"This report begins with an overview of Enclude's research methodology and the survey respondents, which included Echoing Green Fellows. The first half is dedicated to exploring respondents' current and anticipated funding by Capital Readiness Segment. The second half provides a look into the entrepreneurs' top barriers to accessing capital, as well as their desired support needs, and includes case studies of enterprises in each Segment. Finally, Echoing Green and Enclude suggest a framework for thinking through how to provide capital readiness support for a portfolio of social entrepreneurs, in addition to identifying three specific interventions and next steps."

"Special attention has been given to untie the constraints of Micro and Small Enterprises in Ethiopia for they are important vehicles to address the challenges of unemployment, economic growth and equity in the country. The government is implementing different support service programs, in the forms of financial and business development, in different parts of the country. This study is aimed at evaluating economic impact of MSEs support service programs on enterprise sales, employment and capital asset formation in Dire Dawa Administration, Ethiopia. Propensity Score Matching is employed to estimate the impact of support service program. The result revealed that the program resulted in average increment of monthly sales by 28%, employee level by 42%, and capital asset formation by 60%. It is, therefore, indispensable to strengthen and expand the support service program to non participant enterprises by giving special attention to the major problems that participant enterprises are currently facing."

"This report explores the common gaps that prevent youth from meeting job requirements, where education-focused entrepreneurs are making (or can make) the biggest difference, and what unique obstacles these entrepreneurs face. The report concludes with recommendations for how government and public officials, corporations, capacity-development providers and NGOs, and entrepreneurs themselves can best work together to improve education and skill development for youth."

"O objetivo deste artigo é realizar, de forma pioneira, uma análise dos impactos dos programas de apoio às atividades inovativas nas pequenas empresas brasileiras. Utiliza-se o método Propensity Score Matching para avaliar os impactos dos incentivos fiscais, dos programas de financiamento, da concessão de bolsas e de capital de risco, com microdados da PINTEC (2010). Os resultados apontam que o conjunto dos programas de apoio à inovação estimula os gastos com atividades inovativas das pequenas empresas. Dentre os programas, os que se mostraram mais efetivos foram os de financiamento e os de apoio à aquisição de máquinas e equipamentos."

"Asia is facing simultaneously huge growth potential and increasing inequalities, with often weak national solutions to the social issues at hand. Social purpose organisations (SPOs) – which includes but are not limited to non-profit organisations, charities and social enterprises - are seen to solve these issues sustainably. Social incubation is seen as a tool to help SPOs grow and potentially build a pipeline for social investors. Yet, how does social incubation in Asia work? The insights presented here are the first insights from surveying 15 social incubators in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore which have existed for at least two years."

"The present "Effectiveness of Entrepreneurship Development interventions on Women Entrepreneurs" issue brief is the result of an in-depth review of six meta-evaluations and twenty three rigorous impact satudies undertaken during the past 10 years in women's entrepreneurship development initiatives around the world. It provides a synthesis of impact findings and identifies interventions which seem to have worked more effectively.

The brief corroborates for example that combining finance and business training -although more costly - seems to be more effective in supporting women's business start-up than either finance or business training alone. Also, training packages that combine business and gender knowledge are more likely to lead to women's empowerment. While more evidence is still needed, the brief concludes with a series of recommendations for future interventions and impact evaluations including providing more than access to skills and finance, by also addressing gender-based barriers and women's strategic needs, in order to ensure the business success and consolidation of women entrepreneurs."

"Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become proactive and to engage with research and extension providers. The systematic review covered three modalities of disbursing these grants to smallholder farmers and their organisations: vouchers, competitive grants and farmer-led innovation support funds. The synthesis covers, among others, innovation grant systems in Malawi (Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme), Latin America (several Challenge Funds for Farmer Groups), Uganda (National Agricultural Advisory Services ), and Colombia (Local Agricultural Research Committees - CIAL)."

"The effects of entrepreneurship and information and communication technology (ICT) on countries' development have been extensively studied, mainly from the perspective of their contributions to economic growth. However, from the human development paradigm, economic income is only resource helping people satisfy their economic needs. This study provides new evidence to bridge the gap in our understanding of how entrepreneurship and ICT improve the quality of people's lives."

"This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the effects of mentoring on SMEs in Norway. We aim to get a better understanding of firm development and dynamics in the presence of public interventions. Does mentoring affect firm performance and firm-survival? Does it matter what type of state aid a firm is granted; mentoring versus the financial equivalent of the service?"

"This article presents an innovative method of engaging MBA students in a capstone course by offering a customizable project with businesses that are currently progressing through a regional, independent incubator, or accelerator program. We include various project options but focus on customizable capstone project alternatives to traditional business strategy simulations and case study methods. Namely, our innovative learning solution is a mock consulting project which drives innovation and fosters strategic collaboration between small business owners, university faculty, and MBA students while providing business strategy experience and generating positive exposure for both the university and the small businesses involved. Our method includes pairing MBA students with participating startup businesses and allowing the soon-to-be MBAs an opportunity to garner consulting experience while simultaneously serving the needs of the businesses in the accelerator. Accordingly, MBA students act as consultants to business owners and prepare detailed weekly briefings to inform stakeholders within the university and the constituent businesses. By breaching the typical capstone project parameters, the mock consulting option provides for experiential and applied learning experiences for MBA students and develops higher order strategic thinking by challenging them to work hand-in-hand with real startups."