SDGs
Clean Energy | October 15, 2020
Investors see a ‘blue wave’ of growth opportunities in sustainability and inclusion
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 15 – “Pro-business” really does have a new meaning. Just a few weeks ago, U.S. investors were said to be fretting about …
Africa | October 12, 2020
Tugende helps Uganda’s motorcycle taxi drivers survive the lockdown – and raises $6 million to grow again
ImpactAlpha, October 12 – It was looking like a stellar year for Tugende. The Kampala-based social lender, which finances the purchase of motorcycle …
Climate Finance | October 7, 2020
Helping companies make good on their commitments to stakeholders
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 7 – When 181 members of the Business Roundtable signed on to a new statement of corporate purpose a year ago, …
Features | October 1, 2020
Biodiversity summit aims to increase urgency and financing to avert ecosystem collapse
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – If you think things already are bad, consider that we’re also hurtling towards what scientists are calling Earth’s sixth …
Dealflow | October 1, 2020
BestDoc secures $2.1 million amid India’s digital healthcare expansion
ImpactAlpha, October 1 – The challenge of universal healthcare access for India’s uninsured rural poor has been made starkly clear by the COVID …
Dealflow | September 29, 2020
Insurer QBE backs Save the Children’s impact fund
ImpactAlpha, September 29 – Save the Children, best known for its humanitarian aid work, has reached a $6 million first close for an …
Clean Energy | September 29, 2020
Eight climate finance innovations that can help accelerate a green recovery
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – Innovation in climate finance is critical; with a global COVID pandemic raging, it’s doubly so. Eight new financial solutions …
Clean Energy | September 28, 2020
New fund aims to bridge the ‘city climate finance gap’
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 28 – Cities account for 70% of global CO2 emissions, a figure that is expected to rise steeply as another 2.5 billion …
Agrifood Tech | September 23, 2020
Beneficial Returns backs alt-leather manufacturer Ananas Anam with impact-linked loan
ImpactAlpha, September 23 – Ananas Anam, a woman-led enterprise in the Philippines, buys pineapple leaf waste from farmers and converts it into a …
Africa | September 22, 2020
Greenlight Planet raises $90 million to bring off-grid solar to new energy users
ImpactAlpha, September 22 – Africa and Asia’s off-grid solar sector has been on an upmarket march in recent years, shifting away from individual households …
Dealflow | September 16, 2020
Mexico issues $890 million Sustainable Development Goal bond
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 16 – Mexico has issued a $890 million Sustainable Development Goal bond. Proceeds from the seven-year bond will target vulnerable populations …
Agrifood Tech | September 16, 2020
Food startups NotCo and Climax Foods raise financing for plant-based alternatives
ImpactAlpha, September 16 – Chile-based NotCo uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify plant-based proteins as substitutes for animal-based food products. NotCo …
Dealflow | September 15, 2020
Bridges Fund Management and AEA Investors to float $400 million ‘impact’ SPAC
ImpactAlpha, September 15 – Bridges Fund Management and AEA Investors filed to float a $400 million public offering for AEA-Bridges Impact Corp., a …
Clean Energy | September 14, 2020
Climate Week preview: Fusing climate action and the SDGs to the COVID recovery
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 14 – Wildfires raging across the U.S. west coast. Intentional burning ravaging tropical rainforests. Flooding in Bangladesh, India and West Africa. …
Clean Energy | September 10, 2020
U.S. regulator urges a price on carbon to stem climate risks
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 10 – As wildfires tinged California skies an eerie orange, a key government regulator warned that climate change poses serious risks …
Conservation | September 9, 2020
Credit Suisse rolls out sustainable oceans equity fund
ImpactAlpha, September 9 – Credit Suisse is launching an investment fund this month to help clients invest in pollution prevention, the low-carbon transition …
Policy Corner | September 9, 2020
Another rule from the Department of Labor, another attack on ESG investing
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 8 – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to sharply curtail the ability of private sector retirement funds to engage …
Conservation | September 8, 2020
Farmers Business Network spins off GRO Network to track agricultural carbon
ImpactAlpha, September 8 – A new venture from California-based agtech company Farmers Business Network is tracking the carbon footprint of grains. GRO Network’s …
Beats | September 3, 2020
Fires worldwide renew attention on the brands and banks driving deforestation
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 3 – Lightning strikes sparked the wildfires scorching climate-parched California. But intentional deforestation is the cause of the even larger blazes …
Dealflow | August 31, 2020
ABC Fund backs INSOTEC to finance Ecuador’s small farmers
ImpactAlpha, August 31 – Quito-based INSOTEC provides loans and credit to Ecuador’s micro-business owners and smallholder farmers. Its $58 million loan book serves …
Dealflow | August 31, 2020
Blue Like an Orange invests in “transitional” health care in Brazil
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 31 – Blue Like an Orange, a $200 million structured debt fund, extended BRL 30 million (about $5.5 million) to Placi …
Impact Tech | August 27, 2020
Eight predictions for the future of Indian agriculture
ImpactAlpha, August 27 – By 2030, India will be home to more than 1.4 billion people who will collectively spend $1.6 trillion annually …
Africa | August 26, 2020
Mali’s Energy+ raises $1 million to expand access to off-grid solar products
ImpactAlpha, August 26 – Many pay-as-you-go solar startups in Africa have moved “up market,” focusing on small commercial or community solar energy access. …
Climate Finance | August 26, 2020
Water deals flow amid droughts and storms
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 26 – Wildfires across California and twin storms headed for the Gulf Coast provide a harrowing backdrop for this year’s World …
Dealflow | August 25, 2020
Motiv secures $15 million to convert trucks to electric vehicles
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – With states like California passing policies to accelerate electric vehicle adoption, Motiv’s technology offers an intermediary step for commercial …
Beats | August 19, 2020
Yes, impact investments can reduce the threat of nuclear weapons
Unimaginable catastrophes can and do happen if we don’t work to prevent them. Climate change, COVID-19 and, most recently, the accidental detonation of …
Africa | August 19, 2020
Getting into the weeds of African agriculture investing
ImpactAlpha, August 19 – Globally, agrifood tech ventures raised $21.6 billion sector last year. Yet in an entire decade, 242 known agriculture-related deals …
Dealflow | August 13, 2020
S2G Ventures closes $100 million for sustainable oceans fund
ImpactAlpha, August 13 – Venture capital firm S2G Ventures invests in sustainable agrifood technology. It’s now expanding into ocean health and sustainable seafood. …
Agrifood Tech | August 11, 2020
AgFunder launches impact fund for agrifood tech startups
ImpactAlpha, August 11 – San Francisco-based venture capital firm AgFunder launched its GROW accelerator in Singapore last year to support Asia’s agrifood tech …
Dealflow | August 10, 2020
AppHarvest closes $28 million for its high-tech rural farms
ImpactAlpha, August 28 – Indoor farming venture AppHarvest is building a 2.8 million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead, Ky. to bring technology to sustainable agricultural …
Agrifood Tech | August 10, 2020
EIT Food invests €5.5 million in COVID relief for European food startups
ImpactAlpha, August 10 – EIT Food makes early investments in European companies advancing a sustainable food system. The initiative of the European Institute …
Climate Finance | July 29, 2020
Active fund managers fret as investors pour money into “passive” ESG funds
ImpactAlpha, July 29 – Net inflows to low-cost, passively managed environmental, social, and governance funds totaled $12.7 billion in 2019, compared to $8.7 billion …
Frontier and Growth Markets | July 23, 2020
Maintaining momentum for the SDGs in the face of COVID
The economic fall-out of COVID-19 – and its knock-on effect on the UN Sustainable Development Goals – will be long-term and significant. The …
Dealflow | July 20, 2020
Vedantu closes $100 million in India’s red hot edtech market
ImpactAlpha, July 20 – The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on India’s healthcare system and economy, but it’s jet fuel for the country’s edtech …
Africa | July 15, 2020
Komaza secures $28 million to improve sustainable forestry in Africa
ImpactAlpha, July 15 – Kenya-based Komaza is working to fight deforestation by partnering with smallholder farmers to plant trees and practice sustainable wood …
Agrifood Tech | July 15, 2020
Blackstone leads alt-dairy maker Oatly’s $200 million funding round
ImpactAlpha, July 15 – Sweden’s Oatly was an outlier in the 1990s, when soy milk dominated non-dairy milk options. The company’s oat-based milk …
Catalytic Capital | July 14, 2020
Impact investors catalyze $10 billion for India’s social venture market over 10 years
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – A decade ago, India’s first wave of impact investing collapsed under the weight of unregulated and unsustainable microfinance lending. …
Canada | July 13, 2020
Rally Assets to invest for impact in public and private markets
ImpactAlpha, July 13 – Toronto-based advisory firm Rally Assets launched the Rally Total Impact Fund to invest in both private and public impact …
Clean Energy | July 8, 2020
Generation Investment Management: COVID-19 creates a generational opportunity for sustainability
ImpactAlpha, July 8 – How and where we live. How we work. What we want – and need – to consume. The global pandemic has …
Call Recording | July 1, 2020
Call No. 20: Investors share experiences in getting their assets off the sidelines
“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.
Africa | June 29, 2020
Gates Foundation backs Enko Chem’s eco-pesticides for Africa
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – Massachusetts-based Enko Chem uses technology for pharmaceutical drug discovery to develop new crop treatments. The company, which was incubated …
Clean Energy | June 29, 2020
How 10x tech can drive 10x impact in 10 years
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – The start of a global recession in the middle of a pandemic that has laid bare structural inequality and …
Catalytic Capital | June 25, 2020
‘Impact Rescue Facility’ targets $1 billion to support small enterprises in emerging markets
Many commentators posit that the COVID-19 pandemic could go down in history as this generation’s opportunity to do a course correction toward a …
Dealflow | June 24, 2020
BlackRock leads Zero Mass Water’s $50 million round
ImpactAlpha, June 24 – Water-tech venture Zero Mass Water’s rooftop panels look like solar panels. Instead of converting sunlight to energy, they capture …
Africa | June 9, 2020
Dragon Farming secures loan to expand smallholder reach in Ghana
ImpactAlpha, June 9 – Ghana-based Dragon Farming produces sustainable soy-based feed for poultry and aquaculture farms. An €800,000 loan from Agri-Business Capital Fund …