Business Strategies for the Bottom of the Pyramid (Collection)

Chapter 2. Innovation for the BoP: The Patient-Capital Perspective

by Robert Kennedy, University of Michigan and WDI, and Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO, Acumen Fund^*

^* The authors acknowledge and thank Rob Katz for his support in researching and writing this article.

Co-authors Robert Kennedy and Jacqueline Novogratz explain how social entrepreneurs and “philanthrocapitalists” are changing the BoP landscape by connecting innovative business approaches to “patient capital”—i.e., money that is expected to generate returns over a longer period than is typical of (say) venture capital. They identify four types of innovation that are proving critically important to success in operating in BoP markets, and show how a range of enterprises ...