#10 - Prashan Paramanathan - Venture Capital Fundraising as a Social Enterprise & the Public Benefit Company Structure
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Release Date: 12/11/2016
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode we meet Sumitra Pasupathy, who is the Global Partnerships Director at Ashoka. Ashoka is absolutely legendary in the world of social entrepreneurship. And it's based on the idea that the most powerful force for good in the world is a social entrepreneur.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode we meet Cynthia Cheung, who leads the incubation programs for young entrepreneurs in over 24 countries at the Youth Co:Lab, an initiative co-led by the UNDP Asia-Pacific and Citi Foundation to economically empower the next generation in the region, through youth entrepreneurship and government innovation.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Now you might have heard about impact investing before, but for many people this is quite a new and up and coming area of investing. So, we’re going to find out more about what exactly it’s all about.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
On this episode we meet Bernhard Kowatsch who is the founder and head of the Innovation Accelerator at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP Innovation Accelerator was named by Fast Company as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2017 in Food for its work in identifying, nurturing and scaling disruptive start-ups that accelerate innovations to address global hunger. Innovations include blockchain, agri-tech, supply chain and new businesses to end hunger.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
The impact investing space has boomed in popularity over the past decade, with many institutions adapting the idea that you can invest & generate financial returns from assets, ideas and businesses that also generate positive impact. Founded in 2017 by Catherine Chen, Avantfaire is one of the very few signatories of the United Nationals supported Principles of Responsible Investment, are a member of the Global Impact Investing Network, and are a certified B-Corporation.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Imagine living without sight. A shocking 75% of all visual impairment can be prevented or treated. Orbis International is an international non-profit that trains medical professionals around the world, rallying world class experts to train local eye care teams. They partner with local hospital and clinics to improve and strengthen services and, though their most iconic tool – the Flying Eye Hospital – they deliver most of their program work in country, on the ground alongside local communities and partn
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this interview I chat with Susan Bissell who is the Director at the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children at UNICEF. Although this episode was recorded a few years ago (I know, I’m sorry I’m slow at editing), Susan’s insights on the work to eliminate violence against children is still highly relevant with 1 in 2 children experiencing violence every year.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this interview I chat with Pete Yao who is the Chief Impact Officer of Thankyou. I love Thankyou because they’ve flipped the whole FMCG model on its head and as a result are doing incredible work and creating huge impact. In this episode we go into detail about how they track impact with a custom-made system that they’ve built. We chat about how they’ve managed to effectively combine the business and social elements into a thriving social enterprise that has impacted over 750,000 people in 20 count
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode I had a chat with Andy Last who is the co-founder of Salt. Recently acquired by MullenLowe, and now known as MullenLowe Salt, the company is a strategic communications agency. As one of the first companies in the UK to be accredited as a B-Corporation, MullenLowe Salt advises organisations on they can use social issues to drive growth, and how communications can effect change to bring about better business results and social progress.
info_outlineDoing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Why does a Big Four accounting firm like Deloitte do social impact consulting? Is this for CSR purposes? is this for publicity because being involved in impact is 'cool'? Are there business reasons behind this decision and if so, what were they? Do they charge clients for the consulting they do or is this pro bono? In this episode we hear from Tharani how she made a successful career change into social impact and built Deloitte's social impact consultancy from nothing.
info_outlineEpisode 9 & 10 of the Doing Good Podcast are interviews with Founder of Chuffed, Prashan Paramanthan. In this episode, Prashan shares a ton of wisdom from his journey raising VC funds, how others can learn from their fundraising process and general advice for social entrepreneurs who are looking at securing investment from other non-traditional sources. Prashan also talks about Chuffed’s company structure and why they made the decisions they did to set it up that way. If you don’t already know much about Chuffed, I recommend listening to episode 9 before tuning in to episode 10. Looking forward to your thoughts!
Favourite quote from episode:
“Start with only enough that you need to figure out what people actually want [24:13]
People/ items mentioned in this episode:
Chuffed’s Public Benefit Structure
Get in contact with Prashan on Twitter
Show notes
- What was the path that Chuffed took to raising venture capital funding as a social enterprise? [2:20]
- Prashan shares the 3 common responses by commercial investors to social enterprises looking to raise funding [06:10]
- More on Chuffed’s public benefit company structure [10:00]
- Prashan shares useful advice he’s been given [20:30]
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Let me know in the comments!