"Building on Nesta's 2014 Good Incubation report, this research draws on case studies to highlight strategies for good incubation in challenging environments. It focuses on weaker entrepreneurial ecosystems and offers advice to incubation managers and other ecosystem players, from policymakers to funders alike. Our report aims to support the UK's Department for International Development (DfID) in implementing Innovative Ventures and Technologies for Development (INVENT) by exploring how to do social incubation effectively in India’s low-income states. It draws on empirical evidence from around the world, over 30 interviews with incubator managers and experts in India, and UK best practice."

"The new study provides an objective, rigorous look at two of the most important aspects of impact investing: financial returns and long-term impact. Specifically, the study explores the widespread assumption that impact investing private equity funds cannot achieve market-rate financial performance. The report's findings suggest that - in certain market segments - investors might not need to expect lower returns as a tradeoff for social impact. Impact investing is an investment approach that intentionally seeks to generate measurable social or environmental impact alongside a positive financial return. According to the study's authors, certain market segments of funds in the sample yield returns close to those of public market indices."

"The international community is focusing ever-greater attention on green and inclusive business (GIB) models. But, while their relevance for solving social and environmental solutions is increasingly accepted, the question of how to support GIB models in development cooperation programmes is less clear. This Green and Inclusive Business Toolbox attempts to provide some options to tackle this issue. This toolbox defines green and inclusive business (GIB) models and describes the major challenges and opportunities GIBs face. It contains various examples of best practices regarding approaches from GIZ projects that work in the field of promoting green and inclusive businesses. The Green and Inclusive Business Toolbox aims to provide planning officers, project leaders and staff involved in private sector development and other sector projects with a set of tried-and-tested tools."

"This guide is aimed at helping companies interested in developing business relationships with smallholders. It provides a framework that identi!es common challenges, highlights solutions and shows how these can be implemented through cooperation at different levels. In this way, the guide aims to support company representatives engaging in inclusive agribusiness practices with practical tools and a comprehensive overview of potential solutions and collaborative approaches. Practitioners from development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), intermediaries and other organisations working to develop and support inclusive agribusiness will also find useful insights here.

The guide can also prove useful for those in related businesses. Agribusiness companies that own land and lease it to smallholders, or which themselves farm the land of smallholders, can also learn about core challenges, organisational models and options for strategic action. Companies offering services to smallholders, including financial, advisory, information or communication services can use the guide to identify how their offers complement other business models."

"This report identifies challenges and success factors for small, micro and medium businesses (SMME) in South Africa that use an inclusive business approach. It provides policy recommendations on how to support SMME spread their potential to tackle social and environmental problems in South Africa."

"This report, "Growing Impact" follows IFC’s first assessment of the global market for impact investing and investor practices, "Creating Impact", published in April 2019. In this new report we explore more deeply the size and makeup of the impact investing market and analyze the practices of impact investors, drawing on data from a survey of the signatories to the Operating Principles and a set of 32 signatory case studies. The case studies illustrate how we are creating a powerful market force by embracing a shared vision and approach."

"A common concern with efforts to directly help some small businesses to grow is that their growth comes at the expense of their unassisted competitors. This study tests this possibility using a two-stage randomized experiment in Kenya. The experiment randomizes business training at the market level, and then within markets to selected businesses. Three years after training, the treated businesses are selling more, earn higher profits, and their owners have higher well-being.
There is no evidence of negative spillovers on the competing businesses, and the markets as a whole appear to have grown in terms of number of customers and sales volumes. This market growth appears to come from enhanced customer service and new product introduction, generating more customers and more sales from existing customers. As a result, business growth in underdeveloped markets is possible without taking sales away from non-treated businesses."

"In developing this paper, we conducted almost sixty interviews with thought leaders and active practitioners from a variety of organizations: investors, capacity development providers, corporations, researchers, network leaders, development finance institutions. In addition, we canvassed the growing body of literature in the field and leveraged our own experience in the sector.

Throughout the paper, and in a dedicated section at the end, we identify a number of prime areas that represent opportunities for the sector. While these are important opportunities, our list is not exhaustive. Indeed, this sector is still quite young – opportunity abounds for those interested in supporting SGBs in the challenging context of developing world markets."

"The literature review provided in this document attempts to provide an overview of what we know about the impact of growth entrepreneurship, why and how high growth firms emerge, and the policy instruments that enable new ventures to emerge and grow. This literature review constitutes a background paper to be used as an input to formulate research questions and the research design for the upcoming study on growth entrepreneurship."

"This guide leads the reader through the process of observing, analysing and visualising the entrepreneurial ecosystem - meaning the entrepreneurs' environment including the surrounding institutions, actors and prevailing culture - a process referred to as 'mapping'. Such mapping enables the exploration of gaps and constraints and facilitates decisions on measures that are most relevant to improve the entrepreneurial environment in a given context.

This guide explicitly addresses those implementing development programmes that are operating in, or intend to conduct activities in, the field of entrepreneurship and the promotion of growth-oriented MSMEs."