MICROFINANCE EVENT: Intellecap’s India Development Gateway Presents Sankalp 2009: Social Enterprise and Investment Forum

Sankalp 2009: Social Enterprise and Investment Forum

April 28, 2009, Mumbai, India

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Cost: The cost to attend the Sankalp 2009 event is Rs 4,750 (USD 150) for Regular Delegates and Rs 2,375 (USD 75) for Invited Delegates.

Summary of Event: Organized by the India Development Gateway (IDG), the Sankalp 2009 Social Enterprise and Investment Forum is an event that aims to bring together social entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders in the sector who share a common conviction that capital should be invested to create multiple bottom-line returns – financial, social, and environmental. Sankalp, which means ‘pledge’ or ‘determination’ in English, is an effort to discover, connect and support the most investible social MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium enterprises) operating in high impact sectors such as agriculture and rural innovation, education, environment and clean energy, and inclusive healthcare. The Sankalp 2009 event is comprised of several keynote addresses, panels, and discussion sessions, as well as the presentation of the Sankalp 2009 Awards for investible ideas and emerging enterprises.

Mr. Paul Basil, Founder and CEO of the Rural Innovations Network (RIN), one of the event partners, said of the competition and conference; “Innovative enterprises face a big hurdle to access funding on account of poor business planning skills. IDG will address this critical piece. At a larger level this competition will create an eco-system of enterprises and investors to make the world a better place to live.”

Background on Organizer: The India Development Gateway (IDG) aims to address the lack of access to capital that serves as a barrier to social and environmental innovation. IDG has created an online platform, to be publicly released in the next few weeks, that will allow social investors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to connect. The website is complemented with various offline activities, such as the Sankalp business plan competition, which seeks to attract and develop social entrepreneurs.

IDG is an initiative housed within Intellecap, a strategic consulting firm that provides advisory services for investors, enterprises and entrepreneurs in the multiple bottom-line sector. Intellecap is active in the microfinance industry, publishing Microfinance Insights, a bi-monthly magazine that features analysis and commentary on the microfinance sector. Intellecap also created the Intellecash Microfinance Franchise Package, along with Cashpor, an Indian microfinance institution with over 300,000 active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of USD 36.7 million, and Aavishkaar Goodwell, an Indian-Dutch for-profit business development company that has invested over USD 11 million in MFIs. Intellecash is a business franchising mechanism for the microfinance sector, providing training, manuals, business plans, financial models and an in-depth understanding of legal and management issues to participating MFIs. Intellecap has also sponsored previous competitions to foster social entrepreneurship, such as the Srijan Microfinance Business Plan Competition 2008. For more information on Intellecap, read this “Who’s Who In Microfinance” from MicroCapital.

Event Partners:

Rockefeller Foundation, a US-based charitable foundation that has supported social entrepreneurship through such initiatives as the “Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing.”
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), a development bank that facilitates credit flow for the promotion of economic activities in rural areas.
Rural Innovations Network (RIN), a company offering funding, mentoring, recognition, networking and marketing services to innovators in the social sector.
TiE Mumbai, a network of entrepreneurs and professionals dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship.
VCCircle, a publication dedicated to covering Indian investments, M&A, venture capital, private equity, investment banking, public equity, and start-ups.

Event Themes and Discussion Topics:

Inclusive Capitalism: Evolving Contours
Raising Equity Capital to Scale Social Enterprises
Mass Market Strategies and Investments by Corporates
Current Global Crisis: Liquidity Challenges and Impact on the Social Enterprise Sector
Technology-Led Initiatives: Changing the Dynamics of Inclusion
Investor Perspectives: Impact Investing and the Emerging Social Investment Community

The Sankalp 2009 Finalist Showcase and Presentation of Awards will also take place during the event. For more information about the Sankalp 2009 Awards, please see the Sankalp website.

Who Is Invited to Attend:

Entrepreneurs, corporations or social enterprises
Investors interested in social enterprises
Intermediaries or service-providers for emerging enterprises
Banks and financial institutions
Academics, or those interested in social enterprise space

Keynote Speakers:

Naina Lal Kidwai, CEO, HSBC India
Vijay Mahajan, Basix India

For a full list of speakers, please see the Sankalp 2009 program schedule.

To register please visit: https://www.eregnow.com/controlcenter/forms/preview.asp?key=MTI0NzA3MjAw&step=MQ&memberId=

For additional information, please contact:

Ms. Sujatha Muthayya
Sankalp 2009 c/o Intellecap
8-2-682/1, 5th Floor, Road No 12,
Banjara Hills,Hyderabad – 500 034
Tel: +91.40.403.00200
Fax: +91.40.403.00275

Ms. Rashmi Pillai
512, Palm Spring, Beside D-Mart,
Malad Link Road, Malad (West), Mumbai – 400064,
Tel: +91.22.40359204/222

Email: info@sankalpforum.com

Submit Your Event: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Event Type: Conference
Date: April 28, 2009
Location: Taj Lands End, Mumbai
Website: http://www.sankalpforum.com/index.php
Phone: +91.40.403.00200 (Hyderabad), +91.22.40359204/222 (Mumbai)
Organized By: India Development Gateway

By Jaclyn Berfond

Additional Resources:

Sankalp 2009: Homepage

India PR Wire: India’s Premier MSME Business Plan Challenge- Sankalp 2009 Launched Today

India Development Gateway: Homepage

Intellecap: Homepage

MIX Market: Homepage

MicroCapital Story: WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Intellectual Capital Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd (Intellecap)