In 2010, Lorna Rutto quit her bank job to start a waste recycling business.
Lorna Rutto company, EcoPost, collects and recycles waste plastic into aesthetic, durable and environmentally-friendly fencing posts that serve as an alternative material to timber.
But her business would have remained a dream without the financial support of international and local investors and NGOs.
Every year, hundreds of international and local organisations support businesses that tackle issues such as environmental pollution, illiteracy, disease and other social problems. They usually provide grants, donations, loans, equity or even training and advice.
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The problem is, many African entrepreneurs don’t know about these funding opportunities, and as a result they don’t apply.
So in 2010, Lorna applied for and won a $6,000 SEED Award which served as start-up capital for her business. In the same year, she won a grant award of $12,700 from the Enablis Energy Globe-Safaricom Foundation.
Lorna Rutto also won a business plan competition organized by the Cartier Women’s Initiative, and received a prize award of nearly $12,000.
Recently, her business attracted an equity investment from the Blue Haven Initiative and the Opus Foundation amounting to $495,000. This was used to expand the business and purchase advanced recycling equipment.
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In the free course at the bottom of this article, I reveal the reasons why these organizations are eager to support businesses in developing countries by giving away millions of dollars as grants, donations, loans and equity every year.