Beneficial Returns has launched with a loan to Interrupcion Fair Trade.
The new loan fund was launched by Ted Levinson, formerly at RSF Social Finance, to help social enterprises gain access to debt and credit.
Its first investment is a $500,000 loan to Interrupcion Fair Trade, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., which imports organic and fair trade produce from small farms in Latin America.
Interrupcion plans to use the loan to build a cooling and packing facility for blueberries in Chile.
Beneficial Returns provides loans of $75,000 to $500,000 for ventures needing facilities or equipment capital and offers investors a two-percent annual return.
It’s backed by the Swift, Skees, Younger and Tides foundations.
“I think equity for ‘deep’ social enterprises is a crock,” Levinson tells ImpactAlpha. “Debt is the appropriate vehicle.”
