Foundation Grants
Community Vital Signs
About Us
Kinara Capital, an Indian startup that offers short-term, unsecured loans to small and medium businesses, has just received $24.4 million in debt funding, the Times of India reports.
The funding comes from the Singapore-based Investment Exchange (IIX) and the Singapore-based BlueOrchard Fund, per regulatory filings.
Kinara Capital also received $10 million in debt funding from AVIOM Housing Finance Corporation last month.
Hardika Shah, the founder and CEO of Kinara Capital, tells the Times of India that the debt funding will allow the company to expand its program for women entrepreneurs, HerVikas, which it launched in 2011.
Kinara Capital, which claims to have given out loans worth more than $1 million to more than 50,000 customers so far, aims to "empower women entrepreneurs by providing them unsecured business loans, working capital, working capital, among others," Shah says.
Read the Entire Article
Selected Foundation News
A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
The TEGNA Foundation, the charitable arm of media company TEGNA, is now accepting grant proposals for projects that "focus on improving the mental health of the communities they serve," according to...more
The Public Interest Law Foundation at Boston College Law School has been awarded a $225,000 three-year grant from the Cummings Foundation to help students provide pro bono legal services in...more
If disaster strikes in Arlington, Texas, the first thing the city will do is set up a fund to solicit donations and distribute them more quickly, the Dallas Morning News reports. "I'd rather have...more
"Our small, locally owned businesses are the backbone of our communities.... These assistance programs will help ensure our small business continue to thrive and keep our communities...more
A hospital in San Diego is using artificial intelligence to help doctors more quickly identify patients at risk of sepsis, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Dr. Christopher Longhurst,...more
The Old Medical School in Leeds, England, was once one of the country's first provincial medical schools. Now, it's being turned into a "hub for health-tech innovation," per a press release from...more
The Great Lakes region is home to one-fifth of the world's fresh water, but that could soon change. The National Science Foundation has announced a $160 million, 10-year investment in a coalition...more
"You guys should really audition for this ArtSmart program," Philadelphia teen Journae Barnes tells NPR. "And I actually just took the chance and followed through with it." Barnes, from a...more
A New Mexico nonprofit is looking for a director to help it "shift current agricultural and land stewardship practices in ways that produce good food, support meaningful livelihoods in rural places,...more
The United Performing Arts Fund was created in 1967 to support the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony, Repertory Theater, and the Florentine Opera. Today, the fund supports more than a dozen...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Gates Foundation Pledges $50 Million to Fight Ebola Epidemic
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $50 million to support emergency efforts to contain the threat caused by Ebola in West Africa.