Full Publication

Across the developing world, a new kind of business is emerging to serve and benefit the poor. It is known by many names: market-based solutions to poverty, inclusive businesses, impact enterprises, social enterprises, or enterprises serving the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP).

Many are giving poor households access to beneficial goods and services, by bringing safe drinking water to slums, powering villages in deep rural areas, delivering high-quality but low-cost surgical procedures, or boosting educational attainment at affordable prices. Others are enhancing the livelihoods of the poor by raising the earnings of smallholder farmers, or giving more consistent and better-paid work to rural artisans.

Meanwhile, impact investors, foundations, aid donors, and increasingly, governments are banking on these businesses to grow and flourish, and generate both financial returns and social impact on a large scale.