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At our launch event in March, our partners at Project Muso reminded us why we’re involved with InVenture: because a little really does go a long way towards enacting social change. Back in February, InVenture partnered with Project Muso to invest in a women’s business cooperative in Mali. In just over one month, that cooperative has increased revenues and funded health care for five members of their community for an entire year—and all with just 5% of profits, or a little less than 45 USD.
You can read more updates on Project Muso and the rest of our pilot projects below, but in the meantime,  we want to say a big thank you to everyone who came out for our launch event! More than 200 of you packed NYC’s Arlo & Esme for a night of friends, fundraising, and inspiration. For those of you who missed it, highlights included speeches from our partners KeyCredit MicroFinance and Project Muso, and the unveiling of our online community and investment platform. We also premiered our very first promotional video, which you can now watch at www.inventurefund.org. Many thanks to our good friends Adam Barton (nativeresonance.com), Amelia Rasche, and Takis Simon for their excellent work in producing this project, and Ari Brand for starring in it. Be sure to check out some more of the event's highlights on our blog as well as Facebook page.
We have been working hard since our last newsletter and have a lot to tell you! Read on to see what we've been up to.
InVenture in Action
Conferences, Volunteers, and Partnerships
While
our supporters keep the momentum going on the ground, the InVenture
team is spreading the word about our cause at conferences, social
entrepreneurship mixers, and other events. In case you were wondering
how we spend our free time, here are some InVenture highlights from the
past month:
We are also excited to announce a new partnership with Transparency Solutions.  While the microfinance industry has come under fire recently for corrupt lending practices, we believe that, in the right hands—and with the right partners—microfinance can be a source of empowerment and a means to self-sufficiency. Our funds put business owners first, and partners like Transparency Solutions will help us increase our impact, accountability, and transparency on the ground, further renewing our commitment to openness.
The Numbers Are In
An Update on our Pilot Programs
InVenture has started to measure the impact of our
first pilot programs in Ghana, India, and Mali. But before we get to
the results, check out how the model works:
In Ghana, we’ve invested in two small
business owners, and the pilot program will wrap up in June. Our
entrepreneurs are on track to achieve their baseline targets of 20% profits and
have already returned most of their original principle. 5% of their
profits will go to girls’ education and vocational training.
In
India, where our pilot will run until mid-July, we’ve invested
in three businesses that have already paid back their principle and are
hitting their targets of 15% returns. Reinvestments here will go to
vocational training and water filtration or preventative care.
And in Mali, we invested in
a women’s business cooperative that creates textiles from Bogolan
cloth. The cooperative, in turn, is reinvesting 5% of profits in a
community health clinic run by our partner, Project Muso.
Our
Mexico pilot will kick off this summer, thanks to the hard work and
extensive research from our first InVenture Fellows—Manvi Goel and Sarina Saddhanti of
MIT. We are extremely
excited to have them on board with us this summer and look forward to
working with them on this pilot.
We also want to thank our newest contributors: Jen Chong, Theresa Dunbar, Tamer Farooqui, Lisa Kant, Michael Lazar, Selina Tirtajana, and Emily. Wengel. Welcome aboard!
Join Us
Our Online Community and InVestment Platform
We want you to feel connected to the entrepreneurs you're funding and the communities they are helping grow. We also want you to get to know other socially conscious investors and volunteers and stay on top of the InVenture conversation. If you're not already a Facebook fan, or reading our tweets, or catching up with our blog, be sure to join our Online Community, where you can get access to all our big decisions, developing pilots, and the newest metrics from our funds. You can also start investing—or even make donations to our cause—at www.inventurefund.org/invest. Your generous donations and investments will help us carry our mission forward and expand the InVenture model into new regions—stay tuned in the coming weeks for updates on our newest pilot in Mexico.
We are constantly working to improve our online services, so keep watching for the latest updates to our platform and website. We want you to know everything there is to know about InVenture, our model, and your role in our community, so feel free to send us questions and suggestions! You can reach us at info@inventurefund.org; you can also post questions to our online community.
And once again, thank you for reading and for being an InVenture supporter. Because of you, we're growing faster and doing more for communities than we even thought possible—and with your continued help, we'll go even farther.
Your favorite social entrepreneurs,
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une 11th, in Washington DC! Three additional events will be held June 18 in both New York City and Los Angeles; and June 25 in San Francisco. All proceeds will go directly to our Mexico pilot, in order to help businesses here achieve the same high-impact results as our businesses in Ghana, India, and Mali. Even a small donation can make a big difference, so if you can’t attend the fundraisers, visit our 
got the opportunity to
expand their businesses, move towards financial independence, and make
positive changes in their communities. Not only that, but each entrepreneur has paid back his/her original principal, is meeting returns of 15% or higher, and is reinvesting in local social causes like public health and vocational training for school girls. 
filming promotional videos to planning our official debut. Learn about some of our progress below, and don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr (if you're not already!). We hope you'll stick with us as we continue to work towards our goal of building viable, socially conscious businesses that give back to their communities.
Accra, Ghana and the Green Microfinance Company in Tamil Nadu, India, to launch capital investment programs. Both organizations have several years' experience in the micro-lending market, hundreds of clients, and a demonstrated need for growth. In addition to improving the local marketplace and helping these businesses to expand, our pilot funds will allow us to test all aspects of the InVenture model before we go live later