arc-net
Agrifood Tech | February 9, 2017
Blockchain startup raises $2.5 million to trace food supply
Arc-net, based in Northern Ireland, is using the technology behind bitcoin to tackle food fraud — part of what could become a $14 billion tech …
- Beats
- The Brief
September 29, 2023
The Brief
The Week in impact investing: Dueling Narratives
🗣 Split screen. Covering the climate beat means holding opposing storylines in your head (and occasionally curling up into a fetal position). On the one hand, seven years after the Paris climate agreement, “the path has narrowed” to meet the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C, a key tipping point, according to the latest Net Zero Roadmap from the International Energy Agency. Funding to help vulnerable countries green their economies and adapt to a changing climate remains woefully inadequate. On the other, there has never been more innovation, capital and policy focused on climate solutions. The deadline-driven exponential-breakthrough narrative was on full display at Climate Week NYC and this week’s Deploy23 conference, hosted by the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. “We’re fired up and thinking about how we can move faster,” Tim Hade of Scale Microgrids told me. The loan office, flush with $400 billion to catalyze the deployment of climate solutions, made a $3 billion loan guarantee to Sunnova Energy to bring “virtual power plants” to disadvantaged communities.
The Week's Call and Podcast
🎙️ Call Recap: Labor and capital align in new movement for worker ownership. It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the companies they work for? The evidence suggests motivation, retention and productivity all improve. Now investors are getting on board, seeking the worker ownership edge in buyout funds that finance company conversions to employee ownership (for background, see, “Financing transitions to employee ownership delivers wins for workers – and investors”). This week’s Agents of Impact Call featured investors who are betting that worker ownership is not only good for labor, it’s good for capital, too. The highlights:
The Week's Dealflow
Agrifood investing. Complete Farmer scored $10 million to connect Ghana’s smallholder farmers to funders… Impact investment fund Cuna del Mar backed LocalCoho, an Auburn, NY-based indoor salmon farming venture that supplies fish to high-end restaurants… Kern Tec snagged $12.8 million to make dairy alternatives from upcycled produce… Scottish seaweed grower and processor Oceanium raised $2.6 million from Builders Vision, the World Wildlife Fund and other investors… StretchDollar secured $1.6 million in pre-seed funding to help small companies in the US set up healthcare plan stipends for their employees.
The Week's Talent
JUST Capitalpromoted chief strategy officer Alison Omens to president… Anne Cushing, ex- of ACMC, joined BlueHub Capital as senior vice president of marketing and engagement… Generation Investment Management’s Just Climate namedEduardo Mufarej, ex- of Good Karma Ventures, co-chief investment officer at and head of the firm’s newly launched natural climate solutions.
The Week's Jobs
💼 Share the week’s impact jobs. View dozens of other jobs on our new job board. Want to post a listing? Submit it here.
- The Call
Podcasts | August 25, 2023
Mobilizing capital in Indian Country (video)
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
Participants in ImpactAlpha's call on HBCUsReturn on Inclusion | July 28, 2023
Impact at HBCUs: Hubs of talent, innovation and Black excellence (video)
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
Muni Impact | June 22, 2023
Connecting supply and demand for racial equity strategies in muni markets (video)
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
Call Recording | March 31, 2023
Metrics Madness: Wealth, ownership and ‘quality adjusted life years’ (video)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 31 – The search for a universal metric to guide investments in racial justice and equitable wealth-building was…aspirational. “We are still a …
Policy Corner | February 24, 2023
Policymaking for workers and communities in the Year of the ‘S’ (video)
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
Memphis skylineMuni Impact | February 9, 2023
Engaging racial-equity risks and opportunities in municipal finance (video)
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 9 – The fatal beating by police of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month exposed risks to the city’s finances that have …
Photo by Tamarcus Brown on UnsplashMuni Impact | November 18, 2022
Mispriced risks, investor demand and community power center racial equity in municipal bonds (video)
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 18 – Cities around the U.S. are raising low-cost capital in the municipal bond markets by highlighting intentional efforts to address long-standing …
Call Recording | September 30, 2022
Agents of Impact Call No. 45: Creative capital for gender-smart investments (video)
ImpactAlpha, September 30 – Capital to support women’s economic growth and financial inclusion is flowing – finally! – in many advanced economies. In emerging …
Climate Finance | September 19, 2022
New momentum and stubborn challenges as Climate Week kicks off (Call No. 44)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 19 – Investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and world leaders have descended on New York for Climate Week, the annual gathering alongside the …
photo: PixabayOriginals | June 27, 2022
Seven Calls: Agents of Impact on carbon pricing, political risk, climate adaptation, responsible fintech and more
ImpactAlpha, June 27 – ImpactAlpha’s spring season of Agents of Impact Calls spanned a period of tumult in the financial markets: instability in …
Call Recording | June 3, 2022
Call No. 43: How responsible fintech in Africa provides resilience in a downturn (video)
ImpactAlpha, June 3 – Just as investment in financial inclusion in Africa was really ramping up, a market downturn threatens to slow progress. Or …
Impact Investing | May 13, 2022
Call No. 42: Business financing beyond venture capital to fuel the boom in entrepreneurship (video)
ImpactAlpha, May 13 – One defining outcome of the pandemic: a boom in entrepreneurship. A record five million businesses were started in the …
- Podcasts
Podcasts | September 29, 2023
Strategies for find the employee-ownership edge
Host Brian Walsh shares highlights from this week’s agents of impact call, “The employee-ownership edge,” which explored the range of opportunities for investing …
Podcasts | September 22, 2023
What is ‘wealth supremacy,’ how does it drive crises, and what can be done about it?
David Bank is joined by Marjorie Kelly of The Democracy Collaborative to explore the ways that impact investors both help and hinder systemic …
Podcasts | September 15, 2023
Looking ahead to Climate Week NYC
🎧 Impact Briefing. Host Brian Walsh chats with Amy Cortese to set the stage for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC. …
Podcasts | September 8, 2023
Revamped SOCAP seeks radical ideas and scaled solutions
David Bank catches up with Robert Munson, President of SOCAP and Managing director at the Sorenson Impact Center, who is putting together next …
Podcasts | September 1, 2023
Democratizing gender lens investing in Latin America
Pro Mujer’s Carmen Correa joins host Monique Aiken to share how the pioneering Latin American microfinance institution’s bonds are democratizing gender lens investing …
Podcasts | August 25, 2023
Mobilizing capital in Indian Country (video)
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
Podcasts | August 18, 2023
Responding to legal attacks on affirmative action and racial wealth-building strategies
Paris Prince of the Intentional Endowments Network joins host Monique Aiken to talk about how impact investors are responding to legal attacks on …
Podcasts | July 28, 2023
Cash flows to ensure the water flows in Latin America
Quito, Ecuador, is more than 9,000 feet above sea level. But even higher than the city are Andean wetlands that filter, store and …
Podcasts | July 21, 2023
Acre Africa: Insuring farmers against crop failures and climate change
David Bank chats with Acre Africa’s Niza Banda in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting capital to communities” gathering at the Salzburg …
Impact Investing | July 14, 2023
Putting Africa’s pension funds to work for Africa’s social infrastructure
Drawing Africa’s pension funds deeper into impact investing is one of the goals of this week’s Africa Impact Summit in Cape Town, South …
Impact Investing | July 7, 2023
Empowa: Affordable housing for Mozambique’s informal economy
David Bank chats with Empowa’s Glen Jordan in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting Capital to Communities” gathering at the Salzburg Global …
Agrifood Tech | July 1, 2023
Connecting Indian farmers to global markets
David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital …
- Opinion
Impact Voices | September 27, 2023
Elevating our collective leadership and accelerating our shared momentum at the GIIN Impact Forum
When I address you at the GIIN Impact Forum in Copenhagen next week, I’ll be focused on a critical element of our work: …
Katni, INDIAImpact Voices | September 26, 2023
Investing in ‘meaningful connectivity’ to a better internet in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Heads of state from around the world gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York last week to review the implementation of the …
Impact Voices | September 25, 2023
Policy tailwinds can buoy investment, but impact relies on business innovation
The impact investing industry is in a unique position in that its main objectives align with those of any (sensible) government. It wants …
Impact Management | September 21, 2023
Messiness, Mutuality and Methodology: Three tips for measuring impact
Note: This is an abridged version for ImpactAlpha. For all 10 tips, please visit this article on Medium.com. At the end of 2022, …
Mangrove forest restoration on Pate Island, Kenya | Photo credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation / Dominic KiruiClimate Finance | September 19, 2023
Nature-based solutions may be the key to meeting Paris climate goals
As world leaders gather in New York City this week for the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week, investors and funders …
Africa | September 13, 2023
How Africa’s pension funds are financing the continent’s infrastructure gap
African countries have huge infrastructure needs, and governments need private investment to help meet them, particularly considering increasing climate impacts and green development …
Green Infrastructure | September 13, 2023
Financing power transmission—not just generation—to meet Africa’s climate goals
Renewable energy generation and storage opportunities were a key focus at last week’s Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, culminating in $26 billion in new …
Impact Voices | September 12, 2023
How foundations can use impact investments to leverage their grant capital
Impact investing offers the promise of greater impact per dollar as funds are returned and recycled into new investments that generate new impact. …
Raising ProfitsOwnership Economy | September 6, 2023
Challenging wealth supremacy to realize the dream of systemic change
This essay is adapted from Marjorie Kelly’s forthcoming book, “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s …
Impact Management | August 31, 2023
Is Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation delivering on its promise?
The European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as SFDR, is making waves in the investment industry. The legislative measure, introduced in 2019, …
Photo credit: Upaya Social VenturesImpact Voices | August 31, 2023
Collaborating to create more dignified jobs in a warming world
The temperature was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit the day I met Roopa, a widowed mother of three, on her tiny plot of land …
Impact Management | July 27, 2023
How three impact investors engage their most important stakeholders to validate impact
An increasingly important question for impact investors is how to validate that their investments are having the intended impact on people or the …
- Agents of Impact
Christopher Bentley | Photo by The De-Carceration Fund.
Agents of Impact | September 8, 2023
Christopher Bentley, The De-Carceration Fund: Lifting ‘justice tech’ entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
Agents of Impact | August 18, 2023
Monica Brand Engel, Quona Capital: Taking on the messy work of financial inclusion
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
Samuel Yeboah of Mirepa Investment AdvisorsAgents of Impact | August 11, 2023
Samuel Yeboah, Mirepa Investment Advisors: Helping Africans invest in Africa
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Impact Investing | July 14, 2023
Amy Duffuor, Azolla Ventures: Bridging climate gaps with catalytic capital
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
Katherine Stodulka (foreground) with Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch, Colombian Minister of the Environment Maria Susana Muhamad, and climate justice researcher Nina CallaghanAgents of Impact | June 30, 2023
Katherine Stodulka, Systemiq: Making introductions to bridge gaps in sustainable finance
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
Agents of Impact | May 26, 2023
Jessica Espinoza, 2X Global: Proving gender as a value-driver
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
Agents of Impact | May 12, 2023
Aina Abiodun, VertueLab: Centering community in climate tech in the Pacific Northwest
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – Nigeria-born climate entrepreneur and “professional nomad” Aina Abiodun is bullish on place-based climate innovation. “There is nothing more urgent than …
Agents of Impact | May 5, 2023
John Moore, ImpactPHL: Stocking the pipeline of impact investments in Philadelphia
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – John Moore quit his corporate gig and moved to Philadelphia two decades ago. He found a city rich in …
Agents of Impact | April 28, 2023
Su Sanni, Dollaride: From dollar-van commuter to urban-mobility entrepreneur
ImpactAlpha, April 28 — A first generation Nigerian-American, Su Sanni grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens. The low-income neighborhoods, …
Lourdes Germán | Photo credit: Public Finance InitiativeAgents of Impact | April 21, 2023
Lourdes Germán, Public Finance Initiative: Tilting the $4 trillion muni market toward racial equity
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 21 – Attorney and academic Lourdes Germán recognized early the power of public finance. She has spent years working at firms including …
Podcasts | April 14, 2023
Ariane Mahler, Veridien Global Investors: Going beyond ‘net-zero’ in public markets
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 14 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors tells ImpactAlpha’s David Bank. “You …
Impact Investing | March 24, 2023
Mindy Lubber, Ceres: Making the business case for responsible investing
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – Hundreds of companies and investors this week urged policymakers to protect their “freedom to invest responsibly,” marking a new …
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