Björn Söderberg: Supporting Entrepreneurs to Make Eco-Friendly Bricks

Mar 22, 2024 Posted by: Shikha Tandon Björn Söderberg,  Nepal,  SDG 1,  SDG 11,  SDG 12,  SDG 13,  SDG 8,  SDG 9

Björn: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Nepal is one of the world’s most disaster prone countries. Yet 2.7 million people are still living in unsafe houses. Most new homes are built using fired bricks, which emit a huge amount of CO2 emissions and air pollution, harming our planet. Build up Nepal is addressing this by supporting local entrepreneurs to make eco-friendly bricks and build safe, affordable houses. Our ‘ECO2Bricks’ are greener, cheaper, and safer than fired bricks.

Rumee Singh: Helping Protect and Support Local Nepali Farmers

Feb 14, 2024 Posted by: Daniela Vega Nepal,  Rumee Singh,  SDG 1,  SDG 13,  SDG 2,  SDG 5

Rumee: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! In recent years, the weather has gotten a bit wild and surprising. It might become really, really hot when it's supposed to be cold, or it might rain a lot more than usual. Now, for people, especially those who need more help and who grow food, like farmers, tricky weather patterns can make it really hard. That means they cannot grow the food they need, cannot get to sell them and earn a living. Farmers need help to protect themselves and also to get through tough times caused by the strange weather. They can buy protection plans to help get money when needed, but these plans can be super expensive and super slow.

Sonika Manandhar: A Digital Ecosystem Connects Micro-Entrepreneurs, Financial Institutions, and Vendors

Sep 20, 2021 Posted by: Jill Jha Nepal,  SDG11,  SDG13,  SDG5,  SDG8,  Sonika Manandhar

Sonika: It’s nice to meet you too, Spiffy. Aeloi works with women micro-entrepreneurs, especially ones in the informal sectors with less access to formal finances because they lack collateral, credit history, and proof of income. Did you know that 163 million informal women entrepreneurs have an estimated US $1.7 trillion financing gap? We help solve this credit gap problem with our fund insight software. We do this by directly connecting funders with micro-entrepreneurs. Our main innovation is our digital token technology and our business model, which has a gender-intentional approach, that builds more trust between lenders and borrowers.