Omidyar Networks is an investment firm and backed by the philanthropic capital of Pierre Omidyar, founder of e-Bay. It has a committed capital of US$917 mn, of which 55% is for non-profit grants and 45% for-profit investments (early-stage investment).
Omidyar supports companies that provide financial services to the under-served portion of the population. There are three broad themes?(1) reduce cost of delivery through mobile money/agent networks, (2) provide relevant, innovative services through savings solutions (zero-cost insurance products) and (3) reduce cost of assessment through customer assessment/credit scoring; the companies fall under the category of ?big data, small credit?.
India has the second-largest internet base in the world. It has already has 220 mn smartphone users. Thus, mobile can play a big role in providing accesses to a wide array of services. Key investment areas are?(1) low-cost access to the internet, (2) platforms/enablers (companies such as Nowfloats, U2opia), (3) utilitarian content (companies such as 1MG, Dailyhunt); local language content will grow dramatically in the future and so will advertisements in the local language, (4) utilitarian products/services and (5) decentralized economy.
