Small and medium enterprises(SMEs) are the engines of local economies. Environmental and social SMEs – those that develop and market environmentally friendly products and services and address the needs of low-income communities – add even more value. They create jobs and spur growth, but they also provide innovative models for the businesses of the future, those that will thrive in a low-carbon, resource constrained world.

Despite their importance, SMEs in emerging markets face significant challenges, and a large majority close within the first five years of operation. This high failure rate is largely the result of a shortage of business skills, a lack of access to capital and markets, and policy barriers which increase the cost of doing business, forcing many companies out of the market.

That’s where New Ventures comes in. Our mission is to help environmental entrepreneurship grow in vibrant emerging markets. To maximize our impact, our work falls under three pillars:

Developing businesses: Our six local centers provide business development services to environmental enterprises with high growth potential. We help improve an enterprise’s ability to manage growth, attract investment capital, and capitalize on new market opportunities.

Growing investment: We work to create systemic change in the investment community in order to increase investment in environmental enterprises and scale successful business models. To that end, New Ventures:

• provides research on the investment potential of key environmental sectors;
• pilots innovative financing mechanisms to lower barriers to investment;
• promotes the creation of new investment funds;
• develops tools for investors to understand enterprises’ financial performance as well as social impacts.

Promoting global connections: In addition to in-country support, we leverage the power of our global network. The New Ventures network shares best practices between companies in different countries, and showcases companies to a global audience of investors and buyers.

Browse the links on the left side to learn more about our work.