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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 9)

Posted on Friday, May 18th

A key partnership Selco has recently achieved is with Sewa Bank. This will not only provide access to additional microfinancing, but will also provide access to more customers in a very efficient manner. SM: Let me ask you a bit more about the Sewa Bank partnership opportunity. What does it offer and how will you

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 8)

Posted on Thursday, May 17th

In the next phase of the interview, I look to understand where Selco earns its revenues and how it plans to finance its growth. It is interesting to see the mix of social venture funds along with private foundations. SM: Of the 80,000 installations completed, have they paid you one-time fees, or do you go

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 7)

Posted on Wednesday, May 16th

Here we review the current status of Selco. Harish and his company have completed 80,000 installations with plenty of room for growth. They have 25 service centers, and just over 140 employees. SM: What stage are you at now? How many installations have you done, how many employees do you have, what is the level

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 6)

Posted on Tuesday, May 15th

Microfinancing structures are an area of interest for me. With Selco, Harish has had to tap into various microfinancing structures. He describes these in a bit more detail, as well as how he leverages outside help to promote his cause. SM: Let’s talk about financing a bit more; microcredit, microequity, microfranchise – the microfinance structures

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 5)

Posted on Monday, May 14th

Here Harish provides us with a case study of his business model. This is just one example, and they have 80,000 installations, so you can appreciate the impact Selco has had. SM: A lot of our readers likely have no idea what a very poor village in India looks like or what issues they deal

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 4)

Posted on Sunday, May 13th

Selco has faced some significant challenges, as you might imagine. Here we talk about some of the second-phase obstacles that Selco is in some ways still working to overcome. SM: Were there any other obstacles that stand out? HH: Another obstacle we faced was making the transition from solar lighting to solar power. One of

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 3)

Posted on Saturday, May 12th

Here we delve into the philosophy behind Selco – what makes the company what it is. We explore not only the operations philosophy, but also some of the social and cultural philosophies of the company. SM: Can you explain the business of Selco at this point to us? HH: The whole philosophy of Selco is

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Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 2)

Posted on Friday, May 11th

Harish focused on creating an energy solutions company in rural India. Here, we discuss locations and other issues of getting Selco off the ground. SM: When you moved back to India, where did you set your headquarters? HH: We headquartered in Bangalore. My mother is from Karnataka, so it was a choice between Orissa and

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