Organization: Women's Technology Cluster (San Francisco)
Project: Social Fusion: Accelerating Microfinance Success
Award Date: January 2005
Award Duration/Amount: 1 years, $20,000 total

Social Fusion (launched in 2002 as 3GF’s Non-Profit Incubator) is a nontraditional business incubator of the Women’s Technology Cluster that builds the tools and resources to scale highly innovative social ventures. Social Fusion helps social entrepreneurs turn promising non-profit and for-profit social ventures into successful, sustainable organizations. Social Fusion has created an effective system, including curricula, mentoring and coaching, that helps social ventures achieve scale. Social Fusion’s market research and client interviews indicate a market gap and strong demand for its programs in the global field of microfinance.

Microfinance is a proven effective lever to help women around the world participate in the economy. Social Fusion is utilizing its powerful network to improve the structures of microfinance. Working with key financial institutions, Social Fusion will move traditional investment dollars into the microfinance arena. This work will increase access to traditional capital resources through a selective network of large financial institutions, and will help to remove the barrier of limited grant and charitable dollars that hinders the capacity of microfinance.

3GF's $20,000 investment in Social Fusion's will support the organization as it designs a new microfinance investment product, and extends its unique entrepreneurial support program to the field of microfinance.

Contact: Amber Nystrom, Social Fusion Director
Amber@socialfusion.org
(415) 979-0281
www.socialfusion.org
 

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