Desai & Associates

Honored to contribute to the BW Social Impact Summit 2024! 🌟 Our VP & Principal, Aashir Sutar, participated in the panel discussion on Impact Investing: Aligning Values with Financial Returns held on December 16th at the Eros Hotel, Nehru Place alongside Archish Gupta, Ramkumar Venkatramani, CFA, CIPM, Shailesh Vickram Singh, Aditi Attrey, and Priyanka Sharma. The panel explored: ➡️ Balancing financial returns with social impact ➡️Innovative approaches and emerging frontiers in blended finance ➡️Best practices for engaging diverse stakeholders across the impact finance spectrum A big thank you to the organizers and fellow panelists for an insightful session shaping the future of impact investing!

🌟 Join Us at the Livelihood India Summit 2024! 🌟 A Social Stock Exchange (SSE) is a regulated platform that allows social enterprises to raise capital from the public. It is a platform that brings together social enterprises and donors; it facilitates funding and growth of social enterprises; and enables mechanisms to ensure robust standards of social impact and financial reporting.   If you are attending the Livelihood India Summit, we’d love to see you at the panel discussion on "Democratising Giving: The Role of the Social Stock Exchange" happening at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi on 20th December, from 11:40 AM to 1:00 PM. Kartik Desai, our Founder and CEO, will be sharing his insights alongside other distinguished panelists.

🌍 Reflecting on an impactful dialogue at the AVPN South Asia Summit in Chennai! We’re delighted to share insights from the roundtable hosted by our Founder & CEO, Kartik Desai, in collaboration with AVPN. The discussion brought together a dynamic group of investors, thought leaders, and innovation hubs to address a critical question: How can we enable existing and new policy frameworks to unlock investments in digital technologies for climate action? Key outcomes and insights that emerged from this exchange included: 🔹 Integration of Digital with Physical Assets Digital technologies must complement physical systems to enhance manufacturing/design, drive operational efficiency, and strengthen policy development for measurable climate outcomes. 🔹 Behavioral Change and Investment Strategies Investors emphasized the importance of digital tools—such as real-time data tracking and actionable insights—to drive behavioral change and inform impactful strategies. 🔹 Focus on High-Impact Sectors The discussion identified immense opportunities across key sectors, including energy, agriculture, WASH, and mobility. Participants explored specific use cases for digital technology in climate action: Agriculture: Soil sensors for water optimization. (SoilSens, Marut Drones, NEERX) Energy: AI-powered renewable energy forecasting. (REConnect Energy, HST Powers) Water & Waste: Smart systems for efficient management. (Indra, WABAG Water Services SRL, WeVOIS Labs Pvt. Ltd. ) Built Environment: IoT-enabled energy efficiency solutions. (SustLabs, SmartJoules, EdgeGrid) Policy Drivers and Frameworks The second half of the roundtable delved into policy reforms required to enable industry investments and scalability. Key recommendations included: 🔹 Gradual, lifecycle-based subsidies to ensure long-term adoption. 🔹 Policies to align CSR initiatives with core business activities for maximum impact. 🔹 End-client focused frameworks to drive adoption and accessibility. 🔹 Policy frameworks to facilitate capital aggregation and attract foreign investments. 🔹 Innovation-driven programs to scale transformative technologies. 🔹 Integration of pay-as-you-go and rental structures into formal credit reporting and debt recovery systems. 🔹 Policies to integrate digital tech with physical assets to enhance efficiency and scalability. This initiative is part of the Google APAC Sustainability Seed Fund, catalyzed by AVPN with support of Google.org and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to combat climate change and drive sustainability in the Asia Pacific Region. 🌟 We’re excited about the momentum this exchange has created and look forward to building on these insights! 👥 A huge thank you to all the remarkable participants for your valuable contributions! #DrivingImpact #ClimateSolutions #DesaiAndAssociates #AVPNClimateSummit #SustainableFuture

Thank you so much to AVPN for a fantastic South Asia summit. Desai & Associates was delighted to host one of the sessions - a roundtable w investors and policy experts on how to scale digital technologies for climate action - and the whole two day event was superbly curated with amazing content and all the right people. As always kudos to the AVPN team for building the market for capital for development in such an effective way.

We want to give a special thanks to our partner ERIA: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and main donor Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for contributing to the Masterclass and helping us advance gender equality in the #digital #economy across South Asia. We also extend our gratitude to our Advocate Ajaita S. and her team at Frontier Markets for hosting the event and sharing her knowledge with the participants in such an open and inspirational way. We are grateful to Anna Roy Principal Economic Adviser at NITI Aayog for joining us at the opening ceremony.    🤝 A heartfelt thanks to all our incredible partners and speakers who made this Masterclass a success. Finally, kudos to all the participants for their enthusiasm and dedication! 👏

We are thrilled to announce that Desai & Associates, in partnership with AVPN, will host an exclusive roundtable on "Climate Technologies: Addressing Policy Barriers to Drive Investment" during the AVPN South Asia Summit on December 9-10 in Chennai. 🌍 The Roundtable will: ✅ Explore macro trends driving investments in digital technologies for climate action in India. ✅ Identify policy enablers and gaps impacting investments at national and state levels. ✅ Propose actionable solutions to overcome barriers and unlock capital for climate technologies. This is part of a broader consultation series across India, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, supported by Google.org under their APAC Sustainability Seed Fund, aimed at fostering sustainability and combating climate change in the region. We are excited to kick off the series in India at the South Asia Summit with leading investors, think tanks, and incubators to address critical bottlenecks and drive impactful policy solutions. Stay tuned as we share insights and key outcomes from this important initiative! #ClimateAction #PolicyInnovation #AVPNGSSLSummit #DesaiAndAssociates #ClimateTechnologies

Desai and Associates proudly introduce the Impact Finance Academy — a free learning platform designed to simplify impact finance for everyone. 🚀💼 Through real-world case studies and insights from industry leaders, we break down complex concepts into practical, easy-to-understand videos. Whether you're new to Social Impact Finance or looking to deepen your expertise, this academy is your gateway to making a real difference. Join an amazing community just as passionate as you and gain the tools you need to drive positive impact! 💡🌱 #IFA #SocialImpact #ImpactFinance IFA Link: https://lnkd.in/dM5SgnTE Our Youtube Chanel For Direct Access to all our content!! https://lnkd.in/d_ceQ2iE

Our Founder and CEO, Kartik Desai, moderated an engaging panel on Innovative Financing Mechanisms: Blended Finance and More at the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) Green Returns Conference on December 3rd 2024. The discussion brought together an esteemed group of experts to explore the critical role of blended finance in addressing climate challenges and achieving SDGs: ⏺️Samonnoi Banerjee – Advisor, Allied Climate Partners ⏺️Laurent Gonnet– Lead Financial Sector Specialist, The World Bank ⏺️Aparna Dua – Director, The Blended Finance Company ⏺️Himanshu Sikka– Chief Strategy & Diversification Officer, IPE Global Limited The panel shared concrete recommendations on what can be done to enable the uptake of blended finance transactions to drive more private investments for sustainable development. 🔹 Regulatory Evolution: The need for reforms in CSR policies to allow capital blending, coupled with top-down nudges from the Ministry of Finance. 🔹 Scalable Solutions: Establishing Blended Finance Academies and scale facilities to convene diverse partners and drive standardized structures. 🔹 Capacity Building: Creating sandbox environments for piloting solutions and launching a Project Support Facility to identify and support bankable climate projects. Blended finance has the power to bridge gaps between public, private, and philanthropic capital to unlock transformative investments. It’s a strategic step towards ensuring that climate mitigation and adaptation efforts gain the traction they need in India and beyond. Thank you to IVCA for creating a platform to discuss such a vital topic, and to the panelists for sharing their insights. We look forward to translating these recommendations into action! #BlendedFinance #Sustainability #ClimateAction #DesaiAndAssociates #InnovativeFinance

It was truly inspiring to witness the energy of 25 incredible women entrepreneurs from across South Asia at the eTrade for Women Masterclass, hosted by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in collaboration with UNCTAD eTrade for Women Advocate and Ajaita S., CEO of Frontier Markets. These trailblazers, representing diverse sectors such as fintech, agritech, and e-commerce, are driving growth and transformation in the digital economy. We were thrilled to contribute to this transformative event, where Kartik Desai, Founder and CEO of D&A, and Aayushi Chaurasia, Manager at D&A, delivered a session on "Financing for Growth🌱: Identifying Needs and Sources of Funding”, sharing insights on innovative financing strategies, impact investing, and unlocking capital for scaling businesses. A heartfelt thank you to the United Nations eTrade for Women Initiative for creating a platform that empowers women entrepreneurs and amplifies their impact. We want to especially thank every entrepreneur who actively participated, shared their journeys, and asked insightful questions. 🔎Call-to-Action for Funders and Investors:  Are you looking to invest in women-led businesses across South Asia (Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan)? Here’s your chance to connect with these dynamic leaders. Leki Choden, CEO of Dragon Coders Private Limited Sherab Lhamo, CEO of DrukMSO Private Limited Yeshey Tshogay, Founder & CEO of iTechnologies Pvt Ltd Mounika Lingayagari, Co-Founder of Finsave Technologies Private Limited Gautami, Co-Founder of Buraansh Aakanksha Batra, Founder of The Green Collective Priya Agrawal, Founder Director of Antarang Foundation Sunakshi Agarwal, Co-Founder of Ardpure Sheena Arora, Co-Founder of Phoenix Group Deepa Muthukumarasamy, Founder & CEO of Some More Foods Private Limited Shweta Agrawal, Founder & CEO of Tradyl Surakchya Adhikari, CEO of Thulo Inc Pvt. Ltd. Nisha Taujale KC, Co-Founder of Kathmandu Organics Sunita Nhemaphuki, Founder & CEO of R & D Innovative Solution Pvt Ltd Zahra Nooreen, Co-Founder & CEO of SheDev Pvt Ltd Wardah Noor, Founder & CEO of xWave Farhat Dairkee, Founder & CEO of ALFAAZZ- A Hybrid Learning Platform Panchami Bhagya Iddamalgoda, Founder/Proprietor of Candle House Ceylon Asahaya Sri Nevindaree Premarathne, Founder & CEO of The Makers Global Senanayakage Wickramasinghe, Managing Director of ADVENTA HOLDINGS PVT LIMITED Upeka Tharindi Thilini Mali, Founder of Ample & Co (PVT) Ltd. Jagodage Sajeewa Ruwini Jayarathne, Founder & CEO of Ruwini Jayarathne Jewelry Fathima Hashma Imnisar, CEO of MCQ MED Riyaza Jaffar, Director of moms do digital Heetarthi Kamdar, Founder of Adroit Alliance Here’s to supporting and celebrating the leaders shaping tomorrow! 💡🌍 #EmpoweringWomen #Innovation #ImpactInvesting #eTradeForWomen #FinancingForGrowth #WomenInBusiness

🎉 Congratulations to SAMRIDH on the release of its case study in the prestigious Heller Social Impact Case Collection, now also featured through Harvard Business Publishing and The Case Centre! This recognition underscores the groundbreaking work SAMRIDH has done in leveraging blended finance to drive sustainable healthcare solutions in India. The case series is an incredible resource for understanding how blended finance can catalyze markets, enhance pandemic response, and build equitable health systems—a model that holds valuable lessons for contexts worldwide. Find the case study here: https://lnkd.in/gYN2BN4r At D&A, we’re proud to have collaborated with SAMRIDH through the Gender Lens Investing (GLI) Toolkit, where their innovative approach was also highlighted as a case study. The GLI toolkit explores practical ways to integrate gender into investment strategies and is available here: http://bit.ly/4fN5eKa Kudos to the entire SAMRIDH team for this remarkable achievement and for driving meaningful change through collaboration, innovation, and dedication. We encourage everyone to explore these resources and learn from SAMRIDH’s impactful journey!