FAQ

Sometimes you just need a little help

 

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Badges

We love badges. In fact, everyone and everything should have a badge. Do you have an idea for a cool badge? Let us know and we might just make it!

Badges are rewards that members can earn for their contributions to the IBA community. You can start earning badges right away by completing activities such as following ventures, updating your profile and so on. Other badges are earned for posting a top-ranking venture, scouting promising entrepreneurs and after being interviewed by our editorial team.

We use badges on the website to enrich personal profiles of our members. It shows how active you are, and what you have accomplished on the platform.

Bootcamp

The online bootcamp will be structured in 4 modules over a 4-week period. Each module consists of a written chapter that you can go through in your own time after downloading the PDF. In each chapter there will be links to additional (video) resources.  For each module there is at least one video on the key concept/theory as well as a video from a guest speaker. Each module also introduces one or more exercises: You learn by doing!

No, there’s no real-time session that you need to attend. All the materials and videos can be accessed in your own time. So there is no minimum bandwidth needed to participate.

You will spend approximately 3 hours per week including ~1 hour of individual online reading. All members of the IB Accelerator are welcome to register. To get most out of the assignments, it is recommended to form a group with your colleagues.Members who have created a venture profile on the IB Accelerator platform can submit assignments to receive feedback.

At the end of each of the 4 modules of the bootcamp you will be able to work on an assignment and submit these to us. The work will be reviewed for completeness and participants who submit all four assignments will receive an IB Accelerator certificate and badge on their IBA profile to show that you are an expert on ‘Improving your sales strategy to the Base of the Pyramid’.

Yes, you do need an internet connection to access the information and to download and upload the assignments. But, all the materials will also be available as PDF so you can access the information later without being connected to the internet. Also, there’s no real-time session that you need to attend. So there is no minimum bandwidth needed to participate.

On each module page you will find a ‘Discussion’ tab. Here you can post messages and ask questions to all bootcamp participants. If you want to discuss things in a closed environment we would advise you to start an private group.

Yes you can. All bootcamp participants can message each other by clicking on the small envelope on top of their avatar in the participants overview. You can access the overview by clicking on the green button in the sidebar under ‘Participants’.

If you are contacted by anyone with spam, let us know as soon as possible via [email protected]

Yes you can. On each module page you will see the organizers of the module. By clicking on the envelope you will be able to send each of them a private message.

Community

You can only message others if this member is ‘following’ you.

Go to your login panel and click ‘Lost your password?’ Here you will see the option to enter your username or e-mail address. Click ‘Get new password’ to activate. You will receive an e-mail needed to access your account again. Don’t see the e-mail? Make sure to check your spam folders.

Happens to the best of us. Go to your login panel and click ‘Lost your password?’ Here you will see the option to enter your username or e-mail address. Click ‘Get new password’ to activate. You will receive an e-mail needed to access your account again. Don’t see the e-mail? Make sure to check your spam folders.

We ask you to upload a photo because we want to keep the Inclusive Business Accelerator platform personal and friendly. Show fellow members who you are and what you look like.

The team at the Inclusive Business Accelerator screens each new member application. We process new applications on a rolling basis 24 hours a day. If you haven’t heard back within a day, please contact us at [email protected].

Content

We love to write about entrepreneurs doing great things. Working on something great or do you have a story idea? Send us a tip!

Yes you can. We encourage members and community partners to contribute to the blog. Please contact the content team at IBA and we can coordinate publishing.

Fundraising

When a fundraising request comes in the IBA team will look at the information that is presented (information filled in, the QuickScan and the documents uploaded to the protected part of your venture profile) and you will be contacted in case there are more questions. If all the criteria are met, we will publish the fundraising request and alert investors in our network.

Entrepreneurs who have registered a venture at the IBA platform have the ability to register a fundraising request. You will find the registration form on your venture profile. But before you register, check out the ‘Steps to fundraising on the Inclusive Business Accelerator‘.

History

The IB Accelerator facilitates the acceleration of impactful entrepreneurship in BoP markets. We do this by building a structure that supports the delivery of substantial numbers of investment-ready inclusive business plans that improve the well being of people at the Base of the Pyramid.

IBA was started in 2014 by the BoP Innovation CenterSNV and VC4Africa. The IB Accelerator is managed by the IB Accelerator consortium, established by the BoP Innovation Center. Since 2010, the BoP Innovation Center established in The Netherlands a clear focal point, built up partnerships with the Dutch private sector and strengthened its ties with local business development support agencies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

To play a catalysing role in providing tailored inclusive business services demands business and financial knowledge as well as experience in local markets. The BoP Innovation Center, SNV, Venture Capital for Africa and Nyenrode Business School combine these fields of expertise. The IB Accelerator receives co-funding support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands.

Investing

Accredited investor is a term defined by various countries’ securities laws that delineates investors permitted to invest in certain types of higher risk investments including seed money, limited partnerships, hedge funds, private placements, and angel investor networks. The term generally includes wealthy individuals and organizations such as banks, insurance companies, significant charities, some corporations, endowments, and retirement plans.

For example, in the United States, for an individual to be considered an accredited investor, he or she must have a net worth of at least one million US dollars, not including the value of one’s primary residence or have income at least $200,000 each year for the last two years (or $300,000 together with his or her spouse if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount this year.

Investors can see which ventures are fundraising and follow the progress of the ventures they find interesting. They can network with fellow members of the investor network and engage entrepreneurs with questions. Registered investors can see who is fundraising, review the terms of the deal, and have exclusive access to private venture documents.

The ventures on the Inclusive Business Accelerator are early stage and require investments between USD $50K and USD $5 million. The primary sectors include:
- Agriculture and food
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
- Sustainable energy

Each venture on the Inclusive Business Accelerator platform is disruptive in their application of an inclusive business model.

Are you an accredited investor? Join the leading network of Inclusive Business focused investors. As a registered investor you can see which ventures are fundraising on the IBA and you have access to special tools:

» See the results from the IBA Quick Scan filled out by the entrepreneur you are interested in
» Follow progress of ventures you like
» Access to venture documents such as business plan
» See who is following the ventures you are interested in
» Ability to message any entrepreneur
» Get personal introductions via the Inclusive Business Accelerator team
» Contact the IBA team for support

Listed entrepreneurs have access to free online tools, mentorship opportunities and virtual private deal rooms. Registered investors are able to see which screened ventures are fundraising, track their progress and review private documents.

Resources

Mentors are experienced entrepreneurs, investors and business experts who are willing to share their knowledge free of charge. Entrepreneurs who have registered a venture with IBA have the ability to submit a request for mentorship support. The team at IBA screens these requests before they are presented to the participating mentors. It’s a free program and you might just score the expert you need!

On the IBA platform, you will be able to find the latest market intelligence on the Base of the Pyramid. Who are the BoP consumers? How to engage low-income groups in your business? What are the key success factors to develop inclusive business? If you need to answer to these questions, you will find them on the IBA platform.

Site Policy

General Terms & Conditions IBA

The following General Terms & Conditions apply to your use of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website and all related properties. You are solely responsible for your conduct, and your content on the Inclusive Business Accelerator website, and compliance with these terms. By registering with us, or using or browsing the Inclusive Business Accelerator website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms. This includes the General Terms & Conditions explained on this page, and the Inclusive Business Accelerator Terms of Commerce, Disclaimer and Privacy Policy. (Links to be added)

The only people who are authorized to create accounts on this site are professionals who understand risk and are willing to bear the consequences. If you are not an Entrepreneur looking for advice and introductions to potential investors, or you don’t think that you are both an Accredited Investor and sophisticated enough to protect your own interests, then you should not try to create an account on this website.

By using the Inclusive Business Accelerator website (including by simply viewing content on http://iba.ventures (the “Site”), you are agreeing that you, and each person you allow to access the Inclusive Business Accelerator website through your account, will abide by the terms of the following agreement, which is summarized here, and set forth in its entirety below. This agreement is between you and the Inclusive Business Accelerator (“We,” “Inclusive Business Accelerator” or the “Company”), and it governs your access to and use of the services, websites, and applications offered by the Inclusive Business Accelerator website (the “Service”). Your access to and use of the Service is conditioned on your acceptance of and compliance with this agreement.

The security laws applicable to private company finance are complicated and occasionally ambiguous. In general, they are designed to protect unsophisticated people from making ill-advised investments. The following terms are designed to minimize the risk that any unsophisticated/unaccredited individuals try to become investors through the Service, and to protect the Company in the event that anyone claims he, she or it was damaged by using the Services. At the same time, entrepreneurs must conduct full due diligence on any contact met through this Service and take full responsibility for any outcome. Any information the entrepreneur provides the service, either through sharing with the Inclusive Business Accelerator organization, any member or visitor to the Service or its events, or engaging and/or publishing to any part of the Service, is information the entrepreneur willingly puts into the public domain.

General Principles

Users of the site must join as a ‘general member’ before they receive a personal profile page, can build a network of contacts and/or view content available to the public. Once registered as a ‘general member’ the user can decide to register as an ‘entrepreneur,’ a ‘mentor’ or as an ‘investor.’ Entrepreneurs are able to register a venture profile, upload a logo, complete the venture description questions, and post URLs to relevant company related websites and (social) media channels. Entrepreneurs can post fundraising requests that are only visible to members who are registered as part of the Inclusive Business Accelerator Investor Network.

As part of the registration for the Inclusive Business Accelerator Investor Network, members that use this Service indicate they meet the investor criteria as established by the American Securities and Exchange Commission. Members that register as an Investor must also meet the regulations stipulated by the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) in the Netherlands or as per the legislation of country of residence. Only accredited investors with registered Investor Accounts, and members of the Inclusive Business Accelerator organization, can view registered ventures that are fundraising and any details associated with a venture posted on the website. The Inclusive Business Accelerator Investor Network, and all users of the Service, also agree to the Terms of Commerce, Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.

ENTREPRENEURS: If you are an Entrepreneur, you are welcome to upload information about your business plan, including information you consider confidential (see the definition of ‘Fundraising Documents,’ below), and to designate which Investors may see that information (either by listing your venture as ‘public’ or ‘private’). We will do our best to display information you have designated as ‘Fundraising Documents’ only to Investors who have told us that they fit within the categories you have identified. We cannot, however, require Investors who see your ‘Fundraising Documents’ to agree not to distribute that information. We also cannot guarantee that there will never be a software bug or a hacker attack that will allow unauthorized viewing of material, or that Investors actually fit within any category. Equally, the Service interviews members who want to participate as Mentors, and seek to make meaningful connections useful to entrepreneurs, but the Service cannot vouch for members that participate as Mentors, their intentions or the consequences of their actions.

MENTORS: Members who are part of the Service have the ability to register as Mentors. The Service reviews incoming mentorship requests from entrepreneurs and posts them to the Mentorship marketplace. However, the Inclusive Business Accelerator cannot vouch for the quality of the entrepreneur, the venture or the truthfulness of the information presented. Mentors are expected to maintain a professional relationship to the entrepreneur, willingly volunteer their network, knowledge and expertise, and agree that they will not accept any form of financial compensation in return for the mentorship they provide the entrepreneur. Mentors also agree to use discretion in how they handle sensitive information that might be provided by the entrepreneur and agree to not share, sell or distribute this information.

INVESTORS: If you are a member with a an Investor Account, or you are otherwise able to see any content related to ventures fundraising or material that has been designated as ‘Fundraising Documents,’ you must recognize that it is important to use discretion in how you handle the information concerning the venture raising capital and the associated Fundraising Documents. We do not promise to show you all qualifying business plans, nor can we promise that all business plans that we show you will actually satisfy your criteria, but we will try. The Inclusive Business Accelerator does not take responsibility for the quality of the entrepreneurs or plans, nor do we vouch for the companies presented through the Service and to what extent they reflect a truthful reality.

GENERAL USERS: Certain portions of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website will be visible to users who have not signed up as either Entrepreneurs or as Investors. Those users, nevertheless, are bound by this agreement. Entrepreneurs should be aware that information they post to their public profile page is visible to everybody unless it is posted under the ‘Documents’ tab in which case the material is only visible to the members who are registered as part of the Inclusive Business Accelerator Investor Network, thereby indicating they meet the investor criteria as established by the American Securities and Exchange Commission. Members that register for Pro Investor Accounts also indicate they meet the regulations stipulated by the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) in the Netherlands or as per the legislation of country of residence.

What We are Promising

Our obligations under this agreement are limited to two elements (A) we will require all Investor Account users on the site to indicate they meet the investor criteria as established by the American Securities and Exchange Commission. Members that register for Pro Accounts also indicate they meet the regulations stipulated by the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) in the Netherlands or as per the legislation of country of residence and (B) we will do our best to disclose content submitted by Entrepreneurs only in accordance with the instructions of those Entrepreneurs and only to Investors who have indicated an interest in such materials. Other than that, you are on your own.

We do not, and cannot, guarantee that any Investor is actually an ‘Accredited Investor,’ or that any content is true, correct, complete or viable.

What You are Promising

You are promising to use the Inclusive Business Accelerator website responsibly and in a professional manner, and to hold us harmless against any damage that may happen to you or your company as a result of your use of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website. Please see our disclaimer. (Link to be added)

Other Rights We Have

Users of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website must understand that we have virtually unlimited rights to reject any Investor or Entrepreneur, to delete any content, or to publish any content provided to us by an Entrepreneur or an Investor on the Inclusive Business Accelerator website or in any other medium, including for the purposes of marketing our Service.

As a general member of the Inclusive Business Accelerator you agree that you will not post, email or make available any content or use the Inclusive Business Accelerator website:

* In a manner that infringes, violates or misappropriates any third party’s intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights or contractual rights;
* in a manner that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
* to engage in spamming, “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes”, advertisement of illegal or controlled products or services, or other advertising or marketing activities that violate these Terms of Service, any applicable laws, regulations or generally-accepted advertising industry guidelines;
* to make unsolicited offers (in any form) or to make reference to any financial related service (or other) without the explicit consent of the Inclusive Business Accelerator organization.
* in a manner that is misleading, deceptive or fraudulent or otherwise illegal or promotes illegal activities, including engaging in phishing or otherwise obtaining financial or other personal information in a misleading manner or for fraudulent or misleading purposes;
* in a manner that is libelous or defamatory, or in a way that is otherwise threatening, abusive, violent, harassing, malicious or harmful to any person or entity, or invasive of another’s privacy;
* in a manner that is hateful or discriminatory based on race, color, sex, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or age or is otherwise objectionable;
* to impersonate any other person, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, or to obtain access to the Inclusive Business Accelerator website without authorization;
* to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website or prevent others from using the Inclusive Business Accelerator website, or in a manner that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Inclusive Business Accelerator website, or that otherwise negatively affects other persons’ ability to use the Inclusive Business Accelerator website;
* to use any manual or automated means, including agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to access or manage any user’s account or to monitor or copy this Network or the content contained therein;
* to facilitate the unlawful distribution of copyrighted content;
* in a manner that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent;
* in a manner that employs misleading email or IP addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the Inclusive Business Accelerator website or to users; and
* in a manner that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if emailed to users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.

Additionally, you agree not to:

* “Stalk” or otherwise harass anyone;
* Collect, use or disclose data, including personal information, about other users without their consent or for unlawful purposes or in violation of applicable law or regulations;
* Request, solicit or otherwise obtain access to usernames, passwords or other authentication credentials from any member of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website or to proxy authentication credentials for any member of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website for the purposes of automating logins to the Inclusive Business Accelerator website;
* Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Inclusive Business Accelerator website – except for Internet search engines (e.g. Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file, or “well-behaved” web services/RSS/Atom clients. We reserve the right to define what we mean by “well-behaved”;
* Post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Inclusive Business Accelerator website’s infrastructure;
* Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website;
* Use the Inclusive Business Accelerator website as a generic file hosting service;
* Take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems (such as displaying, importing or exporting feedback information off of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website or for using it for purposes unrelated to the Inclusive Business Accelerator website; and
* Develop, invoke, or utilize any code to disrupt, diminish the quality of, interfere with the performance of, or impair the functionality of the Inclusive Business Accelerator website.

You agree not to authorize or encourage any third party to use the Inclusive Business Accelerator website to facilitate any of the foregoing prohibited conduct. You also agree that these General Terms & Conditions include our service providers and that they may take action (including the removal of your content and disabling of your account) in order to maintain compliance with these General Terms & Conditions.

The Inclusive Business Accelerator’s Commitment to Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available in the footer of every page on our website and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.

The Information We Collect

This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the Inclusive Business Accelerator website. On some pages, you can update your status, and register your venture profile. The types of personal information collected at these pages are:
• Name
• Address
• E-mail address
• Phone number

How We Use Information

We use the information you provide about yourself when placing a request to complete that request. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that request. We use return e-mail addresses to answer the e-mail we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.

You can register with our website if you would like to receive our newsletter as well as updates on our new products and services. Information you submit on our website will not be used for this purpose unless you fill out the registration form. Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

Our Commitment to Data Security

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Data transferred between our server and web browsers is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and 256-bit encryption. The http://IBA.ventures domain is authenticated with a certificate issued by GeoTrust, a global leader among digital Certificate Authorities.

Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 13.

How to Access or Correct Your Information

You can access all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain by emailing [email protected] To protect your privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. We use this procedure to better safeguard your information. You can correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information by sending us a request that credibly shows error.

How to Contact Us

Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies, please send us an e-mail at [email protected]

The Inclusive Business Accelerator is a champion for more inclusive business initiatives in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We believe entrepreneurship and inclusive business models are good for society and that more should be done to support entrepreneurs working so hard to build up their companies in the developing world. The Inclusive Business Accelerator is a social initiative and our mission is to help people in a way that is financially sustainable for the organization over time. Our absolutely last intention is that somehow, somewhere, someone gets hurt in some way.

So we want to make this clear: We seek to provide the Inclusive Business Accelerator community with information and networking opportunities. Our aim is to foster a healthy/constructive dialogue that further promotes entrepreneurship development across the developing world.

Anything business related (or other) is done at your own risk and we highly recommend you get a lawyer or contact experts for these matters. If you are an entrepreneur approached by an investor you are responsible for conducting your own due diligence. If you are an investor approached by an entrepreneur you are responsible for conducting your own due diligence. If you are matched to another member via the Inclusive Business Accelerator team you are responsible for your own due diligence. Bottom line, we are not liable for any outcome in whatever form. Before doing anything business related know that only you are responsible.

Each member of this community is responsible for their own risk assessment before acting upon any information provided via the Inclusive Business Accelerator or any one of her members or visitors or other. Before pursuing any legal or financial strategy, or taking any decision at all, you should consult with your legal or financial advisor or CPA. The Inclusive Business Accelerator (and anything related to the Inclusive Business Accelerator) does not take responsibility for any single member, piece of content or any other object, person or action.

Ventures

We hate to see you go. Visit your personal profile page. In the right hand column you will see a widget displaying your venture. Simply click the delete button and it’s gone!

Want to get noticed? Here are some tips and tricks you can use to promote your venture.

1) First impressions count! Make sure your venture profile is complete and the descriptions you posted are accurate;

2) Do you have a video pitch and have you posted this to your venture profile? This is a great way to introduce yourself as an entrepreneur and to talk about your business;

3) Have you added links to your profile on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter? This is a great way to keep people up to date on your activities and gives them a chance to find out more about you;

4) Have you made great progress building your company? Make sure you are sharing the latest news and developments on your activity stream. Let people know what’s happening and allow them to follow your adventure through both the good times and the bad times…..we all have them!;

5) Check out the documents tab on your venture profile. Have you uploaded a Powerpoint presentation or any other documentation that helps investors understand what you are working on? Add a copy of your business license or any other evidence that shows you are serious;

6) On your venture profile you will see a short URL you can use to promote your venture profile across the web. Also see the ability to tweet your venture profile. Use these tools to get the word out!;

7) You can download a pdf. file with a summary of your venture profile. Attach this document to your e-mail as a 1 page summary or post it to your blog;

8) Keep the community and the IBA team up to date on your progress and let us know when your ready to make a big announcement!

The answer is Yes! Entrepreneurs are often working on multiple projects. Sometimes the work you spent building one venture ends up being the preparation for the next. Feel free to post multiple ventures.

The IBA team screens each venture profile before it is published to the website. We will review your application as soon as possible. In the event the venture profile does not pass our screening, we will contact you directly with a number of tips needed to successfully complete the process.

Visit your personal profile page. In the tab ‘My ventures’ you will see your venture(s) in draft mode. Click the ‘Edit venture’ link to access your venture and start updating your information.

Easy, just visit the ventures section of the website and click ‘Start your own Venture.’ You don’t have to answer all of the questions at once and feel free to come back multiple times before submitting the profile for review. You can find your draft venture in the right hand column on your personal profile page.

The team at IBA is constantly looking to highlight ventures making progress. Keep your profile updated and share your wins and successes with the community. Build your following on IBA and get yourself noticed!