Deborah Frieze is co-founder and managing partner of the Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investing fund that partners with businesses and organizations throughout Eastern Massachusetts to create systemic shifts in opportunities for urban communities. Deborah is co-author with Margaret Wheatley of “Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future […]

Impact investors are picky. They each have specific sectors, geographies, stages, and scale that have to match their interests, in addition to the standard needs of liking the team, the plan, and the opportunity. Case in point: today (April 26th 2017) we circulated a total of eight deals shared by lead investors. In total they matched […]

We work with small business owners who have a dream, but who don’t have big built-in networks or access to enormous sums of capital. For example, the fastest-growing group of Americans starting new ventures is African-American women. But you’d never know that based on where the money is going. Sarah Kersten Studio in Berkeley has […]

Ford Foundation president, Darren Walker, broke through a barrier of sorts recently with the announcement the foundation would commit $1 billion from its roughly $14 billion endowment to so-called mission-related investments (see, “Ford Foundation to tap endowment for $1 billion to fight injustice and inequality“). That it would make news that a foundation, especially one […]

Congress will soon begin debate on the recently released Trump Administration “budget blueprint.” This blueprint includes a dizzying array of choices that lay waste to efforts aimed at fighting poverty, improving education and health for vulnerable populations, and engaging in smart global development. One of the most inexplicable proposals included in the “budget blueprint” is […]

Impact investing is about using markets and money for social good. Impact investing is built on the belief that private capital can play a powerful role in solving the massive global challenges of our day, and that capital markets should work for good as well as profit. This vision is realized through investments made into […]

Credit guarantees, typically provided by philanthropic organizations, are designed to encourage new investors or commercial capital to enter “risky” or undercapitalized investment sectors. Although not a new tool in impact investing, guarantees are “extremely underutilized,” according to a new report from the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). Recent examples show their promise: A $5 million […]

Farm-raised fish every year devour 30 million tons of wild-caught fish worldwide. With seafood consumption hitting record levels in recent years – more than 20 kilograms per person per year, according to the latest FAO research – it will take 20 to 30 new feed products to achieve a sustainable seafood industry this century, says […]

Full Harvest, in San Francisco, has raised $2 million to support online sales of “ugly” produce—the goods grocers consider unfit for supermarket sales. The funding round was led by Wireframe Ventures and backed by BBG Ventures, Early Impact Ventures, Impact Engine, VC Radicle, and several angel investors. Founder Christine Mosley, formerly with fresh juice company Organic […]

Vermont Works has raised $50 million for the state’s economic and job growth. Vermont Works is targeting the state’s growth-stage companies. “When companies are out for growth-stage capital, that’s when the availability of capital in Vermont tends to stumble,” Robert Zulkoski, a co-founder of thefund, said in an interview. The new fund has made four investments, […]

Generate Capital has launched a $250 million financing facility for solar+storage projects. The advent of cost-effective batteries for electricity storage is making the numbers work for an increasing number of commercial and industrial solar installations (see “Energy storage takes shape with financing for Southern California battery installations”). Also helpful: rebates for such projects from the state […]