MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Common Cents Lab, IDB, Mastercard, MercadoLibre Harnessing Behavioral Economics, Technology in Effort to Bolster Financial Stability of Entrepreneurs, SMEs in Latin America

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral financial institution that promotes economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently partnered with US-based Common Cents Lab, US-based financial services company Mastercard and Argentina-based e-retailer MercadoLibre on a program intended to improve the ability of entrepreneurs as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “to prepare for, deal with and recover later from economic shocks.” Over two years, the partners will design and test “behavioral-informed interventions,” such as reminders, deadlines or social pressure, “within the MercadoLibre platform and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cora Raises $27m in Equity from Ribbit, Greenoaks, Kaszek for Fintech in Brazil

Cora, a Brazil-based financial technology (fintech) firm that serves owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), recently announced it received approximately BRL 150 million (USD 26.7 million) in its Series A funding round, led by US-based investment firm Ribbit Capital with participation from US-based Greenoaks Capital and Argentina-based Kaszek Ventures. The breakdown of the investment total among the firms and the sizes of the stakes

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sankalp Global Summit; December 11-12, 2018; Mumbai, India

Themed “Agenda 3 Billion – Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems,” the 10th Sankalp Global Summit is organized around the following sectors: agriculture, clean energy, health & sanitation, financial inclusion, and livelihoods. Sample presentation titles include: (1) Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age,