2030 Finance
Innovative Finance | March 29, 2023
Using social bonds to address gender and racial inequities (podcast)
Corporate, nonprofit and municipal issuers are designating bond proceeds to support organizations that increase access to finance for women and people of color. …
Catalytic Capital | February 22, 2023
Opportunity International raises $101 million to catalyze loans to boost livelihoods in low-income countries
ImpactAlpha, February 22 — Chicago-based nonprofit lender Opportunity International has raised $101 million in philanthropic capital from backers including the Bill & Melinda …
Climate Finance | January 23, 2023
Variations on a theme: Securitizing fees and taxes to finance climate adaptation
Ghana securitized an education tax to improve access to education and a petrol tax to pay off legacy debts in the banking sector. …
Photo by African Guarantee Fund.
Catalytic Capital | December 8, 2022
British International Investment provides $75 million guarantee for small business lending in Africa
ImpactAlpha, December 8 — British International Investment is investing $75 million in Nairobi-based African Guarantee Fund to guarantee loans from partner financial institutions …
Amy Novogratz and Mike Velings | Photo by Aqua-Spark.
Dealflow | December 5, 2022
Aqua-Spark secures €15 million from Silverstrand Capital for sustainable aquaculture
ImpactAlpha, December 5 — Utrecht-based impact fund Aqua-Spark has secured a €15 million ($15.8 million) investment from Singapore-based family office Silverstrand Capital. The …
Return on Inclusion | November 30, 2022
Through ‘ownership trusts,’ investors can help employees become owners and owners retire
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 30 – Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s unusual succession plan made waves with its massive commitment of the family-owned company’s future profits …
SMEs in a learning workshop at Ashesi University in Ghana | Photo by C3.
Catalytic Capital | November 23, 2022
C3 provides catalytic capital to accelerate the deployment of… catalytic capital
ImpactAlpha, November 23 — The Catalytic Capital Consortium, or C3, has awarded nearly $1.4 million in grants to Village Capital, Pacific Community Ventures, …
Photo credit: U.N. Association
Impact Voices | November 17, 2022
Facing up to shortfalls – and trade-offs – in the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals need rescuing, a global sustainable investors group warned recently. The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked goals ranging …
Photo credit: Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
Impact Voices | November 10, 2022
A future-focused agenda for COP27
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27) that began a few days ago will allow the world to …
Muni Impact | November 9, 2022
The ‘Black Tax’ plagues small municipalities. Can bond banks help?
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 9 – An old idea is finding new life in the municipal bond market, where a stubborn complacency with conventional ways of …
photo: Phenix Capital
Climate Finance | October 18, 2022
Rockefeller Foundation’s new climate strategy: A Q&A with Thomas Belazis
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 18 – In late July, The Rockefeller Foundation announced a major shift: it would make climate central to everything it does. …
Source: The Ford Foundation
Catalytic Capital | October 18, 2022
Foundations leverage their balance sheets to expand the impact investing toolkit
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 18 – Faced with 2020’s cascade of crises, a group of foundations mobilized $3 billion from capital markets for community relief and …
Photo by AdobeStock.
Oceans | September 12, 2022
Ocean 14 Capital raises €100 million to advance the blue economy
ImpactAlpha, September 12 — Investing in sustainable and regenerative oceans is a multi-trillion-dollar global opportunity that could create 40 million jobs by 2030, …
Innovative Finance | August 30, 2022
Rockefeller Foundation taps satellites and AI to guide green infrastructure in Africa
ImpactAlpha, August 30 – The Rockefeller Foundation is backing a digital platform to aid policymakers in understanding how and where resilient infrastructure could mitigate …
Photo by MNT.
Climate Finance | July 28, 2022
Circulate Capital secures $53 million to reduce plastic pollution
ImpactAlpha, July 28 — Circulate Capital has been investing in recycling and waste-reduction efforts to keep plastic out of oceans and waterways since …
the Clinicas del Azucar in Guadalupe | Photo credit: IFC
Investing in Health | July 27, 2022
Clinicas de Azucar to expand diabetes clinics with $7.3 million in financing from Blue like an Orange
ImpactAlpha, Jul. 27 – Diabetes has become one of the top three causes of death in Mexico, up from 15th in the 1950s. Clinicas …
Catalytic Capital | July 27, 2022
Impact investors collaborate to amplify the impact of their catalytic capital
Editor’s note: This blog is part of ImpactAlpha’s series, “Seeding Impact,” authored by participants in the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) Seeding Learning Labs. …
Impact Voices | July 26, 2022
How NGOs are blending capital to amplify their impact
The typical employee within a non-governmental organization doesn’t talk a lot to commercial banks, pension funds and insurance companies. But like everyone else, …
Conservation | July 18, 2022
Pegasus Capital Advisors raises $170 million for Global Fund for Coral Reefs
ImpactAlpha, July 18 – Impact investor Pegasus is aiming to raise $625 million in blended financing to protect critically-threatened coral reefs and vulnerable coastal …
Signals | July 14, 2022
Is a green transition the cause – or the solution – in Sri Lanka’s crisis?
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – It was an irresistible meme: A crash transition to organic farming tanked Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector and sent the country …
Photo by ESG Enterprise.
Climate Finance | June 13, 2022
Fashion Climate Fund secures $40 million to decarbonize the apparel supply chain
ImpactAlpha, June 13 — The global apparel and footwear industry is responsible for 2.1 billion tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to the emissions …
Dealflow | June 6, 2022
Apis & Heritage helps businesses in Denver and El Paso become employee-owned
ImpactAlpha, June 6 – Apis & Heritage last year launched a buyout fund to help small and mid-sized businesses with large Black and Brown …
Photo credit: MacArthur Foundation.
Catalytic Capital | May 26, 2022
Catalytic Capital Consortium goes global with support for flexible, risk tolerant investments
ImpactAlpha, May 26 — The Catalytic Capital Consortium, or C3, formed by the MacArthur and Rockefeller foundations and Omidyar Network, aims to expand …
Climate Finance | May 25, 2022
a16z leads Flowcarbon’s $70 million round to improve voluntary carbon market transparency
ImpactAlpha, May 25 – Carbon + crypto is a hot combination. Look at the boldface names behind Flowcarbon, a startup that tokenizes certified carbon …
Photo by ANDREAS PEIN/LAIF/REDUX.
2030 Finance | May 19, 2022
Generation Investment Management raises $1.7 billion sustainable solutions fund
ImpactAlpha, May 19 — Generation Investment Management has raised $1.7 billion for its fourth Sustainable Solutions Fund. The private equity fund is Generation’s …
Photo credit: MEbA
Features | May 16, 2022
YAPU is giving microfinance a digital upgrade with a climate twist
ImpactAlpha, May 16 – Beekeeping in Colombia. Greenhouses in Peru. Biogas stoves in Benin. Small upgrades can increase resilience to climate change for the …
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 …
Photo credit: BRAC
Frontier and Growth Markets | May 12, 2022
BRAC International Microfinance taps capital markets for $40 million for households in poverty
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – BRAC International Microfinance, the non-governmental organization’s international arm, worked with Seattle-based Global Partnerships and Proparco, the French development bank, …
Photo credit: Solar Sister
Frontier and Growth Markets | May 2, 2022
Can off-grid solar keep focus on energy access for the poor as commercial capital arrives?
ImpactAlpha, May 2 – It’s one of the conundrums of the pandemic: commercial capital is pouring into off-grid electricity companies in Africa and …
Photo credit: Sun King
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 28, 2022
Sun King scores $260 million to ramp up off-grid solar access in Africa
ImpactAlpha, April 28 – The off-grid solar sector in Africa is growing up. Sun King, launched (as Greenlight Planet) in Chicago 15 years …
Photo credit: Kinara Capital
Gender Smart | April 19, 2022
Kinara Capital secures $50 million from Nuveen and TripleJump for digital lending in India
ImpactAlpha, April 19 – Kinara Capital provides unsecured, no-collateral loans of up to three million rupees ($40,000) to micro and small businesses in …
Image credit: Jacaranda Health
Investing in Health | April 5, 2022
Why Kenyan nonprofit Jacaranda Health spun out its hospital as a social venture
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with J&J Impact Ventures, ImpactAlpha is exploring the …
Photo credit: Opinio Juris.
SDGs | April 4, 2022
WaterEquity secures $153 million for water and sanitation impact
ImpactAlpha, April 4 — A subsidiary of Matt Damon’s Water.org, WaterEquity backs microfinance institutions along with micro-utilities, toilet manufacturers and water kiosks to …
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 1, 2022
Call No. 40: How impact investors embrace political risk to keep progress flowing (video)
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 1 – High-impact investments in fragile countries invariably entail political risk. And impact investments in a free press, humanitarian tech, financial inclusion …
Photo credit: BFNP.
Innovative Finance | March 29, 2022
World Bank raises $150 million ‘Rhino Bond’ for conservation in South Africa
ImpactAlpha, March 29 — Proceeds from the five-year bond will support conservation projects to increase the population of endangered black rhinos. Investors will …
Mumbai, India
Catalytic Capital | March 24, 2022
Risk-averse development finance institutions are more often catalyzed than catalytic
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 24 – Work the room at any global development or impact investing conference and you’ll hear grumblings about how development financial institutions …
Photo credit: Brogan Abroad.
Impact Management | March 24, 2022
Tikehau Capital impact debt fund secures $110 million from Dutch pension fund
ImpactAlpha, March 24 — Paris-based Tikehau Capital has received a $110 million allocation from Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, which has a commitment to invest 1% …
Photo credit: Clinicas del Azucar
Impact Voices | March 23, 2022
How incentives can successfully steer capital toward impact
ImpactAlpha, March 23 – Our economic system needs a reset. What drives it at the core are flows of money. Therefore, changing the …
Womevest team | Photo credit: Womvest
Gender Smart | March 10, 2022
Womvest and Secha Capital pilot gender-based debt fund for South Africa’s small businesses
ImpactAlpha, March 10 – South Africa-based Womvest launched last year to connect women entrepreneurs and investors for mutual support. The network of more …
Athens, Georgia
Community Finance | March 3, 2022
Social bonds direct proceeds to racial equity as the “S” gains prominence in ESG
When it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, the “S” has long been viewed as the more complicated piece of the …
Inclusive Economy | February 28, 2022
Social Finance will deploy $100 million from Google to upskill tech workers
ImpactAlpha, February 28 – Boston-based Social Finance has pioneered student-friendly “career impact bonds,” a form of income-sharing agreement, to reduce the risks to …
Impact Management | February 24, 2022
Memo to the Impact Task Force: Break down silos to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals
“And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in …
NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Catalytic Capital | February 16, 2022
Climate adaptation gets a fund of its own to invest in data, analytics and resilience
ImpactAlpha, February 16 — Investments to help businesses and communities adapt to climate change have long taken a back seat to financing to …
Electrospit product assembly | Photo credit: Electrospit
The Reconstruction | February 15, 2022
‘Impact notes’ help entrepreneurs recoup equity by creating good jobs and community wealth
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 15 – You may have heard of SAFE notes, “simple agreements for future equity” that reward startup investors with discounts on future …
Frontier and Growth Markets | February 14, 2022
Brazil’s Velvet raises $200 million to give early emerging market venture investors an exit
ImpactAlpha, February 14 – Exits are a persistent and nagging question in the relatively young field of impact investing. Brazil’s Velvet wants to …