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HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
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microfinance
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 7)
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
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 6)
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
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 5)
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
Microfranchise: Early Adopters
By David Stoker, Guest Author Whenever ‘MicroFranchising’ is mentioned a prominent example is cited: the Scojo Foundation. It was recently highlighted in the January 2007 edition of the Economist and in an article by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar in the Economic Times entitled MicroFranchising: the Next Big Thing. Scojo brings reading glasses to the poor
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 4)
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
Grameen on MicroFranchising
By David Stoker, Guest Author The Grameen Bank has been the leading institution in the field of microcredit and microfinance. They are also leading the way in the field of MicroFranchising as they have expanded into a Grameen Family of Enterprises. Perhaps the most impactful of their microfranchises has been Grameen Phone and its Village
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 2)
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
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 1)
Dr. Harish Hande is the co-founder of Selco, a rural sustainable energy company which has over 80,000 installations and 25 retail sales and service centers all over Karnataka, a state in Southern India. Among its many accomplishments, Selco has created India’s first rural solar financing program using regional banks. I recently talked with Harish about
