Publications: Disruptive Technologies and Venture Capital

Sep 28, 2020

The Impact of COVID-19 on Disruptive Technology Adoption in Emerging Markets

This note presents examples of how disruptive technologies have been employed in emerging markets during the COVID-19 crisis; discusses market trends that may heighten the role of disruptive technologies in emerging markets post crisis; and reviews risks to and opportunities of faster adoption of disruptive technologies in emerging markets.

English | 17 pages | 2020 IFC

May 11, 2020

Case Study: Coursera

An Agile Company Partners with the Best Universities to Rapidly Scale Higher Education and Lifelong Learning

English | 32 pages | May 2020

Feb 16, 2020

Venture Capital and the Gender Financing Gap: The Role of Accelerators

This report studies the steep differential between financing for male and female-led start-ups post-acceleration and finds perceived risk and investor bias are the most likely causes.

Nov 6, 2019

How Artificial Intelligence is Making Transport Safer, Cleaner, More Reliable and Efficient in Emerging Markets

Transport in emerging markets often faces acute challenges due to poor infrastructure, growing populations, urbanization, and in some regions rising prosperity, which increases vehicle traffic, cargo volumes, and pollution. Artificial intelligence offers new solutions to these challenges by making market entry easier and allowing countries to reach underserved populations, creating markets and private sector investment opportunities associated with them.

English | 8 Pages - November - Note 75 | IFC 2019

Oct 31, 2019

Bridging the Trust Gap: Blockchain’s Potential to Restore Trust in Artificial Intelligence in Support of New Business Models

Rapid increases in computing power and data generation have turned artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things into potent technologies that are rapidly gaining use in many areas of society and commerce, with significant potential benefits for economic growth and development. These innovative technologies face multiple obstacles to implementation and—particularly in the case of AI—a general wariness of their potential implications for human society. Fortunately, an integrated implementation of the three technologies may be a solution that can restore human trust in AI and blockchain applications, resulting in new business models that deliver data security and privacy, efficiency, and inclusion along with their many other benefits.

English | 8 Pages - October - Note 74 | IFC 2019

Sep 18, 2019

Artificial Intelligence: Investment Trends and Selected Industry Uses

The global race to fund, develop, and acquire artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and start-ups is intensifying, with commercial uses for AI proliferating in advanced and emerging economies alike. AI could increase GDP growth in both advanced countries and emerging markets. In healthcare, diagnosis and drug discovery will benefit enormously from AI. In manufacturing, AI can help design better products in terms of functionality, quality, and cost, and improve predictive maintenance. The potential impact of AI on transportation and logistics goes far beyond automation and road safety to span the entire logistics chain. Yet with the exceptions of China and India, emerging markets have received only a modest share of global investment in this advanced technology, despite the fact that they may benefit more from AI implementation than advanced economies.

English | 8 Pages - September - Note 71 | IFC 2019

Mar 7, 2019

Report: Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital

The study explores the link between financial returns and gender diversity; the lack of women in the industry; and steps needed to achieve gender balance. One of the key findings of the report is that private equity and venture capital funds with gender-balanced senior investment teams generated 10 percent to 20 percent higher returns compared with funds that have a majority of male or female leaders.

English | 137 pages | 2019 IFC

Apr 5, 2018

Case Study: Byju's

How a Learning App is Promoting Deep Conceptual Understanding that is Improving Educational Outcomes in India.

Apr 26, 2017

salauno

salauno’s mission is to “eliminate needless blindness in Mexico” by providing affordable and accessible eye care services to patients of all income levels. In the first five years since its founding in 2011, the company has provided eye care to over 230,000 people and grown from one surgical center in Mexico City into a network of ten mid-sized Diagnostic Centers with a staff of over 200, offering a range of services throughout the Mexico City Metropolitan Area and the broader Valley of Mexico. For more information on salauno visit their website at http://www.salauno.com.mx/.

Sep 16, 2016

NephroPlus

NephroCare Health Services Private Limited (NephroPlus) is a provider network of kidney dialysis services across 15 states in India. Founded in 2010, NephroPlus delivers these services in large metropolitan areas as well as underserved, small cities at prices that are 30 to 40 percent lower than hospitals. As of 2015, the company has 75 centers across India that service more than 6,000 patients and provide approximately 50,000 dialysis treatments each month. This case study is in the 2016 Built for Change report which features companies that are employing unique strategies to integrate people living at the base of the pyramid into the companies’ business operations.