Moroccans have proven that big business is not untouchable: Three companies in the Arabic country experienced just how closely their fate really depends on the goodwill of their consumers.
Under pressure from skyrocketing electricity prices, an airport in India’s southern state of Kerala came up with the idea of generating its own electricity.
A lot of our attention is focused on reducing plastic waste, but what can we do with the huge amount of plastic waste we already have? Two innovative Indian companies have come up with creative solutions: they are transforming plastic waste into fuel or using it to build roads.
What are the alternatives for single-use platic? A German company stands out for a particularly environmentally friendly solution – as cheap and available as plastic, but entirely biodegradable.
The Open Book project offers holidaymakers a very special experience: In the Scottish village of Wigtown, visitors can run an independent book shop for up to six weeks. What may sound like a pretty unspectacular holiday adventure is actually fully booked on Airbnb for years to come.
Step right up, ladies, into shoe wonderland! A clever German start-up has come up with an answer to a problem that has plagued women since the invention of the high heel.
A Kenyan start-up is promising patients cheaper and better access to healthcare through iSikCure – a free mobile phone app.
3D-printed breast prostheses from South Africa are helping women come to terms with a mastectomy.
When Steve Glover, a former addict and recovery counsellor decided to support fellow addicts and ex-offenders after treatment, he ended up creating one of the UK’s leading sustainable urban food businesses.
Five Swiss villages rejected a tax windfall from a commodities corporation and donated it to the countries harmed by the corporation’s ruthless production methods.
Afghan potato chips are successfully challenging multinational corporations’ dominance on the Afghan market.
Online shopping with a twist: The Kiezkaufhaus project exclusively offers products from local retailers and delivers faster than Amazon.
Cruising the city by bike can spark an amazing feeling of freedom - as long as you don't have to hop on and off your bike to look up directions. But now there’s Haize, a new navigation system that keeps you cycling without limitations.
As a (social) enterprise, there are a handful of basic financing options for funding your expansion, and none of them are perfect. One of the most recent trends is crowdlending, which could be very promising for start ups without getting an investor involved.
Eager to cover more ground, Peruvian Pokémon Go players are hiring motorcycle taxi drivers.
The start-up community has fundamentally changed in recent years, and innovators interested in earning money while doing good are right on trend. Read about why social entrepreneurs should not be discouraged by old prejudices.
Can a digital platform free us from the shame of having to ask for support from our neighbors? In Israel, the Taskme start-up unites people who want to help each other with daily chores and earn a bit of money on the side.
What do an international luxury chocolate brand and a small seafood restaurant for local workers have in common? They share the will to transform lives through their individual businesses.
From health and taxi apps to traceable shea nuts and mobile electricity: Innovative start-ups are simplifying everyday life in Africa.
Whether in Guatemala, Senegal, Italy or Germany: Around the globe, migrant and low-income communities are supporting each other through self-managed savings and loans groups.
Send a birthday cake to your sister back home or buy airtime for your best buddy: African start-ups design innovative services for the diaspora & expat communities.
How fintech could save us from the next financial breakdown.
How to put an end to financial crises: taking the power to generate money away from the banks.
If people are messing about with your money, simply exit the system: The Bitcoin-gold exchange set up by the Vaultoro startup could be a good way out.
Residents in the Chiemgau District in Germany are printing their own money – and as such backing the local economy.
A small Indian start-up is addressing proper e-waste disposal by making its clients a great offer: in exchange for their used dead electronic gadgets, people receive energy efficient LED lights for free.
Incubator, accelerator, innovation lab: What are the best ways to support entrepreneurial creativity?
Inconvenient working hours and never any time to go to the bank? This bank teller in Ghana comes to the customer who can't make it to them.
Islamic economic thought contains numerous elements that can offer solutions to current economic problems.
Do you know what a drug dealer could teach you about distribution network development? Or what you could learn about sustainable profit margins from Somalian pirates? Surprisingly a lot.
How Bristolians are using a local currency to support small independent businesses
That maintaining golf courses causes harm to ecosystems the world over is nothing new. What is new to the sport is a sustainable golf resort company in China which is pioneering sustainable tourism in the country.
In the tradition of his water-taming nation, Dutchman Koen Olthuis designs floating islands to dwell and live on – not least because climate change calls for new solutions in architecture.
In a deprived district of the small Belgian city of Ghent, the local Toreke coin reveals how big the transformative impact of alternative currency systems can be.
A short history of money—and the story of how Swiss WIR Bank is protecting small and mid-sized companies from the pressure of continuous growth.
Saving energy through upcycling: Producing these Bauhaus inspired industrial desk lamps saves millions of joules of energy.
A new platform helps you find the closest fair & healthy food wherever you are in Australia.
Vehement, a Berlin start-up, makes vegan, fair-trade boxing equipment – and is fighting its corner quite successfully in both Europe and the USA.
Next time you travel to Vienna, consider booking your room at the Magdas Hotel, Europe’s first hotel run by refugees.
How thousands of Tanzanians and Rwandans are earning money from sustainable solar power.
How the cloth scraps from Cambodian textile factories become colourful designer clothing in the fashion boutiques of Europe and North America.
The US start-up Bureo fights ocean pollution and supports Chilean fishing communities by upcycling discarded fishing nets into skateboards.
The bakers of La conquête du pain keep their quarter in Montreuil happy with delicious baguettes - while practicing anarchism.
Like Mary Poppins’s handbag, the Ecocapsule is a surprisingly roomy low-energy house.
The Pearl - catch the sun
African legends come alive in award-winning mobile games and comics.
From Ghana to Europe and the US in only a few months: A new mobile app from Ghana is changing the way we share event photos.
How can international business be conducted under a political blockade? How can technological innovations be developed with no access to stable electricity? The entrepreneurs of Gaza’s first tech hub are making the seemingly impossible come true.
New software designed to provide people with internet access worldwide.
A heroic Mayan runner and a Quetzal bird that flies between pyramids: Experience Guatemala’s Mayan culture through entertaining videogames.
Daring the impossible: the Dutch fashion brand Kuyichi is a pioneer in producing organic, fair trade jeans.
Did you know that your plastic bottles for your drink to go are not only damaging the environment but also your health? Two guys from Berlin developed a complete toxin-free and very stylish solution to solve this problem.
Funky Socks delivered monthly right to your door- that's what WeSell Socks is all about. And these socks have a social mission, too!
Sleio is a search engine that donates 100% of its profits to causes you love. In other words, the money for every search you make, every link you click and/or product you buy through Sleio helps change the world.
Musicians need to create their own streaming service demands singer/songwriter Roxanne de Bastion.
Sustainability has become a megatrend in fashion in recent years. But environmentally sustainable isn’t enough – social responsibility is also important. So what can we do?
The Fez Tá Pronto company is creating something that many think impossible: inexpensive, well-located and good quality apartments in Brazil’s cities.
Drongo Language Solutions: Helping Malagasy coders go global
Lagos produces ten-thousand tons of waste every day. The start-up "Wecyclers" provides a fleet of cyclists that act as mobile recycling collectors in the poorer areas of the town.
Wiithaa helps businesses and communities reduce their waste production and thus the costs of waste disposal with one ultimate goal: making waste disappear.
Australian rapper Mars Castro turns bullet casings from Brazil's favelas into jewellery. Bling instead of bang, Mars da Favela instead of Mc Marsepan.
