Korea’s Kim Bong-jin and his wife Bomi Sul are the latest to sign the Giving Pledge, vowing to donate half of their wealth. Kim Bong-jin is founder and CEO of Woowa Brothers, which created Korea’s largest food-delivery app. Kim and his wife are the first Koreans to sign the Giving Pledge, an initiative started in 2010 by billionaires Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates to encourage the ultra-rich to give away most of their fortunes to philanthropy. This follows a recent announcement by Korean billionaire Kim Beom-su, who also pledged to donate over half of his wealth to charitable causes. Continue reading in Bloomberg →
I(x) Investments, co-founded by Warren Buffet’s grandson, is among those turning to Asia for impact investing. I(x) Investments has brought together more than 65 of the world’s wealthiest families from 14 countries to invest in climate and sustainability issues. The company is among those looking to Asia both to attract new impact investors and to allocate funds to. One of its biggest bets in the region is WasteFuel, a startup developing technology to convert municipal waste into jet fuel. With plans to build a US$700 million plant in the Philippines and replicate this model in other Asian countries, the startup has already received investment from several I(x) families, including Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon. Continue reading in Bloomberg →
Tata STRIVE and Wipro GE Healthcare partner up to bridge healthcare skill gap in India. As part of the CSR partnership, Wipro GE Healthcare will design, develop and implement industry-relevant training to help underprivileged students achieve gainful employment. Tata STRIVE, the skills development CSR initiative of the Tata Community Initiatives Trust, will provide the candidates loans upon qualifying for the course. The partnership aims to skill 6,200 candidates over a period of three years. Continue reading in The CSR Journal →
IKEA partners with local social enterprise Rags2Riches in the Philippines. The Swedish multi-national company is opening its first store in the Philippines and tapping the services of Rags2Riches for a three-year partnership. Rags2Riches, a social enterprise which employs female artisans from low-income communities to create sustainable fashion and home products, will be providing sewing services in IKEA’s Philippines store. As highlighted in CAPS’ study, Business for Good: Maximizing the Value of Social Enterprises in Asia, procuring from social enterprises like this is a win-win strategy that can advance sustainable consumption as well as provide the funding and capacity building support social enterprises need to grow. Continue reading in BusinessWorld →
The GiveIndia Fundraising Challenge 2021, India’s biggest fundraising event, is helping NGOs raise crores in funds. Nearly 200 nonprofits have already raised over Rs 2 crores (approximately US$275,000) since the challenge began on February 1. The challenge will run till March 28 and is expected to raise more than Rs 15 crore (approximately US$2 million) by then. Since the timing coincides with the end of the financial year, NGOs typically leverage tax savings donors would get for donating to them to appeal for funds. Continue reading in the Business Standard →
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