Where was the fish fillet on my dinner plate caught? Was it mishandled? Is this species endangered? Consumers increasingly want to know the story of their seafood. That has been a market barrier for small-scale fishermen and women, who make up 90 percent of the world’s fishing workforce. The data gaps begin as soon as a […]

Impact is in the eye of the beholder, or at least in the eye of the fund manager. A new study on the financial performance of private equity impact investments provides fresh data that suggests at least some segments are indeed delivering “market-rate” returns. Moreover, the report, “Great Expectations: Mission Preservation and Financial Performance in Impact Investments,” from the […]

Brazil’s cattle industry has been targeted as a major contributor to deforestation and climate change. A project to restore the Amazon rainforest through new cattle ranching techniques aims to provide a counter-example. The Althelia Climate Fund, based in Luxembourg, has committed €11.5 million to Novo Campo, a pilot cattle ranching project in the Brazilian state of Mato […]

We’re digging out after four busy days at last week’s SOCAP, the Social Capital Markets conference and found a few more highlight: Manufactured fertilizers, animal feedlots and industrial agriculture drive carbon. Industrial agriculture degrades the oceans through excessive runoff of topsoil from fields and the associated chemical pollution from petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. Carbon-sequestration warriors like Estancia Grass […]

Apparel is a trillion-dollar industry with complex global linkages for supplies, production and distribution, employing tens of millions worldwide. It’s also a source of chemical pollution of water and land, human rights abuses and untraceable supplies. Case in point, the Rana Plaza disaster of 2013. Consumers are waking up. Consumers know that the products they consume or wear do […]

The Blue Angels “disrupted” the SOCAP, the Social Capital Markets conference, but not enough to chill the animated conversations and discussions. A few highlights: “Impact Inventing” is a thing. The term is what the Lemelson Foundation uses to describe using invention to solve the world’s toughest problems. But invention-based enterprises face unique challenges including lack of […]

Deep in thought around bringing money into markets that matter at this year’s SOCAP conference in Ft Mason, San Francisco, impact investors were joined by special guests, the Blue Angels. I caught up with these hotshots to hear their thoughts on emerging fields and get their perspective on the conference. IA – Thank you for agreeing […]

ImpactAlpha reporters are fanning out across SOCAP, the Social Capital Markets conference, to catch conversations on sustainability in the supply chain for apparel, healthy food financing, fintech, conservation finance, and yes, the state of impact investing. Here’s some of what they  have picked up: Mainstream investors are beginning to see impact investing as a diversification strategy. […]

Collaboration is in the air. Public, philanthropic, and private investors are coming together to finance new inventions, the early stages of a social enterprise, the new set of global development goals and much more. How best to blend capital to meet the needs of social startups and new markets is a hot topic at the annual Social Capital […]

A remarkable consensus has emerged: Women’s leadership and inclusion is essential for meeting not only UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 — gender equality — but the 16 other global goals as well. The women’s agenda is becoming the global agenda. Women and girls were center stage at last week’s Clinton Global Initiative and this week’s Social Capital […]

Two blueprints for investments in Chile’s struggling fishing industry suggest ways to restore depleted fishing stocks, improve local livelihoods and turn a profit for impact investors. Investing in Sustainable Global Fisheries outlines approaches for small-scale and industrial-scale fisheries in Chile as example of broader opportunities. Encourage Capital, an impact asset management firm, developed the strategies  to create economic incentives […]

A new data exchange for the emerging social capital market is connecting isolated pockets of information about social enterprises and impact investments. SODA, the SOcial DAta Commons, is either a geeky piece of infrastructure, or a step toward the kind of market liquidity that can unlock private capital for companies that aim to generate positive social and environmental […]

Media Development Investment Fund took another step in its shift toward digital media, naming Mohamed Nanabhay, former head of Al Jazeera English online, as deputy to CEO Harlan Mandel. Nanabhay will lead the non-profit media fund’s digital investment strategy in emerging and frontier markets. From his base in South Africa, he hopes to expand the firm’s African and […]

I recently sat around a table of investors charged with finalizing the structure of a global impact fund. I couldn’t help but hear the contradictions that laced the discussion. One public investor had a mandate to “catalyze private capital” but was unable to accept any terms considered subordinate to other investors. Another investor wouldn’t be able […]

The broadsheets and social media are currently rife with commentary about the dramatic fall from grace of one of the world’s largest and most trustworthy automotive brands: Volkswagen. The fallout is massive. This means billions in losses for the company. The CEO has resigned and it remains to be seen what the legal and long-term […]

The ImpactSpace Fellowship is celebrating its second year! Applications for next year’s cohorts are now open. The fellowship, which lasts three to six months, is designed to help fellows explore the latest developments and trends in impact investing, with an eye to study or research specific topics. Material produced may also be published on our website. We offer […]

Experts say that we are running out of food for the fish that we eat every day. What should we feed the fish? Can the aquaculture industry, the engine of a growing fish farm industry and its pantry, respond to the demand? After all, costs are rising, weather is irregular, and supply is limited. Absolutely, […]

The Colorado River, which supplies water to 35 million people and four million acres of irrigated agriculture across seven states (plus two in Mexico), is running dry after 15 years of drought. That’s both a problem and an opportunity for impact investors. A new report lays out a menu of approaches through which private capital […]