I-DEV Launch On Medium!
By Patricia Chin-Sweeney, Senior Partner
This year is an exciting one for I-DEV, as we step up our social media and communications game! For the last 7 years, we’ve had our our staff primarily based in Latin America and Africa, juggling a multitude of consulting and investment advisory assignments…Finally, we have the bandwidth to focus on sharing insights from the field and trends in store.
Who Is I-DEV, And What Are We Doing?
I-DEV International is a strategy and investment advisory firm focused on unlocking business potential in the frontier markets of Latin America, Africa and Asia. I-DEV does not stand for “International Development” International…The “I” in I-DEV represents the Insight, Innovation and access to Investment we commit to offering our clients and the sectors we work with. We are former bankers, management consultants and entrepreneurs focused on bringing global best practices in business and finance to the countries we work in.
Since our start in 2009, we have worked in 45 countries around the world, and built up a team in Latin America (Lima, Peru), Africa (Nairobi, Kenya) and San Francisco! Our local-global approach, where our teams literally work 24–7 across time zones at times, allows us to stay close to cutting edge innovations and opportunities in Silicon Valley and developed markets, and then translate their applicability to developing markets - and vice versa.
We work across a range of sectors because we believe ultimate value creation and impact is developed through cross-sector partnerships; by bringing together the worlds of international development, venture capital, private equity, impact investing, big business and social enterprise- we will create stronger economies, stronger business ecosystems and greater social and environmental impact. As a firm, we commit to only working with clients who share our values and want to lead in positive change- whether they self-identify as being socially or environmentally focused or not. If they are or can be high-impact (in a net positive, non-destructive way) and have high potential for scale, then we’re interested!
About This Blog
This blog is designed for I-DEV staff, interns and alumni to share their observations and experiences from around the world. We also welcome I-DEV friends, global partners, clients and sector players to contribute what they’re doing, seeing and investing in across the emerging markets. We will also reach out now and then to request opinions and insights on specific trends or sectors that we think are hot or otherwise worth discussing.
Contributions, Please!
What we’re looking for from contributors…
- I-DEV is all about being street-smart, savvy and scrappy; and that’s what we’re looking for on our blog! Facts, substance, opinions based on in-field observations and experience. Links to references and other resources for readers are always a plus!
- Trends in Latin America, Africa and Asia, particularly related to innovations in I-DEV’s core focus sectors –clean energy, sustainable agribusiness, sustainable fashion, mobile tech or consumer goods– are welcome!
- A focus on market trends, market-based solutions to poverty, coverage of innovative SME developments, recent transactions and more.
What we don’t want…
- Blatant self-promotion, boring press releases or negative rants
- Long disorganized rambles
- Photo or image-less content- we want to see what you’re talking about
How to Contribute
Send us an e-mail at info@idevinternational.com, titled “Medium Idea” followed by a short description of sector & general theme or title you propose. If we’re interested, we’ll get back to you with additional guidelines, set a quick call, and then help you join our blog as a contributor!
