Impact Investing News

Aavishkaar’s five previous funds have cultivated early-stage social startups in India PC: Aavishkaar Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group reached the first close in its planned $200 million Bharat Fund, Livemint reports. Bharat Fund could double Aavishkaar’s fundraising to date. Aavishkaar’s five previous funds have cultivated early-stage social startups in India; half of the Bharat Fund will back later-stage companies. Aavishkaar […]

The Brief Brain gain in Latin America + LatAm’s women VCs, Zurich boosts climate-investment pledge, Bamboo backs First Access, small biz for big goals Nov. 27, 2017 Valparaíso, Chile l Photo credit: Olivier Chatel Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: Impact Voices Brain Gain: Impact investing in Latin America’s new wave of startups. Here’s a provocative impact thesis: Supporting almost any […]

Impact investment has the potential to transform economies and societies, say its advocates. But the growing field is littered with examples of good intentions gone wrong—often the result of a “top-down” approach. How can impact investors avoid unintended consequences and ensure that their investments are aligned with the goals and needs of the people and […]

Women Rising The tally of public- and private-equity assets invested with a gender lens now tops $2.2 billion Nearly two-dozen public gender-lens investment vehicles hold more than $910 million. That’s up 41% from $645 million in 19 vehicles last year, according to a new analysis from Veris Wealth Partners and gender-lens investing expert, Suzanne Biegel. The public […]

Expanding the universe of potential investments and other benefits of assessing and managing impact Photo credit: Hooverstrategicsolutions.com A vocal minority of impact investing practitioners have long espoused that impact measurement is a waste of time and resources because it distracts investors from their primary objective: to support the growth of businesses tackling real social and environmental […]

Every year, B Lab, the nonprofit that certifies B Corps, celebrates “Best for the World” companies—those that score in the top 10% of B Lab’s Impact Assessment. They also analyze investment funds. This year, 28 funds representing $1.3 billion in assets under management made the list of “Best for the World” funds; eight of them US-based. One […]

Many individuals would like to know that their investments are doing some good in the world. One recent survey found that 75% of investors were interested in impact investing. But the $114 billion impact investment market has traditionally been the domain of foundations, institutions and wealthy  individuals. That’s changing. “We are at a tipping point,” says Dorrit Lowsen, […]

The Brief Climate markets beyond renewables, microfinance exit, driving inclusive growth, banking on climate resilience Nov. 6, 2017 Hubbard Glacier Geological Area, United States l Photo credit: Jesse Orrico Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original Climate investors look beyond renewables as Bonn gets down to business. There’s a buzz on as world leaders gather in Bonn this […]

The Brief Oct. 27, 2017 World Games, El Salvador l Photo credit: Krissia Cruz Happy Friday, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: The Brief’s Big Ten 1. Five-dozen venture capital funds are betting on women around the world. The team at Wharton Social Impact Initiative found funds that have raised $1.3 billion to invest with a “gender lens” — including 21 funds launched […]

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 […]

In early October, Pacific Community Ventures had the opportunity to engage with panels at SOCAP in all capacities – as moderators, speakers, and attendees. SOCAP, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year with a record gathering of 3,000 attendees, is the “largest impact investing capital markets gathering in the world.” As an organization with both […]

The Brief 58 gender-lens funds and 25 responsible universal owners, Standard Life’s SDG fund, China’s climate rhetoric Oct. 25, 2017 Photo credit: Ross Findon Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original Meet 58 venture capital funds that are betting on women around the world. The rising social and economic power of women is a global mega-trend that venture capital […]

A climate smart rice farm near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2016 (Photo by Aulia Erlangga courtesy CIFOR) Creative Commons license via Flickr By Sunny Lewis MEXICO CITY, Mexico, October 19, 2017 (Maximpact.com  News) – Using a combination of public and private funding, Rabobank and UN Environment have created a new billion dollar facility to finance sustainable, climate-smart agriculture. […]

Rick Alexander has practiced law for 26 years at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, including four years as managing partner. He remains counsel to the firm. During that time, he was selected as one of the ten most highly regarded corporate governance lawyers worldwide, as Delaware Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year, as […]

Each week brings with it a new batch of headlines uncovering the ugly underbelly of another Silicon Valley pet gone wild. Scandals have hurled Uber, Kleiner, SoFi, 500 Startups, Google, Zenefits and others into unexpected PR nightmares. With the bad news coming fast and furious, it has become apparent that startups and venture capitalists have […]

The Brief ‘Impact-rated’ mutual fund, Tiedemann acquires Threshold, `impact investing’ turns 10, closing the racial wealth gap Oct. 12, 2017 Photo credit: Scott Webb Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original First ever ‘impact rating’ issued for a publicly traded mutual fund. Just as third-party ratings have become essential for judging financial risk of an investment, third-party verification of […]

The Brief Oct. 10, 2017 Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, New Mexico Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Roundup At SOCAP17, looking ahead to 2030. Today’s brief comes to you from the main hall at Ft. Mason in San Francisco, where the 10th annual Social Capital Markets conference is underway. ImpactAlpha is a media sponsor of the event, the […]

Smarter Money After four years and two business models, founder Philip Berber is shutting down impact-investment matchmaking site After four years and two business models, founder Philip Berber is shutting down Enable Impact. Berber, who earlier sold his online brokerage startup CyBerCorp to Charles Schwab, initially sought to build a matchmaking site to connect impact entrepreneurs […]

The Brief Social-change economics, Rise Fund hits $2B, JP Morgan in DC, environmental impact investors, future cars Oct. 4, 2017 Guanajuato, Mexico l Jezar Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: Returns on Investment Real Impact: Morgan Simon on bringing communities into impact investing. The longtime leader in the field bridges two worlds with her new book, “Real Impact: The New […]

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 […]

Smarter Money The Swiss bank was early mover in supporting other impact investment firms PC: WSJ The Swiss bank, an early mover in supporting other impact investment firms, is opening its own impact investing division, called Impact Advisory and Finance. It will be headed by Marisa Drew, who has served as co-head of Europe, Middle East […]

The Brief Impact storytelling, disaster recovery capital, where community-development finance goes, beating the killer heat Sept. 27, 2017 Kauai Coffee Company, Kalaheo, United States l Photo credit: Christian Joudrey Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: Impact Voices Telling the impact investing story. In the spirit of full transparency, we should disclose that ImpactAlpha receives a fair number of pitches from […]

Smarter Money Getting past the alphabet soup and embracing the skeptics London, United Kingdom l Photo credit: Volkan Olmez Impact investing is riding a wave of powerful forces, including a large generational wealth transfer, the inclination of millennials to invest with their values and the offer of solutions that appeal to people of all regions, generations and […]

Smarter Money The platform adds new issuers PC: ImpactUs The platform has added four new issuers to connect institutions and individuals with impact investing opportunities. The new issuers include Coastal Enterprises, a Maine-based organization that focuses on rural business development in the U.S.; Enterprise Community Investment, part of the supportive housing group Enterprise Community Partners; Iroquois […]

Smarter Money The idea is that payments to lenders will get more funds interested in delivering social impact Photo credit: REUTERS Social Impact Incentives, or more succinctly, SIINC, are financial payouts to organizations and social ventures that meet proven social performance targets. The SIINC model has been tested, with the Swiss development agency putting up the cash, […]

2030 Finance Rockefeller Foundation’s ‘Zero Gap’ portfolio of financial innovations with billion-dollar potential By Dennis Price and David Bank To get to a trillion dollars, much less tens of trillions, you first have to get to $1 billion. At the Rockefeller Foundation, the hunt is on for 10 innovative financial structures that can mobilize at least $1 […]

PCV, in partnership with Bridges Fund Management and the Impact Management Project, are excited to announce the launch of the Impact Due Diligence Initiative. This project will identify best practices in impact due diligence, which we’ll build into a free, practical toolkit for investors across sectors – including foundations, faith-based organizations, CDFIs, equity fund managers, institutional […]

Interview with Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, Bamboo Capital Partners The Oasis Fund, managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, was named a “Best for the World Fund” by B the Change Media, for setting the measurement and management bar in impact investing, based on its GIIRS Rating.  “Best for the World Funds” include investment funds that have completed […]