India has a rich culture and ecosystem of social enterprises, non-profits and many other social purpose organisations that serve the needs of many segments of society within a vast landscape. However, for a foreign investor looking for impact investing or other philanthropic opportunities in India, it can often prove to be a minefield filled with dead-ends, challenges in due diligence, confusing regulations and unforeseen hurdles.
How may one then navigate through this journey with minimised risk and loss?
AVPN members Ennovent and the Artha Platform will together provide a landscape overview of India and highlight key challenges and pitfalls to look out for and will also share an insider view for international investors in this first part of the India series.
When? 6th November 2014, 4pm Singapore time
Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/692036278436062465
About the speakers
Audrey Selian currently serves as Director of the Artha Initiative associated with Rianta Capital Zurich, an investment advisory structure to the Singh family trusts. She is also an advisor to the Halloran Philanthropies, and has been active in the impact investing sector since 2006. Audrey is co-founder of Artha Networks Inc. (ANI), an online impact investment tech platform that is designed as a social network to tackle the economics of due diligence around smaller (impact) investments. The first launch of the Artha was in India, and through ANI the architecture has been licensed to the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) to launch InvestAmericas, a platform focused on SME financing in Latin America. ANI goals in 2015 include a region-wide platform operated by a major convener in Asia. Audrey has a background in management consulting from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and her entrepreneurial experience includes several years spent in business development, marketing and sales at an NSF-funded software start-up called Wireless Grids. She holds a PhD in Technology Policy & Development Studies from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and degrees from The London School of Economics and Wellesley College. In 2003-4 she was a doctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Devangshu Dutta is chief executive of Third Eyesight (www.thirdeyesight.in) and managing partner of PVC Partners (www.pvcpartners.in). Devangshu is also a member of the Ennovent Impact Circle, a select group of investors and mentors focussed on supporting new social ventures. Third Eyesight is a specialist consulting firm focused on the consumer products and retail ecosystem, whose clients include start-ups as well as market-leaders and brand-leaders with annual sales of over US$ 80 billion. It provides support in a variety of strategic and operational areas including market entry and new business start up, product development, sourcing and supply chain, and corporate / M&A strategy. Third Eyesight has consulted to clients in sectors including food & grocery, fashion, home & lifestyle, restaurants, consumer services, information technology and social development. PVC Partners is an advisory firm focussed mainly on supporting early-stage businesses of first-generation first-time entrepreneurs in a variety of sectors including renewable energy, biotech/drug discovery, and technology, among others.
