Review on startup Elevyn

Elevyn is a startup that i got to know whilst in startup camp KL. Interestingly enough, one its founders Devan turned out to be a old friend from Perth when we were studying together in 1997.
It's vision is :"A world of less poverty thru fair trade, because every buyer is a socially conscious one".

Elevyn is a social entrepreneur(s) startup that focuses on improving the lower economic class's standard of living through better commerce practices. You can read more about their business model from their website

In a nutshell, they search out rural entrepreneurs who sell home made wares or crafts to market their products on Elevyn's portal that acts as an international marketplace. Elevyn takes 5% profit whilst ensuring the majority of the profit returns to the actual maker of the product. They also allow any Elevyn member to setup your own online shop to participate in this exchange. (see their instructions and caveats here)

In a time where startups are looking for the quickest way to monetize an online brain wave, Elevyn represents a growing breed of social entrepreneurs who see monetization as a means to an end. Where the extra challenge lies for socially aware startups like Elevyn is that they don't just do CSR. Their entire sustainability is revolved around social responsibility. As such, they are wide open to ethical scrutiny such as

1. Transparency
2. Exploitation of the lower income gap
3. How much is too much?

Where does the line get drawn between revenue and profits? ( there is a difference and Elevyn has done an outstanding job so far in answering the above questions and i have the utmost confidence in their team's vision to carry them forward.)

But this does not lend any more weight to the debate in my mind on whether the notion of a social entrepreneur is inherently conflicting. The reason why many causes are non profit is to keep the profit line distinct and their agenda clean. When it's time to keep Elevyn afloat, will it come down to taking a larger profit %? Or will it be advising villagers to build cheaper and sell higher. Elevyn has a plan which Devan shared in KL where he outlined an expansion plan to earn by volume ( number of represented sellers). This tells me Elevyn did consider where the revenue would come from and that is a great start. ( They received a nice government grant for this idea. Good stuff!)

I wish Elevyn all the best ( i signed up as a member on monday) and Devan, if you're reading, are you still rocking out to Jimi?

What do you think about social entrepreneurship? Any good examples to share?