The National Capital Region is getting a boost in non-profit funding. Venture Philanthropy Partners is a non-profit organization that aims to help children from low-income families using the principles of venture capital investment. Recently, the organization gave $5.5 million to fund the expansion of the Knowledge is Power Program or KIPP DC, a network of [...]
Much has been written about crowd and group behavior in the investment industry, but one aspect that has received little attention is what has been called ‘emotional contagion.’ As the term suggests, people can infect each other behaviorally, and in the investment sector, that can cost everyone a lot of money.
The term ‘contagion’ is accurate [...]
Filed under: News on February 11th, 2010 @ 11:18 am
Tagged with: Business, consumer, economy, entrepreneur, insights, investing, marketing, strategies
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced it’s going to use a philanthropic vehicle called program related investments (PRI) through the creation of a $400 million fund. PRIs are new and largely unused investments that allow a philanthropy to achieve its charitable mission.
The other part of the story is about L3Cs, which are a [...]
Filed under: News, Uncategorized on January 4th, 2010 @ 8:00 am
Tagged with: alternative, charity, funding, giving, investing, News, philanthropy
As private technology companies rush to cash in on the first signs of stock market interest in initial public offerings for more than two years, the Silicon Valley appears to be on the cusp of Wall Street Fever.
At a level not seen since the 1990s, financiers are talking of stock sales by tech companies led [...]
Filed under: News on December 11th, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
Tagged with: Business, economy, financial, investing, IPO, silicon valley, wall street
In an effort to get further involved in the growing opensource movement, Microsoft has announced that it will be creating and funding ($1 million annually) the CodePlex Foundation. The initial framing of the announcement, is as a neutral place for companies and developers to share ideas and interact, ultimately increasing the commercial opportunities for all [...]
Filed under: News, Technology on September 11th, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Tagged with: Business, funding, growth, interactive, investing, investment, launch, leaders, management, microsoft, open source, opensource, opportunities, opportunity, product, sharing, software, strategy
Despite the recent moves to curtail the tech giant’s online dominance, prompting most companies to circle their wagons, Google appears to be taking the opposite approach, further diversifying its business model instead. I read this both as a sign of confidence in its current offerings and as a logical next step in order to leverage [...]
Filed under: Environment, News, Technology on September 11th, 2009 @ 9:51 am
Tagged with: Business, deal, efficiency, energy, Google, Green, innovation, innovative, investing, investment, IT, markets, media, metrics, online, opportunities, opportunity, Technology, web
As we attempt to curb our reliance on fossil fuels and move towards energy independence, I’m constantly on the lookout for new innovations in green technology that can open new opportunities, both for their environmental benefits and investment potential. So while the idea of offshore wind farms is nothing new, I was intrigued by the [...]
Filed under: Environment, News, Technology on September 9th, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
Tagged with: clean energy, energy, Green, Green Tech, green technology, Hywind, infrastructure, innovation, innovative, investing, investment, manufacturers, offshore, oil, opportunities, opportunity, success, Technology, turbine, wind farm
Back in March, Nokia invested $35 million into Obopay, a start-up that lets people transmit money to one another via text message, making it the single largest round of funding given to any such service this year. Apparently that move was designed to bolster Nokia’s own platform, as the mobile company announced a new mobile [...]
Filed under: News, Technology on August 28th, 2009 @ 10:00 am
Tagged with: funding, investing, investment, markets, mobile, mobile payments, mobility, Nokia, Nokia Money, retail, smartphones, start-up, US
The LA Times points to the plight of small business centers in the state of California, which offer loans, counseling and other resources to entrepreneurs. Despite the fact that they’ve been busier than ever before, cuts to state budgets have forced them lose out on matching federal funds, turn people away and in some cases, [...]
Filed under: Business, News on August 27th, 2009 @ 11:21 am
Tagged with: budget, Business, California, Community, economy, entrepreneur, funding, innovation, investing, opportunities, opportunity, resources, sharing
Chemotherapy has been proven an effective treatment for cancer.
A new species of microbe is flourishing in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico.