As valuations flounder for Silicon Valley startups once worth billions of dollars, investor interest is on the rise in startups with both financial and social benefits, such as healthcare software for poor communities or low cost solar panels for homes.

So-called “impact investing” rose to $15.2 billion globally last year from $10.6 billion in 2014, according to a recent report by the Global Impact Investing Network. The figure includes several types of investment, from funds to foundations, which intend to generate social and financial returns.

The group expects a 16% rise in 2016. The change reflects investor concern with current valuations of more mainstream technology startups, a desire to help by some investors and a broadening definition of social-good startups. There is also growing sentiment that the rise of mobile technology will allow for profitable upstarts in parts of the world relatively untouched by Silicon Valley.

Earlier this year Union Square Ventures Partner Fred Wilson called the developing world “the next whitespace” for venture capital, pointing to 2.5 billion people poised to adopt smartphones.

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Big financial institutions such as Bank of America  BAC -7.34%  and JPMorgan Chase  JPM -6.95%  are investing, seeing rural communities and emerging markets as potential customers for financial services.

The drop in valuations for tech industry darlings that do “things my mom used to do for me” was a “pivotal wake up” for investors, said Doug Galen, chief executive of RippleWorks, which provides advisers for entrepreneurs in the developing world.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, put on by the U.S. State Department this week at Stanford University for entrepreneurs from around the world, he and others poked fun at businesses made by and for well-off Americans.

“Uber for pets or overnight underwear delivery—those things definitely aren’t getting the same traction they were six months ago,” Andrew Beebe, managing director at Obvious Ventures, a venture firm for ‘world-positive’ investing, said in an interview with Reuters. “But take water (shortages) —on the other side of that solution is a massive pot of gold,” he said.

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The case for investing in social impact startups is the sheer size of the market; millions of people lack access to clean water, for instance. But, with companies serving customers living on $2 a day, profits can at times be slim.

“Maybe 2% is a fabulous return in some cases,” said Matthew Bannick, managing partner at Omidyar Network.

By comparison, traditional venture capitalists might seek a return 10 times their investment.

Some impact investors such as DBL Partners have had strong returns by using a broader definition of ‘social impact.’ DBL considers its investments in electric car company Tesla Motors and Juicero, a juice company that raised $70 million in March, as having both financial gain and social impact.

“You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Nancy Pfund, founder of DBL, which raised a $400 million fund last year.

Still, many of the high-profile Silicon Valley venture firms have steered clear of investing outside their comfort zone.

“Your impact could be bigger. Stop looking at the 60 mile (area)” of Silicon Valley, Youssef Chaqor, founder and general manager of Kilimanjaro Environment, which recycles used cooking oil into biodiesel, told an audience of investors and entrepreneurs.

Some venture capitalists are worried about emerging market risks, such as fluctuating currencies, military coups, disease and corruption. Others don’t see enough profit.

Andrea Carafa, founder and CEO of art and music event coordinator ArtsUp, says he does not bother to tell Silicon Valley venture capitalists about the societal benefits of his startup.

“They don’t care if you’re a social impact company,” he said. “They care about your profitability.”

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In Africa, the middle class is growing, populations are urbanizing, IT infrastructure is improving and cell phones and mobile payments are more widely used than in most of the world. All of this has combined into a recent technology startup boom that has international investors salivating for more.

The company I founded, 3G Direct Pay, is an online payment processor servicing the African market. And we have seen the result of the mobile payment technology boom firsthand. In a region where many consumers do not have debit or credit cards, mobile payment technology has undergone drastic development in recent years, and it is continuing to advance. With providers like 3G Direct Pay, along with M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN and Tigo, among others, it is clear that the mobile payment technology sector in Africa is growing, developing and becoming an integral part of society.

Not only mobile payment technology is on the rise. Technological developments in other sectors are also becoming stronger. There are eight main reasons why African technological innovation is a wise investment:

1.    POPULATION GROWTH

While other countries, most notably Japan and Eastern Europe, are seeing a decline in population growth, Africa is home to 1.2 billion people and is growing at more than 2 percent a year.

Six of the 12 fastest-growing countries in the entire world are in sub-Saharan Africa.

2.    ECONOMIES OF SCALE

Kenya, for example, has the third-fastest growing economy in the world, behind only China and the Philippines. Kenya accounts for 40 percent of the gross domestic product of the East African Communities (EAC), and its currency is the best performing one in the region. Its nascent economy is bolstered by a highly educated, English-speaking and youthful workforce. Some 60 percent of Kenyans are 25 years old or younger.

Another great example is Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy – even ahead of South Africa – boasting telecom companies and advanced banking options. The Economist reports that its economy has been growing at an average rate of around 7 percent a year over the past decade.

3.    CONSUMER BASE

The number of middle-class families in countries like Nigeria, Angola, Ghana and Sudan is growing, meaning the number of viable consumers also is growing in the region. According to an Africa Pulse report in 2013, the World Bank claimed that consumer spending was responsible for more than 60 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s impressive economic growth, and it was expected to rise more than 5 percent by 2016, which is much faster than the global average. The region has one of the fastest growing middle-class consumer markets in the world.

According to the African Development Bank, 123 million people are currently considered part of a stable middle class in the region, which is 13 percent of the population. They predict that by 2060, this number will rise to 1.1 billion (42 percent of the predicted population).

4.    INFRASTRUCTURE

Over the past decade, investment in African infrastructure has risen sharply, with countries like Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia spending significant resources on upgrading their infrastructure. As of this year, Kenya alone was expected to invest USD $55.6 billion on improvements to its infrastructure, mainly in telecommunications and power generation. The expected results of these fundamental advancements are decreased production costs, increased business competitiveness and a rise in foreign direct investment. The rate of economic and social development in Africa is directly affected by the improvements made to the infrastructure.

5.    EDUCATION

The level of education among the 43 percent of the population under age 25 is improving, and many people are getting secondary and tertiary education. This generation is tech-savvy, hungry for change, passionate about innovation and hard-working – key characteristics that investors look for in entrepreneurs.

6.    DIVERSIFICATION

According to The World Bank, more than half of Africa’s economies have at least one startup hub (with about 90 across the continent), giving venture capitalists the opportunity to enter many countries in the region. These hubs are additionally attractive for investors, as they offer startups fast Internet, affordable office space and reliable electricity, which are the basic needs to compete on a global level. This also gives investors the opportunity to allocate their resources across a number of investments, offering a low-risk, high-reward scenario. This model of “investing wide, not deep” is attractive for investors to get in on the ground level in the green and virtually unknown African market.

7.    RISING TRENDS

African technology startups are scalable, make smart use of technology and aim for disruption in their application of a business model. Total invested capital more than doubled compared to last year’s research: from USD $12 million to USD $26.9 million. The average amount invested per venture increased from USD $130,000 last year to over USD $200,000 this year, according to vc4africa.

8.    SOCIAL INNOVATION

In Durban, South Africa, SmartXchange enlists successful businesspeople to meet with startups on a monthly basis and offer advice. Cape Town’s RLabs offers a USD $20,000 investment for the development of social enterprises. In Ethiopia, Iceaddis supports projects led by young entrepreneurs and promotes social interaction. These initiatives are laying the groundwork for a continued acceleration of development and advancement in the business world in Africa, meaning that well into the future, there will be even more opportunities for investors in the region.

AN AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Investors searching for sound opportunities need look no further than Africa for technological innovations like Dropifi, Able Wireless, Jumia, Obami and the many more of the “next best things” that are still flying under the radar. Investing in African companies makes sense for VCs wanting to get in on the ground level of a growing market that will change the face of technology, business and investment.

By Eran Feinstein is the founder of 3G Direct Pay Limited, a global e-commerce and online payments solutions for the travel and related industries.