1. Agents of Impact infiltrate Apollo Global. Impact investing veteran Lisa Hall is bringing in nearly a dozen impact practitioners to help her drive impact investing deeper into the $455 billion asset manager. Maurice Jones, ex- of LISC and now head of the OneTen coalition, brings community development expertise, for example, while Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Kimberlee Cornett is a longtime practitioner of blended finance. “There is an expectation, more and more, that impact approaches will infiltrate the firm,” Hall tells ImpactAlpha. Dig in.
Kim Folsom, Founders First. The seven-time entrepreneur-turned-investor is seeking to bridge a massive gap: financing for the millions of U.S. businesses that don’t meet banks’ collateral requirements or venture capitalists’ demands for exponential growth. Most such businesses are far from coastal tech hubs; many are led by women, military veterans and founders of color. Folsom’s financing is revenue-based, letting founders repay with a portion of revenues up to a predetermined cap. Revenue-based financing requires enterprises to have customers, rather than collateral, and lets founders retain ownership and build wealth. “The business owner and the investor of revenue-based investment are aligned,” Folsom told ImpactAlpha in an earlier interview. Folsom this week raised $9 million to expand from San Diego, Dallas, Austin and Chicago to other diverse cities. The equity capital will help Folsom deploy the $100 million credit facility she secured from Community Investment Management in 2019. “Revenue-based financing is here to stay, and growing,” says CIM’s Jacob Haar.
Low-carbon transition. Therma secures $10.2 million to cut carbon in the cold chain… Dandelion Energy clinches $30 million for home-based geothermal energy systems… South Africa-based Metier takes a stake in Energy Vision… EDF takes equity stake in BBOXX’s Kenya operations… Chevron’s venture arm stands up a $300 million low-carbon tech fund.
Michael Herskovich is named global head of stewardship at BNP Paribas Asset Management… Margaret Chinwe Anadu becomes global head of sustainability and impact and chair of the urban investment group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management… Greg Konieczny and Kunal Desai, both ex- of Mobius Capital Partners, join GIB Asset Management as head of global emerging markets equities and portfolio manager, respectively.
Carbon Removal Advocacy Europe is recruiting an executive director… J.P. Morgan is looking for a vice president of its impact venture equity fund in New York… Also in New York, Rockefeller Foundation is hiring an associate of innovative finance, and World Education Services is on the hunt for an associate director of impact investing… Hope is recruiting a credit officer and senior credit officer for its commercial lending team… Common Future seeks a digital content producer in Oakland… Open Road Alliance is looking for a data and Salesforce manager.
ImpactAlpha, January 6 — A few of the keywords thrown around on last month’s Agents of Impact Call No. 26: accountability, electrification, institutional, …
What: The Call No. 25: Gender-smart investing for a sustainable recovery Join SME.NG’s Thelma Ekiyor, Trade Depot’s Onyekachi Izukanne, Development Partners International’s Takudzwa Mutasa, Alitheia’s Temilade Denton, …
The people and principles needed to solve the challenges of financing solar power for frontline health clinics were represented on ImpactAlpha’s Agents of …
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – What got us here won’t get us where we need to go. Guidelines that govern global finance need to …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 27 – Investors have been talking about systemic risks at least since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. More recently, climate …
It’s long past time to get political. Impact investing, with appeal on both the left and the right, has generally steered clear of …
“It’s a great time for new entrants, but for those of us who’ve been doing this for a while it is equally urgent to raise our game right and to not get complacent,” said Margot Brandenburg of the Ford Foundation.
ImpactAlpha, Jun 24 – The action in climate action is shifting to infrastructure. Driven by falling price curves for renewables, mispriced risk, and …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 4 – A disruptive technology has to be 10 times better than what it’s replacing. Tech venture capitalists aim to recoup …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 30 – The first annual assessments of impact investors are coming in under the International Finance Corporation’s Operating Principles for Impact …
ImpactAlpha, February 5 – Small and growing businesses are the pillars of local economies, in both developed and developing economies. Startups are engines …
ImpactAlpha, April 14 – Don’t refer to conventional finance as ‘mainstream,’ ImpactAlpha’s David Bank said on The Call earlier this month. Call it ‘legacy …
Host Brian Walsh discusses the big private equity funds looking to make a splash in impact with roundtable regulars Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank.
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 1 – There was an important history lesson embedded in the confirmation hearings of Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland, who is expected to …
On this week’s podcast, host Monique Aiken chats with ImpactAlpha’s Roodgally Senatus about Bitwise Industries’ big raise and BlocPower’s Donnel Baird, this week’s …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 25 – Philanthropic foundations tend to be cautious and slow-moving beasts. One signal of the urgency of the current moment: the billion-dollar …
Host Brian Walsh is joined by Amy Cortese to talk about the growing corporate demand for soil carbon.
Host Monique Aiken checks in with Suzanne Biegel in London to debrief this week’s GenderSmart Investing Summit.
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 10 – The broad problem of systemic bias in the asset management industry became very specific when fund manager Rachel Robasciotti pitched …
On this week’s show, host Brian Walsh engages NYU Stern School’s Tensie Whelan about corporate board leadership – or the lack of it …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 3 – As founder of The Workers Lab, Dr. Carmen Rojas led a nonprofit incubator and investor with the tagline “building power …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 2 – A contested election. A political deal. An historic sellout. Screech… halt… stop. The presidential election just finished had a decidedly …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 1 – Talk about a signal. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 kicked off the period of systemic reform, multi-racial progress and shared …
ImpactAlpha, Feb 1 – The Reconstruction series will engage investors, entrepreneurs, activists and academics in the U.S. and around the world, as Aiken puts …
In The Price of Inequality, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz notes the moments in history when people rise up to say something …
With Democrats now in control of both the House and Senate, the Biden Administration has a once in a generation opportunity to “build …
As it reported its fourth straight quarterly loss yesterday, Exxon tried to deflect a growing shareholder revolt by adding an independent board member …
“Materiality is being redefined – through pressure on business from wider civil society, and through precedents established by company practice and, increasingly, regulation …
As we finally put 2020 into hindsight, the road ahead is uncertain. On the one hand, stock markets continue to thrive, and the …
Regenerative agriculture may be in vogue, but in many ways, it’s as old as agriculture itself, as practiced by our ancestors and to …
Pollution and climate change disproportionately affect communities of color. In the U.S., decades of systemic racism and economic disadvantages mean Black and Hispanic …
After years of signaling its intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement to fight climate change, the United States made the decision official …
During Bill Clinton’s campaign for the presidency, he shared his vision of a federal government initiative that would provide $1 billion in financial …
Marcia Fudge will be the 6th Black person to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 1966, so how could …
Power is critical to Africa’s development. At least 600 million people across the continent that don’t have access to affordable and reliable power. …
Redavia Solar created a concessionary solar power program to continue attracting customers
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 5 – Seven-time entrepreneur-turned-investor Kim Folsom is seeking to bridge a massive gap: financing for the millions of U.S. businesses that don’t …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 26 – There was no heat in the building in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood where Baird grew up, so he and his sister …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 19 – The former Hollywood super agent spotted a disconnect. Those green-lighting movies and TV didn’t represent the diverse audiences consuming them. …
Goldman Sachs’ commitment this week of $130 million in credit to Jackson, Miss.-based Hope was the latest, and one of the largest, shows …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 5 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a warning for nations prioritizing self-interest in their pandemic responses: “No one in the world can be …
If putting a price on carbon is the key to getting to net-zero, Bill Winters – with an assist from Mark Carney – …
In a star-studded inauguration featuring Lady Gaga and J-Lo, the 22-year old poet stole the spotlight at president Joe Biden’s inauguration. Accolades poured …
“Welcome to the New Georgia,” proclaimed Senator-elect Raphael Warnock. “It is more diverse, and it’s more inclusive. And it readily embraces the future.” …
Earlier this week, 91-year-old Margaret Keenan in England received the first COVID-19 vaccination (yes, the second was an 81-year-old named William Shakespeare). That …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 4 – You could almost see the tumbleweed blowing down the streets of downtown Las Vegas when Tony Hsieh launched The Downtown …
ImpactAlpha, November 20 – Follow the women… to catalyze an economic recovery and unlock trillions in new consumer spending power. Tech-enabled startups are …
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 13 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline on the snappy Agents of Impact section on the new ImpactAlpha.com …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 5 – Seven-time entrepreneur-turned-investor Kim Folsom is seeking to bridge a massive gap: financing for the millions of U.S. businesses that don’t …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 1 – There was an important history lesson embedded in the confirmation hearings of Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland, who is expected to …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 26 – There was no heat in the building in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood where Baird grew up, so he and his sister …
ImpactAlpha, February 24 — Before the growth of Bitwise Industries, few would have mistaken Fresno, California, for a tech hub, even though the …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 23 – Real estate speculators have new competition on the block: neighborhood trusts organized by residents determined to have a say – and …
ImpactAlpha, February 23 — BlocPower works with utility companies, government agencies and property owners to retrofit city buildings in underserved communities and finance …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 19 – The former Hollywood super agent spotted a disconnect. Those green-lighting movies and TV didn’t represent the diverse audiences consuming them. …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 10 – The broad problem of systemic bias in the asset management industry became very specific when fund manager Rachel Robasciotti pitched …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 3 – As founder of The Workers Lab, Dr. Carmen Rojas led a nonprofit incubator and investor with the tagline “building power …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 2 – A contested election. A political deal. An historic sellout. Screech… halt… stop. The presidential election just finished had a decidedly …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 1 – Talk about a signal. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 kicked off the period of systemic reform, multi-racial progress and shared …
ImpactAlpha, Feb 1 – The design mandate for the green economy: Develop better and cleaner solutions that create jobs, improve health and drive demonstrably …
ImpactAlpha, March 4 – The lending program, mostly moribund for the past four years, “is back in business,” declared Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 4 – A majority of low-income countries may need to restructure their loans or seek fresh ones in a brewing sovereign …
ImpactAlpha, March 3 – Investors and customers are pushing food, apparel, energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and mining companies to address water security along with …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 2 – Chevron’s venture arm has launched a $300 million low-carbon tech fund. Future Energy Fund II is the oil and gas …
ImpactAlpha, March 1 — Netherlands-based alternative protein company Mosa Meat uses cow cells — without having to slaughter them — to naturally grow …
ImpactAlpha, March 1 — The United Nations’ Joint SDG Fund is aiming to bring together Wall Street and the growing focus on ESG, …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 24 – A contract to upgrade the U.S. postal agency’s 165,000 delivery trucks runs counter to the Biden administration’s effort to …
ImpactAlpha, February 24 – The IMAS Foundation, launched by Ikea’s founder, is committing €250 million to a fossil fuel-free public equities fund developed by …
ImpactAlpha, February 23 — BlocPower works with utility companies, government agencies and property owners to retrofit city buildings in underserved communities and finance …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 22 – The Boardman, Ore., dairy manure-to-renewable natural gas facility was developed as a partnership between Portland-based Equilibrium and Threemile Canyon Farms. The …
ImpactAlpha, February 22 — Vestas, a Danish manufacturer, seller and installer of wind turbines, recently launched a corporate venture capital arm to invest …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 18 – The claim that frozen wind turbines caused Texas’ harrowing power outages turned out to be all hat, no cattle. …
ImpactAlpha, March 4 – The lending program, mostly moribund for the past four years, “is back in business,” declared Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 4 – A majority of low-income countries may need to restructure their loans or seek fresh ones in a brewing sovereign …
ImpactAlpha, March 1 — The United Nations’ Joint SDG Fund is aiming to bring together Wall Street and the growing focus on ESG, …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 25 – Philanthropic foundations tend to be cautious and slow-moving beasts. One signal of the urgency of the current moment: the billion-dollar …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 24 – Worker ownership. Small business relief. Impact real estate. Climate solutions. This year’s Impact Assets 50 showcases a diversity of …
With Democrats now in control of both the House and Senate, the Biden Administration has a once in a generation opportunity to “build …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 11 – Change the incentives, change the results. Those results are dramatic for the $11.5 million in loans that agricultural lender Root …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 4 – Investors have discovered food waste. Imperfect Foods last month raised $95 million to distribute foods deemed too ‘ugly’ for …
ImpactAlpha, Jan 27 – Commercial investors tend to steer clear of businesses targeting low-income customers, leaving billions in India without access to affordable and …
ImpactAlpha, January 27 – Seattle-based Upaya Social Ventures invests in small and growing businesses creating dignified jobs for underserved Indians. It closed four convertible …
ImpactAlpha, January 27 – The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. approved a $14.8 million loan portfolio guarantee for Cordaid Investment Management. The commitment is …
ImpactAlpha, January 13 – Small, privately-run clinics are often the only providers of essential health services in remote and low-income parts of Africa. …
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