Innovative Finance
Innovative Finance | November 16, 2021
How The People’s Fund is unlocking capital for small businesses from the crowd up
ImpactAlpha, November 16 – South Africa’s Black-owned businesses were systematically shut out of economic opportunities under the country’s racist aparthied regime. Now, even …
Photo credit: Pezesha
Frontier and Growth Markets | November 9, 2021
How technology is disrupting small-business financing in emerging markets – in a good way
ImpactAlpha, November 9 – The COVID-19 pandemic could have been development finance’s moment to shine. Such quasi-public investors, after all, have been trying …
Photo credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Dealflow | November 1, 2021
Citi issues $1 billion social finance bond for emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, November 1 — Citi has issued a $1 billion bond to advance social impact in emerging markets. Proceeds from the bond will …
Catalytic Capital | October 28, 2021
Blended finance struggles for traction in the ‘decade of action’
ImpactAlpha, October 28 – Blended finance that leverages public or philanthropic capital to increase private investment in sustainable development has unlocked about $160 …
Photo credit: Ejara
Innovative Finance | October 21, 2021
Cameroon’s Ejara raises $2 million for impact-focused crypto
ImpactAlpha, October 21 – Crypto is having a moment in Africa. Dozens of African fintechs promising to democratize access to cryptocurrencies across the …
Photo: Raad Adayleh, AP
Refugee Lens Investing | October 6, 2021
Refugee bond attracts $14 million to support displaced people in Jordan and Lebanon
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 6 – The Syrian conflict has forced 6.6 million people to flee the country; 80% have settled in neighboring countries. The …
Photo credit: ColdHubs
Dealflow | September 29, 2021
Africa Eats crowdfunds capital to strengthen Africa’s food supply chains
ImpactAlpha, September 29 – Impact accelerator program Fledge last year launched Africa Eats to back promising startups in Africa that are strengthening the …
Innovative Finance | August 19, 2021
Social Finance raises $49.9 million for workforce-focused UP Fund
ImpactAlpha, August 19 – The W.K. Kellogg, Inherent and Phillips foundations are among the latest backers of Social Finance’s UP Fund, which deploys …
Construction Highway Flood Tunnels, Peacevale, South Africa | Chris Van Lennep
Innovative Finance | August 17, 2021
Five critiques of blended finance – and five responses from Convergence
The opportunity to blend private capital with philanthropic and public funding has been heralded by financial heavyweights from Blackrock to the billionaire-backed Breakthrough …
Innovative Finance | July 28, 2021
India’s Samunnati to list green bond to back climate-resilient farming
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Chennai-based Samunnati is a rare source of financing for India’s 130 million smallholder farmers, coupling capital with agricultural support …
Photo credit: NEEF.
Climate Finance | July 26, 2021
World Bank catastrophe bond for Jamaica to cover up to $185 million in disaster relief
ImpactAlpha, July 26 — The bond will allow the government of Jamaica to quickly secure capital for recovery and to respond more rapidly …
Impact Voices | July 22, 2021
Four ways investors can structure financing to incentivize positive impact
The Social Impact Bond made its debut in 2010 with the purpose of aligning initiatives and investors around social impact objectives. Since then, …
Impact Voices | July 15, 2021
Bringing transparency to the growing market for sustainability-linked debt
Sustainability-linked debt is gathering momentum globally. The umbrella term, which includes instruments such as sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) and sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), is one …
Innovative Finance | July 15, 2021
Sustainability-linked debt is giving more companies incentives to do the right things
ImpactAlpha, July 15 – Greece’s largest power utility put itself on the hook to reduce its carbon emissions with its €500 million ($591 million) …
Photo credit: Mazars.
2030 Finance | July 14, 2021
Ecosystem Integrity Fund closes $250 million sustainability tech fund
ImpactAlpha, July 14 — The San Francisco-based firm raised $100 million for its third fund in 2019 to invest in early- and growth-stage …
Photo credit: Rawpixel.com
Frontier and Growth Markets | July 6, 2021
Scaling impact through nonprofit mergers and acquisitions
The ongoing pandemic and economic uncertainty have led non-profit leaders to contingency plan in creative and unprecedented ways, including strategic partnerships. The sector …
Innovative Finance | June 22, 2021
A brief guide to the why, what and how of structured exits
ImpactAlpha, June 22 – Traditional investment structures like debt and equity can present challenges for impact entrepreneurs. Debt is often inaccessible, unaffordable and too …
Impact Voices | June 10, 2021
Alt-financing tools help early impact enterprises build a track record with investors
ImpactAlpha, June 10 – For many founders, getting access to traditional sources of debt to fuel their companies can feel like a chicken-and-egg scenario. …
Impact Voices | June 7, 2021
Should revenue-based financing be taxed like equity or debt?
Hundreds of professional investors and fund managers are now using one of the many variations of revenue-based finance (RBF)—structured exits, royalty finance, and …
Innovative Finance | June 1, 2021
A resilient pandemic recovery requires faster, cheaper pay-for-success initiatives
ImpactAlpha, June 1 – Pay-for-success financing represents an opportunity to fund new social services and build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. But deal …
Innovative Finance | June 1, 2021
How investment facilitators can unlock dealflow in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, June 1 – Getting deals done in emerging markets costs more than in developed markets, both in absolute terms – due to peculiarities …
Motorbike taxi in Kampala, Uganda | Photo credit: Emre Topdemir
Catalytic Capital | May 13, 2021
How Lendable parses risks and returns to mobilize capital for inclusive fintech in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, May 13 – There’s little argument about the positive impact of making affordable loans to small- and medium-size enterprises in countries like Indonesia, …
Impact Voices | May 5, 2021
Three ways to invest in the upskilling of workers for the post-COVID economy
The booming stock market has masked the wide gaps in the U.S. economy and labor markets that are increasingly a threat to a …
Impact Voices | May 5, 2021
Boston’s Ujima Fund demonstrates the (investment) power of neighborhood democracy
Every Wednesday evening for the past few years—at least, before the pandemic—a group of Boston residents from the working class neighborhoods of Dorchester, …
Purdue University | Photo credit: Purdue University
Innovative Finance | April 12, 2021
Three ways risk-sharing aligns colleges with student outcomes
College is not only far more expensive than it was a decade ago, but the burden of paying for it has also profoundly …
Dealflow | March 23, 2021
OurCrowd secures $50 million to invest in water and agtech ventures
ImpactAlpha, March 23 — Waterfund, a global water investment firm, is backing Israel-based venture investing platform OurCrowd. The company launched its first impact …
Photo credit: ACRE Africa
Innovative Finance | March 22, 2021
Alt-credit and mobile-money apps give African fintechs a closeup view of climate risks – and opportunities
ImpactAlpha, March 22 – Financial technology firms have leveraged billions of data points across mobile phones and social media to transform loan underwriting across …
Sustainable Snapshot | March 22, 2021
Growth of social bonds challenges green bond funds
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha is pleased to partner with Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC provide timely market snapshots of trends and developments affecting the …
2030 Finance | March 16, 2021
Pure Harvest secures a $50 million sukuk for Middle East greenhouse expansion
ImpactAlpha, March 16 — Abu Dhabi-based Pure Harvest Smart Farms launched in 2016 to provide locally-grown, sustainable food in the United Arab Emirates, …
The Reconstruction | March 9, 2021
Impact investors turn to revenue-based financing to bridge capital gaps for founders of color
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 9 – As Kim Folsom likes to say, Founders First is majoring in the minors. Rather than produce a few tech unicorns …
Lagos, Nigeria
Innovative Finance | March 8, 2021
Microtraction backs African equity crowdfunding platform Raise
ImpactAlpha, March 8 – Equity crowdfunding platforms that have taken off in the U.S. and Europe allow everyday investors to support promising entrepreneurs. Raise …
Photo credit: SunFunder
Dealflow | March 8, 2021
SunFunder reaches $70 million close for Solar Energy Transformation Fund
ImpactAlpha, March 8 – SunFunder’s Solar Energy Transformation Fund backs solar companies improving energy access across Africa and Asia. The off-grid solar finance company’s …
Photo credit: Powered by People
Dealflow | March 3, 2021
Powered by People secures $1.5 million to connect artisans to markets
ImpactAlpha, March 3 – Kenya-based Powered by People is a “distributed manufacturer” that enables artists and designers to become suppliers to large companies like …
2030 Finance | March 1, 2021
Joint SDG Fund allocates $41 million to catalyze strategic financing for the SDGs
ImpactAlpha, March 1 — The United Nations’ Joint SDG Fund is aiming to bring together Wall Street and the growing focus on ESG, …
Dealflow | February 18, 2021
Carlyle Group secures ESG-linked credit tied to board diversity goals
ImpactAlpha, February 18 — Carlyle Group has secured a $4.1 billion line of credit from a consortium led by Bank of America. The …
Dealflow | February 11, 2021
Indian government-backs social impact bond to improve public health services
ImpactAlpha, February 11 — A public entity in the Indian city of Pune is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme on a …
Dealflow | February 11, 2021
Colin Kaepernick teams up with The Najafi Cos. to form a SPAC
ImpactAlpha, February 11 — Former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick is teaming up with a private equity firm founded by …
Dealflow | February 2, 2021
Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition launches sustainability ‘rolling funds.’
ImpactAlpha, February 2 — Sustainable investing is hot. Possibly hotter: Rolling funds. Rather than requiring a fund manager to raise a full fund …
Innovative Finance | January 19, 2021
Renewable Resources Group and Capricorn Investment Group float a SPAC
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Investment firms Renewable Resources Group and Capricorn Investment Group have launched Sustainable Development Acquisition I Corp. The special purpose acquisition …
Dealflow | January 5, 2021
Ivanhoe Capital SPAC targets $200 million for sustainable mining and clean energy.
ImpactAlpha, January 5 – The hottest new sustainable investing trend is entering new territory: mining. Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Capital is, a new SPAC, or special …
Bill Gates illustration | by Wahyu97
Catalytic Capital | December 23, 2020
Bill Gates says the world (sorta) came together to fight COVID-19. Next up: Climate
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – “This is like a world war, except in this case, we’re all on the same side,” Gates wrote last spring, …
Dealflow | December 2, 2020
Inclusio seeks to anchor its social mission by going public
ImpactAlpha, December 2 – Brussels-based Inclusio develops and manages affordable housing, schools, reception centers for asylum-seekers and other social housing and infrastructure projects. …
Africa | November 18, 2020
CDC adds $100 million to boost trade finance for the COVID recovery
ImpactAlpha, November 18 – To help restart cross-border commerce in emerging markets, U.K. development finance institution CDC Group is committing $100 million to …
Creative Economy | November 3, 2020
Equity crowdfunding grows up with new $5 million limit on ‘Reg CF’ offerings
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 3 – Businesses from microbreweries to football clubs to electric vehicle makers and ‘mom & pop’ shops have made use of …
Entrepreneurship | November 2, 2020
How creative financing structures can help companies preserve jobs and weather the pandemic
Flexible investment structures that prioritize employees and customers alongside entrepreneurs and investors are proving useful in helping companies preserve good jobs through the …