granada Declaration, reaffirming participants' commitment to work together to achieve sustainable economic development in Latin America

Title: Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Eco-System in Nigeria
Organizations: Alitheia Capital
Outcomes:

  • The Entrepreneurs Ecosystem (EE) was created to serve as a platform for resolving some of the challenges entrepreneurs and small business owners face in Nigeria and improving the sustainability of SMEs within the country with a focus on three pillars: 1) Online tools, information, and applications; 2) Value-added services; and 3) Offline events and workshops
  • Hired first program director in August 2011
  • Held first Speaker Series in February 2011 with over 60 leading Nigerian businesspersons, entreprenuers, and SME service providers in attendance
  • The EE Coffee Morning Series held five events in 2011, attracting over 100 small businesses; in October 2011 relaunched as the Entreprenuers' Evening, a monthly informal evening event
  • Adopted new tagline of "Growing Enterprises that Flourish" and revamped website to include social network and social media outlets - www.theee.org
  • Newsletter reaches 2,100 subscribers
  • In 2012 are launching the EE Academy in partnership with Fate Foundation, which will provide a combination of business development programs and courses, and the EE Lending Club, a peer-to-peer lending platform for SGBs seeking funding from investors

TOOLS/PLATFORMS

Title: Innovation Scouts
Organizations: Root Change
Outcomes:

  • Developed a collaborative platform and field network for identifying high-impact SGB investment opportunities focused around Innovation Scouts, who are trained to lead Investment Opportunity Screening Workshops and create a local network of business development services (BDS) providers
  • Partnered with Grassroots Business Fund (in Tanzania) and SNV Netherlands Organization (in Vietnam) to perform detailed analysis of the Tanzanian and Vietnam SGB and BDS communities (analysis will be available on Member Portal)
  • Trained 98 Innovation Scouts and signed 70+ agreements with BDS providers targeting services to local SGBs and social enterprises
  • 16 SGBs currently listed on the Innovation Scouts platform; 1550 visits to platform from 39 countries

Title: Corporate Governance Toolkit for SGBs in East Africa
Organizations: African Agricultural Capital and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Outcomes: Developed a guide for business management and governance for SGBs in East Africa - Strengthening SMEs: A Guide to Business Management and Governance for SMEs in East Africa - after sampling 111 existing companies in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania

Title: Capacity Building in the Financial Marketplace
Organizations: Financial Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST)
Outcomes:

  • Reduced application-related transactions between sustainable SGBs and financial service providers on the FAST Financial Marketplace by: developing a contact center, creating a supporting documentation tool to facilitate streamlined financial reporting, and improving accessibility
  • In the first month after relaunch of the Marketplace, there was a 71.5% increase in visits with 265 new visitors

Title: Developing a Global Mentoring Program for SGBs
Organizations: Mercy Corps, Agora Partnerships
Outcomes:

  • Adapted Mercy Corps' MicroMentor service for the international SGB market, offering ANDE members and the SGB-sector at large with a scalable mechanism for efficiently providing mentoring services to their clients and more effectively engaging volunteer business professionals in their work
  • Micromentor International Platform

Title: SME Business Plan Competition System
Organizations: AIDG
Outcomes: In progress

RESEARCH

Title: Analysis of Investor and Donor Demand for Opportunities to Support SGBs in the Developing World
Organizations: E+Co, Endeavor, IGNIA, Mercy Corps, ShoreBank, TechnoServe, VisionSpring, Hope Global Consulting
Outcomes:

Title: Horizontal Aggregation of Capital to Global SGB Sector
Organizations: Santa Clara Social Benefit Incubator
Outcomes:

  • Interviewed and surveyed over 45 impact investors to examine the potential of horizontal capital aggregation and suggest a model for syndication to trigger greater flow of increased capital to this sector
  • Published full report

Title: Capacity Building in the SGB Sector
Organizations: E+Co, Grassroots Business Fund, Root Capital, Root Change, SEAF, SNV Netherlands Development Organization, TechnoServe, Velocitas Partners
Outcomes:

  • Interviewed 40+ organizations to understand current practices and challenges around the provision of Technical Assistance, including services offered, current language used, funding sources, and methods of impact measurement
  • Aggregated data collected to develop final summary document with findings and recommendations which have guided the re-launch of the ANDE Capacity Development Working Group

TRAINING

Title: Training Materials and Financial Literacy Toolkit
Organizations: TechnoServe and Root Capital
Outcomes:

  • Advanced and basic modules of financial training, as well as more simplistic version for individual farmers and entrepreneurs
  • Advanced module - "Internal Control Systems" - developed in English and Spanish and tested in Uganda
  • Basic module - "Keys to Financial Success" - translated into Spanish, French, Kiswahili, Kinyarwanda, and Ateso; Train the Trainer workshops held in East Africa and Latin America

Title: Leveraging ANDE to Unlock Leadership Capacity in the SGB Sector
Organizations: Center for Creative Leadership
Outcomes:

  • Equipped 19 trainers from 13 organizations with the content, tools, and facilitation techniques to deliver the two-day Leadership Essentials program
  • To date, 13 of the 19 trainers have delivered the content in 8 countries to a total of 452 participants
  • Pan African University in Nigeria has adopted the program to their Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management curriculum

Title: Villgro Training Program
Organizations: Villgro
Outcomes:

  • 3 capacity buildling programs were conducted in January, March, and May 2011 with 188 innovators participating; the program concentrated on: understanding intellectual property rights, legal entity and structuring for social enterprise, design and prototype development issues, and venture capital and funding issues
  • 1 day workshop on Technology Transfer conducted in March 2011 for 41 participants
  • Initiated a pre-incubation program (PIP) to help entreprenuers move to sustainable business models - selected 4 enterprises for 1st Cohort in 2010
    • Partnered with Dasra Social Impact for the 2nd Cohort and nominated 3 social enterprises for 2011