Greetings ImpactAlpha readers!
Featured: ImpactAlpha Original
Bain Double Impact calls a trend: sustainable meals. Healthy eating led to sustainable foods, which led to Bain Capital Double Impact Fund’s double investment in the past week in healthy, sustainable restaurant ventures.
The $390 million fund, headed by former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, is looking for what Patrick calls “big secular trends driving market opportunities around mission-driven brands and companies.”
The Double Impact fund has taken an undisclosed stake in Sustainable Restaurant Group, based in Portland, Oregon, which operates five seafood restaurants in Oregon and Colorado, including Bamboo Sushi, which says it’s the first certified sustainable sushi restaurant. Sustainable Restaurant Group says its mission is building a sustainable, ethical supply chain and offering healthy dining options. Last week, Bain Double Impact backed vegan restaurant chain, by CHLOE.
“We’re firm believers that Americans will eat healthier, more sustainable food in the future than they do today,” Warren Valdmanis, who moved from Bain’s private equity business to the impact fund last year, told ImpactAlpha. Valdmanis says the Double Impact team has spent significant time analyzing the potential of the sustainable food sector, “in order to be [at the forefront] of what we believe will be an impactful trend.
Read, “Bain Double Impact calls a trend: sustainable meals,” by Jessica Pothering on ImpactAlpha.
Featured Event: SEED in San Francisco, April 19-20
Countdown to Impact Hub San Francisco’s SEED18. Impact investing conferences are getting more focused. This one’s for…you got it…seed-stage impact investing. Join ImpactAlpha along with Village Capital, Better Ventures, Food System 6, Echoing Green, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, ADAP Capital, ImpactAssets, Points of Light Civic Accelerator, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, Spring Activator and others building the seed-stage impact funding universe, on April 19 and 20 at Impact Hub San Francisco. Register now for a 30% discount (use code S30_IMPACTALPHA).
Signals: Ahead of the Curve
New York State pension fund to energy cos: How will you adapt to low-carbon future? Three US energy companies – DTE Energy, Dominion Energy and Southwestern Energy – agreed to report to Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller for the $209 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, on how global efforts to achieve the goals of the Paris climate accord will affect their companies.
- Activist pension fund… NYS Common Retirement Fund had submitted resolutions calling for the energy companies to assess how regulatory and technological efforts to mitigate climate change would impact their businesses.
- Adapt or else… The resolutions also asked the companies how they will adapt to a low-carbon future.
- Climate opportunities… The Fund has invested $4 billion in a low emissions index, $400 million with Al Gore’s Generation Asset Management, $300 million with the Rockefeller Asset Management’s sustainability strategy and $150 million with TPG Growth’s global goal-aligned Rise Impact Fund
- Risk mitigation… The fund has filed more than 120 climate change-related shareholder resolutions, persuaded 70 companies to report carbon emissions data, and won shareholder support for ExxonMobil, Duke Energy and others to report the impact of climate mitigation efforts on their businesses.
- DiNapoli… “Corporations need to recognize that a transition to a lower-carbon economy is already underway and their future success demands adjusting to this new reality.”
- Go deeper… on climate finance, on ImpactAlpha.
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs launched an initiative to support entrepreneurship in Uganda… Agora Partnerships is now accepting applications to its Latin America accelerator for early and growth-stage companies solving social and environmental challenges… Jess Brooks moves from Boston Community Capital to Sunwealth, a clean energy investment firm, as chief development officer… Sunwealth’s Solar Impact Fund reports it invested $6 million in 33 US solar projects, which generated 3.2 million kwh of clean energy in 2017.
Dealflow: Follow the Money
Varthana raises $55 million to finance affordable private schools in India. Varthana, based in Bangalore, provides loans to affordable private schools to build or rehabilitate facilities, purchase classroom resources and train teachers. Learn more.
Holberton School raises $8.2 million for ‘pay it forward’ tech training. The Series A round was led by Daphni and Trinity Ventures, joined by Omidyar Network and previous investors. The round brought total financing to $13 million. Dig in.
CleanCapital and CarVal create $250 million partnership to buy solar farms. CleanCapital acquires and bundles US solar farms, then finds investors who are interested in its portfolios. Read on.
Pennsylvania community foundation makes first impact loans. Lancaster County Community Foundation is the latest community foundation to move into impact investing. Go deeper.
Click here for more ImpactAlpha dealflow. Send deal tips and news to [email protected].
