They seem like two entirely different worlds: modern-day digital technology and traditional small-scale agriculture. But in spite of their perceived contradiction, they can actually be used to strengthen each other. Indonesian company PasarMIKRO shows how technology can directly benefit underserved Indonesian farmers and boost rural communities. In this interview, PasarMIKRO CEO and co-founder Dien Wong explains how.
On Friday February 17, PlusPlus had the pleasure of welcoming a visitor: James Ododa, co-founder of Ndivisi, paid a visit to our office. A nice opportunity to meet in person! The Kenyan entrepreneur met not only the PlusPlus team, but also two people who had invested in his company. It turned out to be a pleasant, intimate meeting about how Ndivisi got started, unexpected challenges and plans for the future. Below, you can read all about it.
Written by Peter Heijen on 7 February 2023
It’s a cliché you hear often: money can’t buy you happiness. In this blog, Peter Heijen wonders if that’s really true. Scientists have also examined this issue. What they all concluded? The answer is actually quite simple...
Written by Peter Heijen on 27 October 2022
Giving up a successful career in banking to make impact, PlusPlus founder Peter Heijen did it. Previously, as a banker, he made rich people even richer. Now, with PlusPlus, he is building "a community of do-gooders". Soon, this inspiring portrait will appear in Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad.
Written by Michelle Steggerda on 25 October 2022
Until now, loans at PlusPlus were always paid in euros. However, for SMEs in Latin America, that is not the most logical currency. For them, paying in euros often involves extra costs and a lot of hassle with their bank. In this continent, the U.S. dollar is the most common foreign currency. Therefore, to make things a little easier for our Latin American entrepreneurs, PlusPlus now offers a loan with repayment in dollars. We will explain here what that means.
Written by Michelle Steggerda on 25 August 2022
Last month, our colleague Michelle Steggerda traveled to Central America to visit some PlusPlus entrepreneurs. Especially for us, she put her experiences on paper. Read all about her trip to this region in her personal travel blog.
Palm oil has a negative image. Large-scale plantations, for which rain forests are cut down and farmers are kicked off their land, created a bad reputation. But it does not have to be like that! Sustainably produced palm oil, with attention for biodiversity and the environment, offers enormous opportunities for poverty stricken small-scale farmers to build a better life. Michel Riemersma, Solidaridad’s Policy Advisor on Palm Oil, explains why palm oil doesn't have to be a bad thing...
Written by Peter Heijen on 28 June 2022
Female entrepreneurship has been growing steep in the past decade. This is very important to close the worldwide gender gap. Entrepreneurship and business ownership empowers women all over the world to strengthen their position. This is even more true in developing countries where the position of females is generally even worse than in developed countries. More than enough reason to contribute to female entrepreneurship and female business ownership in emerging markets!
Written by Michelle Schouwenburg on 17 May 2022
Great news! About 1.5 year after PlusPlus was launched, we have reached our first million. An amazing amount, which our investors (that's you) have jointly lent to entrepreneurs in developing countries to make an impact. And we are extremely proud of that....
Written by Hazal Altunal on 13 May 2022
When it comes to the environmental and social challenges we’re globally facing, there are different kinds of solutions for those who want to use their money to do some good. In this blog post we’ll elaborate on two effective methods and explain their main differences: donating to charity and impact investing.
Written by Michelle Schouwenburg on 22 April 2022
While the vast majority of PlusPlus loans are repaid right on time, there are currently a few scheduled payments that are delayed. We're transparent about that. Maybe you've been notified yourself that a planned repayment to you is taking a little longer. And perhaps you are wondering what will happen next. That’s why we hereby explain what this means and how we deal with it.
