For many social entrepreneurs, the valley of death — that gap between early stage financing and commercial capital — is real. But their ideas and business models, if supported by a growing infrastructure, can play a critical role in turning the list of challenges in the sustainable development goals into market opportunities that benefit society.
There are a growing number of actors engaged in social entrepreneurship — there are the entrepreneurs themselves, of course, but donors, investors, intermediaries, governments and multinational corporations all have a role to play.
And despite the challenges and infrastructure gaps, the consensus among proponents seems to be that this is an exciting moment for the field. The common trope is that social entrepreneurship and the impact investing that will support its growth are still “nascent” or in “early stages.” And that’s true — five or 10 years ago the dialogue was a whole lot different.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
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