Business Innovation Factory on Cat Laine

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Christine Flanagan, Director of Research for the Business Innovation Factory up in Providence, Rhode Island. The BIF is basically a real-world lab where innovators get together to design and test ideas, with an eye to creating value (not just creating gadgets, for example.) The Factory’s advisors include heavy hitters like IBM’s David Yuan, Harvard’s Clayton Christensen and former PARC Director John Seely Brown.

While poking around the site, I noticed a post on BIF Speak (the Business Innovation Factory blog) about Acumen Fund friend and ally Cat Laine. You may already know Cat as the Deputy Director of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group and a blogger in her own right. What you may not know is that Cat has a background in public health and a real passion for serving base of the pyramid customers with appropriate technology. The post explains:

With AIDG, Lainé attempts to stretch the goals of a traditional NGO by throwing savvy “business acumen” into the mix. She brings her own scientific background to the table when the group spearheads a new project, but she also knows the value of a good old-fashioned sales pitch. Bringing new technology to such communities is a matter of gaining trust and demonstrating a need for the product—the same challenges faced by large corporations looking to tap into emerging international markets.

Check it out. Finally, Cat will be speaking alongside Jacqueline Novogratz at the Business Innovation Factory’s Collaborative Innovation Summit this October. Glad to know we’ll be able to touch base with her there as well…