News and Information
Photo credit: Gram Vaani
Dealflow | July 14, 2023
Deal spotlight: A social media platform for India’s poor
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – The founders of Delhi-based Gram Vaani had a vision for giving India’s rural poor a greater voice and agency. …
Photo credit: Gram Vaani
Dealflow | July 12, 2023
Acumen invests in Gram Vaani to increase accountability in India’s ‘media dark’ communities
ImpactAlpha, July 12 – If “democracy dies in darkness,” as the Washington Post says, there’s cause for concern in India, the world’s largest …
Image credit: CTVC
News and Information | May 21, 2023
CTVC secures $1.8 million to ramp up climate-tech data insights
ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Climate investor Kim Zou launched Climate Tech VC in 2020 to track trends in climate tech investing. The free …
ESG | September 7, 2022
Dow Jones raises stakes in ESG data competition with news-driven ratings
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 7 – The opinion page of The Wall Street Journal has proudly championed the campaign to discredit environmental, social and governance, or …
Photo credit: European Journalism Observatory.
Dealflow | November 30, 2021
Media Development Investment Fund backs Pluralis to invest in independent media in Europe
ImpactAlpha, November 30 — The decline of independent global news outlets has accelerated with rising news censorship and danger for journalists. MDFI’s Emerging …
News and Information | September 28, 2021
Media boomlet in climate and impact investing follows the money
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 28 – Media outlets cite the flow of capital to ESG and climate funds as evidence of the arrival of impact investing. …
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
Capitalism Reimagined | September 14, 2021
Disinformation poses systemic risks – so universal owners are pressing media companies to renounce it
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 14 – Talk about negative externalities. False information intended to mislead viewers on climate, COVID-19, racial justice and other issues may drive …
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
News and Information | March 10, 2021
Reliable digital media is fertile ground for Media Development Investment Fund
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 10 – The push: Government-backed media outlets and oligarch-vested interests are pushing down trust in journalism around the world. The pull: The …
Dealflow | September 24, 2020
MacArthur Foundation commits $25 million to COVID recovery and election integrity
ImpactAlpha, September 24 – MacArthur Foundation has made grants totaling $10 million to organizations supporting Black, Native and other under-represented groups disproportionately affected …
Billionaires | September 2, 2020
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg commit $300 million to safe, fair elections
ImpactAlpha, September 2 – Two impact investors sounded off in ImpactAlpha this week about the importance of securing the fairness of the November …
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Creative Economy | July 16, 2020
Investing in news and media by and for people of color
ImpactAlpha, July 16 – Blavity’s $1.5 million raise from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (and another $9.5 million from earlier investors) helped demonstrate the …
Asia | July 25, 2019
Myanmar-based Frontiir raises $30 million to expand affordable and reliable internet
ImpactAlpha, July 25 – Access to digital services remains low in the Southeast Asia country of 53 million people, despite recent expansion of …
Dealflow | July 23, 2019
Knight Foundation awards $50 million to study tech’s impact on democracy
ImpactAlpha, July 23 – Arts and journalism-focused Knight Foundation is committing $50 million to 11 university research projects that explore technology’s influence on democracy …
Dealflow | July 17, 2019
New Media Ventures backs startups engaging new voters and voices
ImpactAlpha, July 18 – Civic tech investor New Media Ventures announced investments into 17 startups that will share $1.5 million funding. The portfolio includes …
Africa | June 20, 2019
Taz Technologies raises early capital for Kenyan postal service MPost
ImpactAlpha, June 20 – Kenya’s unreliable postal service is hampering retailers and consumers among the country’s 20 million internet users. Kenyan startup Taz Technologies …
Latin America | June 13, 2019
Blue like an Orange finances information technology acquisition in Brazil
ImpactAlpha, June 13 – Grupo Cimcorp, one of Brazil’s largest information technology service providers, lined up an undisclosed amount of financing to acquire …
Catalytic Capital | April 15, 2019
Luminate injects $4 million in anti-corruption organization Global Witness
ImpactAlpha, April 15 – U.S. and Europe-based Global Witness undertakes investigations in transnational corruption, covering abuses in everything from oil and mineral extraction to …
Impact Management | March 18, 2019
Impact investors struggle to reclaim the narrative
Everybody loves to catch an overprivileged, entitled self-proclaimed do-gooder in an embarrassing contradiction. That helps explain why the fall of former Rise Fund …
Dealflow | February 7, 2019
Media Development Investment Fund raises $13 million for journalism in markets hostile to the press
ImpactAlpha, February 7 – “Democracy dies in darkness,” the Washington Post’s Super Bowl ad warned. Independent media shines a light, especially in emerging markets where …
Dealflow | February 7, 2019
Rise Fund and Elevar co-invest in positive news platform The Better India
ImpactAlpha, February 6 – Social impact content platform The Better India raised its Series A investment round from TPG’s Rise Fund and Elevar …
Blockchain/AI/IoT | January 30, 2019
Blockchain in action for social and civic impact
ImpactAlpha, January 30 – Say what you will about blockchain hype (see “Deals lag the hype in ‘blockchain for good’ investments”). But keep paying …
Beats | October 29, 2018
GSMA launches digital inclusion fund for Africa
ImpactAlpha, October 29 – GSMA, the industry network for mobile operators, is using a grant-based fund to seed companies in Uganda and Ghana …
Catalytic Capital | September 24, 2018
Craigslist founder backs news site to cover Big Tech’s impact on society
ImpactAlpha, September 24 – Former ProPublica investigative journalists Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson are planning to launch a new news organization, called The …
Dealflow | September 12, 2018
Innovation Endeavors backs Hoodline to fill local “news deserts”
ImpactAlpha, September 11 – Another deal to report this week from ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors fund. The fund participated in news service …
2030 Finance | September 6, 2018
Tizeti secures $3 million to bring solar-powered Wifi to Ghana
ImpactAlpha, September 5 – The Nigerian Y Combinator graduate builds solar-powered WiFi towers and provides high-speed internet access to 150,000 users via 7,000 …
Dealflow | July 23, 2018
Blavity raises $6.5 million to serve next-gen black media consumers
The digital media company has grown rapidly since launching in 2014 by delivering lifestyle, tech and finance content geared towards black millenials. Morgan …
GUWAHATI, INDIA - OCTOBER 10: Man reads a newspaper during the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 tournament on October 10, 2017 in Guwahati, India.
Dealflow | July 20, 2018
Omidyar Network backs Indian online news publisher The Ken
The Ken, a Bangalore-based online news company, publishes analytical business news from India on a subscription basis. Omidyar Network led the startup’s $1.5 …
Dealflow | July 20, 2018
Chance the Rapper buys local news pub the Chicagoist
The Chicagoist is part of the Gothamist news group, along with LAist and DCist. The group was bought (read: saved) by public radio …
Beats | April 5, 2018
Talking and walking the impact investment beat
Let’s cover impact investing like a real beat, on the hunch that it will become one. That was my standard line of a …
Dealflow | March 24, 2018
MDIF closes $6M loan fund for independent media
Media Development Investment Fund’s Media Finance I will issue loans to news organizations in emerging and frontier markets that need working capital, equipment …
Dealflow | March 9, 2018
NewsGuard launches with $6 million in backing to fight fake news
Steven Brill, founder of The American Lawyer and Court TV, and Gordon Crovitz, former Wall Street Journal publisher, are launching a platform to …
Dealflow | February 17, 2018
Omidyar Network backs Indian self-publishing platform Pratilipi
Ninety percent of India’s 1.2 billion people read, write and speak only their native language, but the overwhelming majority of online content available …
Creative Economy | November 18, 2017
Making the scene at the (highly quotable) Forbes Impact launch party
A retired global bank CEO has come to be helpful. Conversations cluster in front of the requisite logo-covered background poster, ready for celebrity …
Creative Economy | November 16, 2017
Forbes joins the impact investing parade with boldface-name reception
Sorry, it’s invite-only. The magazine’s event arm this week is gathering “the world’s most influential people — entrepreneurs, celebrities, family offices, athletes, investors, musicians, next-gen …
2030 Finance | November 14, 2017
(Almost) all-in on climate, indigenous economics in Australia, media goes impact, climate-smart…
Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original America pledges itself (almost) all-in on climate action. There’s a powerful idea emerging at the global climate …
Entrepreneurship | October 24, 2017
ImpactAlpha joins The Information Accelerator to drive revenue growth
Blockchain for good. Women rising in India. The $2.5 trillion SDG challenge. Reviving American communities. Financing climate action. The impact investing beats go on. …
Catalytic Capital | October 19, 2017
George Soros’ $18 billion gift to Open Society Foundations could boost impact investments
The hedge-fund billionaire and a global advocate has transferred $18 billion in assets to his long-time philanthropy. With the gift, to be distributed …
Dealflow | October 16, 2017
Pennsylvania newspaper and university partner on incubator for rural businesses
Washington & Jefferson College and the Observer-Reporter, the local paper in Washington County, Pa., are starting a $2.5 million incubator to support local …
Beats | October 13, 2017
Four suns: ‘Impact rating’ issued for a publicly traded mutual fund
Impact investing’s march into the mainstream continues. This week, Community Capital Management’s CRA-Qualified Investment Fund became the first publicly-traded mutual fund to receive …
Impact Management | October 6, 2017
How privacy can keep up with the explosion of data
Smart cities of the 21st century are going to collect enormous amounts of information about their residents. Crossing city records like tax payments, …
Beats | September 28, 2017
Four steps to impact investing storytelling
Impact investing is riding a wave of powerful forces, including a large generational wealth transfer, the inclination of millennials to invest with their …
Good Jobs | September 27, 2017
Buffalo’s impact fund, Jopwell & job diversity, pension funds can’t hide, ag’s water-risk hotspots
Good Tuesday evening, ImpactAlpha readers! Spread the love. If you like what you read here in ImpactAlpha’s daily brief, please invite your colleagues, …
Dealflow | September 1, 2017
Media Innovation Program to cultivate independent media in South Africa
Free and independent media was limited under South Africa’s decades-long apartheid regime and is an increasing concern under the government of embattled President …
Beats | August 31, 2017
Can business go high, South Africa’s independent media, globalization and social entrepreneurship…
Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original From ‘condemn and disband’ to ‘invest and transform.’ Was the mass resignation of the country’s top CEOs …
Blockchain/AI/IoT | August 16, 2017
SoftBank puts $7.5 million behind Altaeros to expand internet access
Four billion people — more than half the world’s population — lack reliable internet access, while 1.5 billion don’t have mobile-broadband reception. Altaeros, a company out of …