airmOnia

Problem:

There are currently over 705 million people living in extreme poverty, using the common metric of income less than $US 1.90 per day for an individual. 

Our solution:

We believe that the best way to alleviate poverty is through promoting entrepreneurship to the respective communities. Therefore, airmOnia aims to provide the necessary access to financial capital and technical knowledge to existing and aspiring social entrepreneurs. 

Outcome:

85% of the world's extremely poor people live throughout South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, therefore it is very important to go globally. We believe that our solution will positively change those people lives by reducing unemployment and providing learning opportunities on entrepreneurship. In addition, we would like to emphasise that there is a polydimensional factor to it. Our solution addresses to a range of issues that communities face, varying from environmental issues to agricultural and digital matters.

The problem we try to tackle is extreme poverty through inclusive entrepreneurship. 

According to the World Bank, 736 million people lived below the international poverty line of US$ 1.90 a day in 2015. In 2018, almost 8 per cent of the world’s workers and their families lived on less than US$1.90 per person per day. Most people living below the poverty line belong to two regions: Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, more specifically in India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, according to the most recent comprehensive data available. High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile and conflict-affected countries. 

According to recent studies (e.g., Berge et al., 2014; Chliova and Ringov, 2017; Valdivia, 2015) provision of scarce resources, such as finances or training, are central to poverty alleviation. This is where airmOnia comes in. 

We enable small and new businesses or ideas, in untapped communities, to weather economic shocks, prosper, and create good jobs through access to airmOnia's capital, network, and technical know-how.

airmOnia considers itself to be a for-profit social impact investor that engages beyond its financial commitment by participating in the strategic development of its partner companies. 

airmOnia provides consultation for the development of the partner organization via business know-how, mentoring, strategic knowledge, and access to its network. 

The process we use to accomplish our goal is the following:

1. Search for countries and communities that live in absolute poverty.

2. Source and screen any local entrepreneurial initiatives. airmOnia finds out about these opportunities in different ways. Sometimes the entrepreneurs contact us using our website. Sometimes the entrepreneurs reach us through our network. We also aim to organise scouting tours in target countries. 

3. Build a framework of cooperation with our partners. A well-established, comprehensive process that defines clear goals as the basis for a long-term partnership between airmOnia and its partners.

4. Invest in carefully chosen partner companies or promising ideas that focus on absolute poverty and fulfil our investment criteria. 

5. Post investment monitoring and managing and value building. airmOnia provides the necessary guidance to the entrepreneurs to accomplish their goals and create value for communities.

6. Exit after an investment period of circa five years.  

Our initial geographical focus is people living below the poverty line in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. A significant amount of the people in those countries are unemployed or self-employed, usually in low-paying work that keeps them in poverty. More than three-quarters of workers are farmers or non-agricultural self-employed workers.

Small-scale entrepreneurs tend to be older and less educated than wage employees, with more volatile labor market activities and a greater likelihood of exiting the labor market rather than moving to other forms of employment. Consequently, the chances of living in poverty are higher for small-scale entrepreneurs than for wage employees. 

As most of these farmers still have no direct access to local, regional, or global market, airmOnia invests in entrepreneurial initiatives who aim to make this markets accessible to the farmers.

Moreover, airmOnia supports entrepreneurial projects who create market-oriented opportunities for capable and motivated but underprivileged youth and women.  Allowing them to apply their knowledge to the job market.

Through our close partnership with local entrepreneurs and communities, airmOnia aspires that socially disadvantaged people obtain a chance to secure their existence and to live a more independent and dignified life. 

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