<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW Facilitates Investment into dVentus Technologies</h1>RENEW is pleased to announce the close of an investment into dVentus Technologies, an Ethiopian clean energy company. The investment was capitalized by members of the Ethiopia Angel Network (EAN), the Charlotte, North Carolina-based chapter of RENEW's global Impact Angel Network, along with other members throughout the U.S.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_dventus_b547c80ff5.jpg"></figure>dVentus Technologies is a clean energy company based in Ethiopia focusing on system integration and energy efficiency solutions for renewable energy projects and advanced transportation. The angel investors began discussions with dVentus' CEO Daniel Gizaw in February 2013 during an <a href="https://renewcapital.com/investor-lounge/econ-tourism">Econ-Tourism trip</a> to Addis Ababa.The EAN was drawn to dVentus both for the high potential for social impact and the company's exemplary management team. Mr. Gizaw has 25 years' experience developing and manufacturing the latest energy conversion technology. He and members of his team have worked on a variety of high technology innovations for General Electric, Ford Motor Company, NASA and United Technologies, among others.The investment will allow dVentus to develop prototypes of energy efficiency products including smart grid application solutions. dVentus plans to manufacture and deliver these technologies to Ethiopian and international clients. The efficiencies created by these systems could save the equivalent of a large hydroelectric dam. Anticipated social impacts include 200 new highly skilled, professional and primarily engineering jobs and millions of Ethiopians with access to more reliable, efficient energy.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_dventus3_69cd87cf94.jpg"></figure>Tip Moore, one of the members of the Ethiopia Angel Network, is hopeful about the implications the investment will have for Ethiopia and other African countries. "We are extremely excited about our investment in dVentus. This investment will allow dVentus to take their operations to an even greater level and help Ethiopians better manage their energy. Energy management is the wave of the future and dVentus is helping lead the way."RENEW is excited to be part of Africa's changing story and we are thrilled to see the potential of this investment unfold in Ethiopia. &nbsp;

d_Ventus_Logo_High_Res_46def0a9d6.jpg

RENEW closes an investment into an Ethiopian clean energy company.

photo_-_dventus.jpg

RENEW Facilitates Investment into dVentus Technologies

<h1 style="text-align:center;">A Day in the Life</h1>It's 4:00am in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The sounds of the July rain hitting the metal rooftops across Gerji, an up-and-coming burrow of Addis, mixed with the call to prayer from the nearby mosque, can easily lull anyone back to sleep. Nonetheless, I get up and brew myself a strong cup of locally roasted coffee. The US team is winding down their day’s work and my inbox is full of questions, ideas and newsbytes. I triage, and fire off as many responses as I can before I begin working through the day’s priorities.By 5:45am we are at the gym getting our morning exercise in. The gym, Maxview, is one of the largest gyms in East Africa, and another sign of Africa’s rising middle class. At 6am the gym is packed with Ethiopians and expats attending spinning classes, lifting weights and running on treadmills. Although some machines are broken, it’s not for a lack of trying by the owners: the parts are either stuck in Djibouti, or their letter of credit (“LC”) is waiting to be approved by the local bank. For Ethiopian companies, one of the biggest challenges is waiting for an LC to get approved so they can import raw materials, spare parts, etc. The names on the list for LC approvals can start piling up in developing countries like Ethiopia, where foreign currency shortages can bring a trading-to-manufacturing economy to a grinding halt.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_cac_addis_road_2c9738a9d5.jpg"></figure>By 7:45am we’re at the office. The team rolls in and we have our morning check-in. Dawit is meeting with three new companies. Bethel is deep in analysis on a coffee farm. Biruk is working on getting documents approved by the government…a full time job! Tom, who is normally in the US, but is here to help finalize the closing of an investment, is working through the legal documents that need to get notarized by the government. I am reviewing a term sheet that we’re in the process of negotiating with a local company and preparing for a Skype call with investors back in the US. Laura is following up on Kathleen’s emails regarding an upcoming investor trip, and then on the phone, calling the long list of businesses she’s waiting for documents from.At 10am, I hop in the car with Dawit and we’re off to visit a company in Kality - an industrial stretch of Addis along the main (two lane) road connecting Addis to Djibouti Port, and the rest of the world. I yearn for the new four-lane highway that the Chinese are almost done building to open soon. Towns that happen to be positioned along the highway are already becoming cities. Places like Adama, which five years ago didn’t have much but some small shops, now has a car assembly plant, plans for a cable factory, commercial farms, lodges and hotels. Still, until the highway opens, Dawit and I, and what seems like the rest of Addis, are stuck in traffic. Huge trucks mixed in with small cars provide a nice image of true development; an exciting mess of moving parts, both big and small. Because it’s July, the shoulders of the road are lined with hundreds of Caterpillar graders, Scania trucks, bucket loaders, and all other types of industrial equipment that have been put up for the rainy season. Mechanics are busy fixing gears and wires. Once the dry season returns at the end of September, these machines will be back to work, building one of the fastest growing economies in the world.&nbsp;

A day in the life of the RENEW team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...

photo_-_cac_-_addis_roads2_0.jpg

A Day in the Life

<h1 style="text-align:center;">A Day in the Life: Part II</h1>To read A Day in the Life: Part I, click <a href="day-life.html">here.</a>By 11am we finally arrive at the company. It is a large steel structure tucked in between a row of other steel structures. Like so many others, inside are businesses eager to manufacture products that were once imported from China, but are now being manufactured in Ethiopia. The owner, an engineer, comes out to greet us. He has a clipboard in hand, suggesting that we interrupted him from his work - we did. As we walk inside, the floor of the building is alive with workers welding, pounding and screwing machines together. He was busy doing quality control on the newly minted inventory that will be shipped out to the far corners of the country at the end of the week. The customer is the government. The product is a new seed-planting machine that will help increase yields on tef, one of the country’s staple crops and the signature grain of Ethiopia. After thirty minutes of walking around the plant and speaking with floor managers, we have coffee (“buna”) with the owner. I’m not only trying to understand his business, but to also get a sense of what it will be like to work with him. One of our biggest challenges with companies in Ethiopia is whether they are ready for an investment and understand what it means to work with an investor. If both answers are not favorable, the costs of doing an investment can go through the roof.At 12:30pm we are in the car heading back to the office. We debrief the meeting, fill out our post-meeting form and rigorously score the company. Companies that make it through pre-due diligence are presented to our network of impact angels.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/photo_cac_tall_building_770e10eb1f.jpg"></figure>Around 2pm, Kathleen, our colleague in Texas that manages our investor network, is up, and we start prepping for our impact angel call with the DC chapter, scheduled at 8am Eastern. Problem: the network has been bad all day. Kathleen and I feverishly g-chat back and forth, framing the conversation and the key decisions points so, in case I drop off (99% chance I will), she can easily pick up the ball and continue the conversation. We’ve gotten pretty good at this.It’s now 6pm. Where did the day go? The team is winding down our day as the US team is in full swing along with Addis rush hour traffic. I walk out to the balcony of our office in the TK building to steal a moment to reflect and collect my thoughts. The view to the west is perfect. The sun has fallen below the cloud line and a few rays break through, making the Addis skyline look like a silhouette. The skeleton structures going up almost everywhere give me hope. To the east is Addis International Airport. I watch a huge, Ethiopian Airlines 777 take off before going back into the office to close things up.This week we are hosting another impact angel group from the U.S. here in Ethiopia. In August and September, members of the RENEW team will be back in the U.S. holding events in Texas and along the East Coast. If you are interested in joining or forming an impact angel group, or attending one of our events, please contact Kathleen DeLaHoussaye at <a href="mailto:kdelahoussaye@renewcapital.com">kdelahoussaye@renewcapital.com</a>.

Part II of a typical day in Ethiopia for the RENEW team...

photo_-_addis_-_2012_0.jpg

A Day in the Life: Part II

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Results from a 5-year, innovative finance project in Ethiopia</h1>In 2016, Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC’s) Accelerating Business Growth (ABG) program set out to do something innovative and challenging: Develop Ethiopia’s capital markets and accelerate the formation of its private sector by supporting investments and the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A number of private sector projects were already focusing on building the “demand-side” through startup incubators, accelerators and technical assistance. But ABG focused on building the “supply-side” by organizing, mobilizing and managing innovative pools of finance for SMEs. Using blended finance, ABG lowered the risks for investors and mobilized new sources of capital for SMEs.&nbsp;The ultimate outcome of the ABG program was “stronger and more sustainable job creation, including those for low-skilled workers, men, women and young adults, through a dynamic and growing small and medium business sector in Ethiopia” with the target of supporting Ethiopian women- and men-owned SMEs in attracting more than $52M CAD of capital to scale their businesses and supporting 5,000 jobs for low-skilled workers, including men, women and young adults.Interested in learning more? Join us on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 9AM Eastern (4PM East Africa) to unpack lessons learned from this blended finance project. <a href="https://teams.microsoft.com/registration/22T3OmbKiEGoDHvv7nBQpg,WaMFc_bLZ0-fk4_df0G0Mg,IybsuXl5mEWes-lNfFW3lQ,xwQfs94gCE-9BGlHA8zMnQ,iEXNRl_Sv0iyyGUSNJsmfA,PAUQ1sVH3U-2xzl31lFCzA?mode=read&amp;tenantId=3af764db-ca66-4188-a80c-7befee7050a6&amp;skipauthstrap=1">REGISTER HERE</a>.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/097_A2825_0131b43ee9_67f1305f8d.jpg"></figure>Where most private sector interventions focus on the “demand-side” of the private sector through initiatives that support microenterprises, incubators and accelerators, ABG focused on developing the “supply-side” or capital formation side of the private sector. Where most interventions have struggled to organize and mobilize additional sources of capital for creating impact, ABG built and expanded new sources of capital for SMEs, including global and local angel networks and the formation of new blended finance vehicles. ABG also focused on SMEs because SMEs are the greatest contributor of new job growth in frontier markets like Ethiopia.&nbsp;By focusing on capital formation and mobilization for SMEs, the project addressed a systemic issue in Africa known as the “missing middle” - a gap in the capital markets between microfinance and formal investment funds and banks where few sources of capital exist. The ABG project built a stronger supply-side of capital for Ethiopian SMEs, or “rungs” in the capital market to fill the missing middle. ABG then trained SME owners and executives on business skills to attract and improve performance once they received capital.&nbsp;After five years of implementing the project, ABG helped mobilize $79.6M CAD of capital for SMEs, supported 6,744 jobs, including 2,632 created jobs, of which 60% or 4,069 were for women.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/abg1_256718a170.png"></figure><figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/abg2_7faea8945d.png"></figure>The ABG team is proud to have impacted Ethiopia’s private sector and achieved numerous stated project targets and complementary indirect outcomes. The project also helped influence policies, trained over a thousand companies, created a local angel network, and launched awareness programs that we believe will generate impact for years to come. A detailed summary of these ABG project results is provided below.&nbsp;<hr>SUMMARY OF RESULTS ACHIEVED BY THE PROJECT:<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Reached and surpassed the project’s ultimate outcome indicator by supporting 6,744 jobs over the course of the project, on the target of 5,000, of which 4,070 or 60% are held by women.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Realized a financing leverage ratio of 9.7x by supporting Ethiopian SMEs in attracting $79.6M CAD of financing, exceeding the project target of $52.5M. Of this, $19.1M or 24% was attracted by women-led businesses.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Designed and developed the Women-Owned Business Investment Fund (Women’s Fund) specifically for investing in women-owned SMEs, trapped in Ethiopia’s financing missing middle. The fund invested in Queen of Sheba, a partner of Travel Ethiopia; an eco-minded tour and safari operator that has a deep commitment to Ethiopia’s environment, wildlife and community development.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Successfully trained and graduated:<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Five cohorts of The Exec’s Program, graduating 93 executives, of which 44 (47%) are women. 93 exceeds the project target of 75.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Five cohorts of The CFO100 Program, graduating 130 finance professionals, of which 50 (39%) are women, exceeding the project target of 100.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Facilitated in-person and online private equity investment seminar incubator training sessions, attended by 1,238 SME business owners and representatives, of which 433, or 35% are women. This result exceeds the project target of 650 by nearly double.</li></ul></li><li style="text-align:justify;">Expanded the Impact Angel Network (IAN) into Canada by training potential investors on the opportunities of investing in Ethiopian SMEs, engaging with local angel groups and ultimately registering an additional 93 members over the course of the project, of which 19 are Canadian (20%).</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Due to an increased focus on gender equality, the team developed the Women in Finance (WIF) peer to peer support series during the second year of the project, aimed at energizing and empowering women finance professionals and executives in Ethiopia who face cultural and professional barriers. 10 total events were facilitated, in various formats and settings, and were attended by 328 women.</li><li style="text-align:justify;">Launched an edutainment platform known as Chigign, aimed at raising awareness of and building interest in entrepreneurship and angel investing in Ethiopia. The TV series was broadcast on national television (FANA TV), and involves entrepreneurs looking to raise seed capital pitching their ideas to a panel that includes RENEW’s Laura Davis and other local angel investors. This program, which started as a concept under ABG, has reportedly been viewed by 40 million watchers. RENEW recently partnered with the World Bank’s Gender Innovation Lab to design a research program to measure Chigign’s content to optimize it and increase female participation in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.</li></ul>

Outcomes from our project with Global Affairs Canada (GAC)

097_A2825_0131b43ee9.jpg

Results from a 5-year, innovative finance project in Ethiopia

<h1 style="text-align:center;">RENEW Featured in the Washington Post</h1>The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/physicist-turned-businessman-seeks-opportunities-in-sub-saharan-africa/2015/05/03/53c3de08-f03f-11e4-8abc-d6aa3bad79dd_story.html">Washington Post</a> highlighted RENEW LLC and the compelling story of its founders Matthew and Laura Davis. The Post's Thomas Heath wrote about three of the Impact Angel Network's investments which RENEW facilitated as part of our strategy to promote thriving businesses, create jobs, grow Ethiopia's economy and generate financial returns for investors. "This is Capitalism 101" [Matt] says. "If you do it well, you can lift yourself out of poverty."<figure class="image"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/physicist-turned-businessman-seeks-opportunities-in-sub-saharan-africa/2015/05/03/53c3de08-f03f-11e4-8abc-d6aa3bad79dd_story.html"><img src="/uploads/blog_2_0f8f02d7e0.png"></a></figure>(Photo Credit: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post highlights RENEW LLC and the compelling story of its founding.

blog_2.png

RENEW Featured in the Washington Post

<h1 style="text-align:center;">The Next Big Thing in Gluten-Free Foods</h1> The world is catching on: CNN recently highlighted <a href="http://www.mama-fresh.com/">Mama Fresh</a>, one of RENEW’s portfolio companies, during it’s weekly show Inside Africa. According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/travel/why-your-next-food-porn-will-come-from-ethiopia/">CNN</a>, this show “highlights the true diversity of the continent as seen through the prism of different cultures and religions and the mediums of art, music, travel and literature.”* It comes as no surprise then that Inside Africa, and its host, Soni Methu, highlighted Ethiopia’s rich and flavorful cuisine, with one of the focal points of the episode being teff - an ancient, nutrient-rich and gluten-free grain native to Ethiopia.Teff can be eaten in a variety of ways, including being used as the main ingredient in an Ethiopian staple bread product, injera. To make injera, teff grain is first ground into flour, then combined with water, allowed to ferment over several days, and finally baked into a spongy, unique and sourdough-like flatbread that is enjoyed with other meats and spices at every meal.Mama Fresh is the country’s largest commercial manufacturer and exporter of fresh-baked injera. Hailu Tessema, the founder and owner of Mama Fresh, is profiled in the episode (click on the photo below and jump to one minute, four seconds to see the segment on Mama Fresh) explaining the process of making injera at a commercial level, and the unique spin that Mama Fresh has given this classic Ethiopian food.<figure class="image"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/travel/why-your-next-food-porn-will-come-from-ethiopia/"><img src="/uploads/blog_11d60d4684.png"></a></figure><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/travel/why-your-next-food-porn-will-come-from-ethiopia/">Story By Colin Hancock and Daisy Carrington, for CNN</a> &nbsp;

How teff and Mama Fresh are contributing to the latest food craze.

screen_shot_2015-05-14_at_2.17.30_pm.png

The Next Big Thing in Gluten-Free Foods

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Looking Through A New Lens</h1>RENEW believes Ethiopia and other developing economies are rife with opportunity for investment. Early adopters on both small and large scales agree – and have already <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/rock-star-bob-geldof-spearheads-u-s-private-equity-push-into-ethiopia-1427706330">acted on</a> these beliefs by investing in these budding economies. RENEW and the Impact Angel Network just made their fourth investment since opening RENEW’s Ethiopia office in 2013, and are set to close another investment soon.Despite this upward trajectory of investing in developing economies, many investors are still squeamish when they hear ‘Africa’ and ‘investment’ in the same sentence. While investing in frontier markets can be a challenging endeavor, with potential risks of inflation, currency depreciation, political instability, natural disasters and other uncertainties associated with developing countries, the social impact and opportunities to create financial returns are great.So how can impact investment advisory firms help Western investors to see Africa as a land of opportunity and to become comfortable with investing in frontier markets?THE SOLUTIONRENEW strives to provide the members of the Impact Angel Network an unforgettable investment experience. In order to achieve this goal and address the very real challenges that investing in developing countries bring, RENEW's team provides full on-the-ground support to investors looking to invest in frontier markets, but who typically do not have the local presence to source, conduct due diligence and monitor their investments on their own. The majority of RENEW’s team works in our Addis Ababa office in Ethiopia, full-time, to maintain a presence on-the-ground. We believe this component is crucial to the success of investments in frontier economies.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/econ_tourism_2015_overview_solution_collage_ebe839ff1f.jpg"></figure>RENEW tailors the investment experience to our members' specific needs. Investors are encouraged to travel to Ethiopia and participate in an Econ-Tourism trip, during which they can meet with entrepreneurs, tour their facilities and see the current state of the businesses first-hand. This experience provides investors with the chance to gain a better understanding of the economic and investment environment in Ethiopia. This in turn allows our members to invest with confidence, knowing that RENEW is selecting high-growth potential companies, properly vetting the entrepreneurs and managing all investments post-closing.THE OUTCOMEInvestors are usually surprised to see so much development, growth and opportunity in Ethiopia. They notice signs of a rising middle class and are encouraged by the wonderful people they meet who want to work and build their country into an economic powerhouse. Our investors see first-hand the desires of Ethiopians to work and partner with U.S. investors, and the wide range of sectors in which to invest, from manual labor to technology.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/econ_tourism_2015_overview_outcomes_collage_0_d2c06f0b5f.jpg"></figure>As Econ-Tourism trip participants speak with Ethiopian entrepreneurs, they often comment about the positive attitudes and drive of the management teams they meet, the signs pointing to growth in the agriculture, healthcare, energy, and technology sectors, and the work of the companies to improve the lives of employees. &nbsp;

How impact investment advisory firms can change the way Western investors see Africa.

atl_16.jpg

Looking Through A New Lens

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Why Are Angel Investors Important?</h1>On June 30th, RENEW provided a private equity training for the World Bank’s Ethiopia Climate Innovation Center (ECIC), an initiative that “supports Ethiopian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are developing innovative solutions to address climate change challenges”. The training provided an introduction to private equity, with the goal of familiarizing ECIC entrepreneurs with equity mechanisms for raising funds.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/img_1970_e405ad70c7.jpg"></figure>One such mechanism is through angel investing. Private equity angel investors (like members of RENEW’s <a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/investing">Impact Angel Network</a>) provide SMEs much-needed access to investment capital and business expertise, as well as access to new markets and foreign partners. This in turn allows companies to scale at a much faster rate than they would be able to do on their own. And while changes to the structure and management of the company are to be expected (such as the implementation of an advisory board), the relationship aims to ultimately provide long-term growth potential and stability to the company.Overall, the training was a success with around 20 entrepreneurs in attendance. At the end of the training, participants came away with a better understanding of private equity, why it is important for entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their company’s operations, and the essential role of angel investors.If you are interested in additional information about RENEW or an upcoming private equity training, please contact us at <a href="mailto:renew@renewcapital.com">renew@renewcapital.com</a> to learn more.

RENEW provides private equity training in Ethiopia to discuss.

img_1966_copy_0.jpg

Why Are Angel Investors Important?

<h1 style="text-align:center;">An in-depth interview with Feleg Tsegaye of Deliver Addis</h1>​​For more stories, download our recent<a href="https://latest-api.renewcapital.com/uploads/RENEW_2020_2021_Impact_Report_web_5e1a98866d.pdf"> Impact Report</a>, and read an abbreviated version of the following story called “Scaling Delivery to Meet Pandemic Demands” on page 18 of the report.While many companies watched demand for their products and services screech to a halt, Deliver Addis, Ethiopia’s premier online food delivery company, had a good year. Founder Feleg Tsegaye and the Roadrunner/Deliver Addis team responded quickly at the start of the pandemic with creativity and speed to scale the company’s services and expand their online store beyond restaurant takeout to include groceries, household supplies and other consumer products.&nbsp;Here’s what Feleg had to say during a conversation in the first quarter of 2021. Most of it is more applicable than ever as the pandemic continues in new forms throughout the globe.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/DA_pic_b9dbe91ad4.png"></figure>Q: First, can you tell me your personal story of the pandemic and your business?&nbsp;The pandemic was unexpected. We had been waiting to see when the pandemic might hit Ethiopia. It seemed like the rest of the world was getting hit first. We bought out a stock of N95 masks the day before the first case was announced in Ethiopia. Within a day of the first documented case, restaurants started calling and saying that foot traffic went to zero within hours. And they were concerned about their livelihoods. Some closed within the first 24 hours and haven’t reopened. It had a very immediate effect.&nbsp;We ended up reducing our prices by 30% to make it easier for people to order. Most people were looking to conserve whatever income they were making because they were not sure what might happen tomorrow. We did what we could to reduce that financial impact to people. We worked with restaurants by providing guidance on how to help prevent Covid-19 transmission within restaurants and provided education to our consumers on how to avoid transmissions. For other restaurants, we helped them come up with a temporary, low priced menu in order to encourage people to order. So, we did a number of things outside of delivery just to make sure that the ecosystem itself could remain somewhat stable. We expanded our fleet by 60% to fulfil orders and to provide more opportunities.&nbsp;It was an interesting time, there was not a lot of precedent, it helped us in the long run and it helped us to help other businesses as well. Most restaurants didn't have to lay off a lot of people. We at least provided some kind of stop gap when many restaurants were feeling the pinch.&nbsp;Q: What is your outlook for your business? What do the next few years look like?A sentiment that is widely held in the tech community is that Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of tech based services and products by 3-7 years. Technology can be a bigger part of our lives even more so than it used to be. For us, our goal is to be as accessible to as many people as possible. For the business as a whole, we are going to expand pretty significantly. Especially in terms of labor and staffing so we look forward to a transformed organization along with the transformed environment that we now find ourselves in.&nbsp;Q: What is the process that you went through as an entrepreneur?&nbsp;It was really trial and error in the beginning. We didn’t have a lot of historical precedent to say what would work and not work. But the fact that we were there to answer the calls of other restaurants and business owners and just reassure them that there was a way through it changed our relationship with our vendors. Yes, we have a business relationship, but at the same time, we all needed to make sure that we all survived and lived to see another day. So I think it allowed me to step outside of the business perspective and really be there for the businesses which were struggling.Q: Are you familiar with the phrase “Standing Ground”? What does it mean to you as an entrepreneur?Yeah, not sure if there’s a specific context to that phrase, other than communicating the importance of resilience. In our case, we couldn't just stand our ground, we had an even greater responsibility given the work that we did, to become more available to people and to prevent people from putting themselves at risk when trying to get food and supplies. Rather than just standing ground, we had to push forward despite the headwinds. We had to launch grocery services and find ways to get people what they wanted rather than forcing them to go to them. We had to push forward as much as we could.&nbsp;As an e-commerce business, connectivity is pretty important to what we do. We could function during the pandemic because we had the bare necessities. When the internet was shut down for 3 weeks with the uncertainty of when it may come back, it prevented us from having operational visibility that we are used to and allowing consumers to reach us.&nbsp; We took some notes from old air traffic control procedures whereby every plane and designator and other details would be written on a piece of paper and have a board in which air traffic controllers would reorder these planes as they were landing. We sent out a blast text and asked our customers to text us your orders. We used these pieces of paper and a large conference table subdivided into different sections based on the status of the order at that time. This paper would go to each of those stations on the tables manned by a specific individual until it was completed. We used that to manage orders, even when we couldn't tell where our drivers were. It took a little bit of creativity.&nbsp;Q: What was the hardest part of 2020/2021 so far for your business?&nbsp;I think the labor force. Staffing has always been a challenge. Because you are trying to bring on people who are not used to formal employment, they may be used to doing things under table or in an undocumented fashion. And as you try to bring them into the formal workforce, there are a&nbsp; lot of people who may not be ready for it. In emerging markets when the economy is growing rapidly, people want to see themselves in it.&nbsp;Q: What support for these challenges did you receive?Thanks to the Impact Angel Network, we were able to raise some additional capital. Especially since we had to reduce prices, we needed to make sure that we were still able to pay and compensate our team fairly. We are in a sector that thrived during the pandemic compared to other sectors, so it was really on our shoulders to support the larger community. Whether that is broadening the consumer base or advising the restaurants based on the feedback we get from customers. We were at a point where we needed to help those individuals who were struggling because if many restaurants close then that would also come to us. We developed a symbiotic relationship during that time, where everyone was trying to figure out how to get through each month.&nbsp;Q: How has your business shifted or pivoted to adapt?Adding grocery services and other deliverable items broadened the use case for our service. Customers who can’t afford to order for every meal or who don't want to do that for other health reasons, can have the option to order ingredients they will use to cook. In Ethiopia, there is even greater value addition because you often find yourselves going to multiple stores to find anything that you need to prepare any recipe you may want.&nbsp; But in our case, we could tell you what a retailer does or doesn’t have without you having to go to find out.&nbsp;Q: What do you think is the most important thing that you learned as an entrepreneur from the global pandemic?&nbsp;Always be prepared for a rainy day. You have no idea what is coming around the corner and so the only thing you can do is be as proactive as possible. So expect that the internet might get shut down or a key team member could come down with Covid-19. You need to continue to build these contingency plans to address these things that might happen.In emerging markets, you become quickly aware of what could go wrong or how things can quickly change. It's a daily reality depending on what sector/country you are operating in. I think it just continued to reinforce that for us. Whereas for others who are used to things always working, those individuals were most hit. A lot of things they may have taken for granted weren’t there. I think Ethiopia prepares you for these situations. But you realize that this is a great life skill rather than just the business you are in now.&nbsp;Q: Anything else to say about resilience? Or how to build a resilient company?This is tough because there are different types of resilience. Financial is one but also the mental resilience as well. I think as a leader, you need to stay optimistic during these times because people look up to you to set the tone in terms of how they should feel about their jobs and situations that affect everyone as a whole. So you need to be prepared to help lead them through those times. It's not always about business but also making sure that they are still feeling positive despite the challenges they are facing and letting them know they are not alone in this; that at the end of the day, you will do everything that you can to make sure that this impacts them as little as possible. That helps people continue in their jobs without worrying about what the future might hold.&nbsp; Picture by Ian Christmann: <a href="www.ianchrismann.com">www.ianchristmann.com</a>&nbsp;Disclaimer: This blog is provided as a recounting of the IAN’s and RENEW's interactions with Deliver Addis and the happenings at Deliver Addis. It is not intended as performance data related to the IAN’s investment in Deliver Addis and is not indicative of other companies in the IAN’s portfolio, their social impact or the performance of investments in them. Any discussion of Deliver Addis's achievements, performance or social impact is no guarantee that such outcomes, performance or impact will be realized by Deliver Addis in the future, or by other IAN portfolio companies or other investments managed by RENEW, now or in the future.

Modernizing e-commerce and logistics in Ethiopia in partnership with Deliver Addis.