Climate Finance | December 4, 2023
Hosting COP28, United Arab Emirates commits $30 billion to catalyze climate investment – and deflect criticism
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 4 – The United Arab Emirates is funneling $30 billion in oil wealth to a new fund that aims to mobilize …
Credit: COP28 on X
The Brief | December 4, 2023
The Brief: Chilling corporate climate cooperation, petro-billions for the green transition, California’s forest resilience bond, funds for local-capital funds
Greetings, Agents of Impact! 👋 Agents of Impact Call: Finding hidden impact and risk in municipal bonds. High-performing schools in low-income neighborhoods. Lead …
Frontier and Growth Markets | December 4, 2023
Funds of funds provide more than capital for local investors in small and growing businesses
An expanding range of financing mechanisms and vehicles are emerging to help private capital providers direct money and resources to their small business …
Catalytic Capital | December 4, 2023
Investors earn a return on a ‘forest resilience bond’ in California
ImpactAlpha, December 4 – Nonprofit Blue Forest partnered with World Resources Institute, the US Forest Service, and the National Forest Foundation five years …
Impact Voices | December 4, 2023
The antitrust theories are weak, but the effects can be chilling on corporate collaboration for climate action
As the private sector has become increasingly engaged in the effort to combat climate change, debates have emerged about the impact and legality …
Podcasts | December 1, 2023
All eyes on Dubai as COP 28 begins with Stephan Nicoleau
ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
The Brief | December 1, 2023
The Week in impact investing: Soft power
TGIF, Agents of Impact! 🗣 Art of the deal. Call it greenwashing. Or call it soft power. The presidency of the annual COP …
Catalytic Capital | December 1, 2023
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Blending global insurance assets for impact
ImpactAlpha, December 1 — The new $1.1 billion SDG Loan Fund is significant for the use of catalytic capital, in the form of …
Impact Careers | December 1, 2023
The Week’s Impact Jobs: December 1, 2023
ImpactAlpha, December 1 — Investment funds, foundations, banks and other firms are looking to fill up on impact talent by year’s end. Just …
Solar irrigated farm in Cambodia | Credit: UNDP
The Brief | November 30, 2023
The Brief: Climate tech in the Global South, raising science-based climate targets, climate + health in Canada, sustainability tools for private equity
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Featured: The Transition With a startup accelerator, COP28 boosts climate tech in the Global South. Can rapid tech innovation …
A site inspection in Myanmar. Photo: Agros
Climate and Clean Tech | November 30, 2023
With a startup accelerator, COP28 boosts climate tech in the Global South
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 30 – Can rapid tech innovation disrupt slow-moving policymaking? World leaders and their envoys descending on Dubai this week for the …
Impact Management | November 30, 2023
Equipping private equity managers to unlock value through sustainability
The private equity industry, known for its focus on efficiency improvements and earnings growth, has expanded dramatically in the past decade, tripling assets …
Photo by Conscious Investment Management.
Inclusive Economy | November 30, 2023
Conscious Investment Management secures A$50 million for social and affordable housing in Australia
ImpactAlpha, November 30 — Conscious Investment Management, a New South Wales-based impact fund manager, is seeking A$200 million ($132.4 million) for its second …
Spring's Keith Ippel, Olivia Hornby and Graham Day | Photo by Spring.
Canada | November 30, 2023
Vancouver Foundation anchors Spring Impact Capital to invest in Canadian health and climate ventures
ImpactAlpha, November 30 — Spring Impact Capital is looking to raise CAD $20 million ($14.7 million) to invest in two dozen early stage …
Climate Finance | November 30, 2023
How much science is there behind the Science Based Targets Initiative?
There is an urgent race to curb rising temperatures and prevent the worst effects of climate change. This is reflected in a growing …
Catalytic Capital | November 29, 2023
Allianz’s SDG Loan Fund leverages a $25 million guarantee to catalyze $1.1 billion
A novel financing mechanism has stacked a small guarantee and a larger first-loss reserve to raise $1 billion from the German insurance giant …
Image credit: NAAREA
The Brief | November 29, 2023
The Brief: Catalyzing billions for the SDGs, petit French nukes, plastic-based concrete, carbon reporting for construction, family-office climate investing
Greetings, Agents of Impact! 👋 Agents of Impact Call: Finding hidden impact and risk in municipal bonds. Opportunities to invest in muni bonds …
Photo by CRDC Global.
Dealflow | November 29, 2023
Toniic members help CRDC Global raise $3.3 million for a concrete solution to plastic waste
ImpactAlpha, November 29 — San Jose, Costa Rica-based Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration has patented a process that converts hard-to-recycle plastic into …
Photo by NARREA.
Dealflow | November 29, 2023
French nuclear startup NAAREA raises €60 million to build modular reactors
ImpactAlpha, November 29 — NAAREA, short for Nuclear Abundant Affordable Resourceful Energy for All, is looking to raise €150 million to build a …
Climate Finance | November 29, 2023
From “carve-outs” to “aligners,” five archetypes for family office climate investing
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 29 – Wealthy families are feeling the pull of climate investing. CREO, a nonprofit that for more than a decade has …
The Brief | November 28, 2023
The Brief: Markets and methane at COP28, banking community banks, fish farms in Kenya, renewable heat in France, Indigenous venture capital
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Featured: Climate Finance From carbon markets to curbing methane, the case for climate optimism at COP28. Even before it …
Climate Finance | November 28, 2023
From carbon markets to curbing methane, the case for climate optimism at COP28
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 28 – The dueling narratives of climate change will face off at COP28, the two-week global climate gathering that begins Thursday …
Community Finance | November 28, 2023
Mission Driven Bank Fund secures $110 million for local lenders in low-income communities
ImpactAlpha, November 28 — The Mission Driven Bank Fund will back a pipeline of over 300 FDIC-insured minority depository institutions, or MDIs, and …
ImpactAlpha Open | November 28, 2023
ImpactAlpha Open: Private equity’s sustainability billions + Ceniarth’s inconvenient truths
Hi there, Agents of Impact! Ending Tomorrow: 75% off. We’ve extended our Black Friday-Cyber Monday-Giving Tuesday deal… through Impact Wednesday. Grab ImpactAlpha’s best offer of …
Photo credit: Aquarech
Agrifood Tech | November 27, 2023
Investors commit $1.7 million to Aquarech to support fish farmers in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, November 28 – Africa’s fast-growing population is driving increased demand for protein, including fish. With local production dwindling, Kenya is meeting demand …
Ceniarth's Diane Isenberg and Greg Neichin
Catalytic Capital | November 27, 2023
Ten lessons for 10 years: Inconvenient truths from an impact-first investor
The impact-first philosophy that Ceniarth has championed has had its fair share of challenges. But we remain convinced that it is critical to …
Photo credit: AEM
The Brief | November 27, 2023
The Brief: Ceniarth’s inconvenient truths, sustainable EV motors, vertical farms in Europe, virtual doctor visits in Africa, fiduciary duty of care
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Featured: Catalytic Capital Ten lessons for 10 years: Inconvenient truths from an impact-first investor. For years, the roster of …
Photo by Advanced Electric Machines.
Low-carbon transition | November 27, 2023
Advanced Electric Machines scores £23 million to minimize extractive minerals in electric vehicles
ImpactAlpha, November 27 – The green transition has so far depended on intense mineral extraction. Each standard electric vehicle requires nearly 4.5 pounds …
Photo by Planet Farms.
Agrifood Tech | November 27, 2023
Planet Farms raises $40 million for vertical farms in Italy and the UK
ImpactAlpha, November 27– Vertical farming startups have struggled to make unit economics work for high-tech, energy-intensive systems. Milan-based Planet Farms has scored $40 …
Economist Milton Friedman on a postage stamp
Capitalism Reimagined | November 27, 2023
Fiduciaries have a duty of care to their investors and to the world
Quoting his own book, economist Milton Friedman wrote in the New York Times Magazine in 1970, “There is one and only one social …
The Brief | November 21, 2023
The Brief: Private equity’s sustainability billions, Raj Shah’s big betsThe Brief:
Thanksgiving greetings, Agents of Impact! At ImpactAlpha, we’re grateful for your attention, community and impact, day in and day out. We’re taking a …
books | November 21, 2023
Big Bets: How large-scale change really happens (excerpt)
Think of an extraordinarily tough challenge. Here’s a non-exhaustive list to start the conversation. Billions of people are mired in poverty, suffering malnutrition, …
ImpactAlpha Open | November 21, 2023
ImpactAlpha Open: Introducing ‘Macro Impact’ + building an ownership movement
Greetings, Agents of Impact! We’re celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this week in the U.S. At ImpactAlpha, we’re grateful for your attention, your feedback, and …
Impact Management | November 21, 2023
Private equity is leaving billions of dollars in sustainability value on the table
Private equity has a significant opportunity to create financial and societal value through sustainability. PE firms that invest in improving the management and …
Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash
Institutional Impact | November 20, 2023
Making impact real, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love values investing
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith, a longtime senior writer for Institutional Investor, contributes a bi-weekly column on the policies, practices and strategies of the …
The Brief | November 20, 2023
The Brief: Return to values investing, traffic congestion in Texas, TIME’s climate leaders, alt-ownership structure
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Featured: Institutional Impact Making impact real, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love values investing. Companies that …
35W corridor in Fort Worth | Photo credit: NTEMP
Impact Muni Bonds | November 17, 2023
A $286 million bond seeks to grow north Texas out of its traffic jams
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post …
Climate + Gender | November 17, 2023
To be effective, climate solutions need a gender lens (video)
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
The Brief | November 17, 2023
The Week in Impact Investing: Optimize
TGIF, Agents of Impact! 🗣 Collective leadership. To “realize my full potential” at a recent conference, I took part in a vigorous morning …
Dealflow | November 17, 2023
Organizations emerge to help communities access federal funds
ImpactAlpha, November 17 — An unparalleled wave of federal funding has sparked a cottage industry of organizations helping entrepreneurs, project developers and municipal …
Impact Careers | November 17, 2023
The Week’s Impact Jobs: November 17, 2023
ImpactAlpha, November 17 — Foundations, fund managers and other investors are hunting for impact talent before the year comes to a close. Just this …
Impact Investing | November 17, 2023
Impact(ed): Steering pension funds toward impact with Tara Mei Smith and Marcela Pinilla (podcast)
Pension funds, with hundreds of billions in long-term assets, can be a key source of capital for impact investors and entrepreneurs. Black, Indigenous, …
Impact Investing | November 16, 2023
JFF Ventures aligns venture capital with a national nonprofit to invest in the future of work
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 16 – Creating the tools and technologies to move more than 100 million low-income Americans comfortably into the middle class with …
The Brief | November 16, 2023
The Brief: Inclusive future of work, circular fashion, eye care in Africa, survey of climate tech opportunities, outcomes-based financingThe Brief:
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Thanks to the hundreds of you who joined yesterday’s climate + gender call. We’ll have the writeup and replay …
Photo by Lapaire.
Dealflow | November 16, 2023
Beyond Capital Ventures backs Lapaire for affordable eye care in Africa
ImpactAlpha, November 16 — Africa faces a shortage of eye-care specialists, making it challenging for tens of millions of Africans with visual impairments …