Dealflow | January 31, 2017
Biz and tech execs pledge to support refugees and immigrants
With Silicon Valley the epicenter of immigrant-driven wealth creation, tech titans are making up for a slow start to speak out against the …
EPA’s new partners plot a $27 billion path to a US green bank. The announcement of the winners of “green bank” funding under the Inflation Reduction Act is so close at hand that the Environmental Protection Agency has imposed a 48-hour press blackout. Even if they're not saying anything publicly, the lineup of nonprofit housing developers, state-level green banks, local community development financial institutions, and other networks seeking mandates under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund already know who they are. The three coalitions that are widely expected to be chosen to manage the largest part of the fund, the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, include Power Forward, Climate United and the Coalition for Green Capital. The capital infusion is expected to accelerate not only the low-carbon transition, but access to capital in low-, middle-income and other communities that have borne the brunt of environmental pollution (see our recent Agents of Impact Call). Another $6 billion for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will be distributed through a half-dozen nonprofit hubs to provide technical assistance to community lenders; and $7 billion in Solar for All grants is expected to soon go out to states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities and nonprofits.
Private investing and blended capital with a climate + gender lens. Partners Invest for Better and Heading for Change are offering a five-part virtual course on investing at the nexus of climate and gender. Heading for Change, established by Suzanne Biegel and Daniel Maskit, makes catalytic investments and grants to accelerate climate solutions and advance gender equity. Producer and host Tuti Scott, author of “Moving Money for Impact: A Guide to Gender Lens Investing,” designed the 90-minute sessions to move participants from interest to knowledge to action. The weekly program kicks off Wednesday, April 17. Whether you're a seasoned investor or new to private equity and debt, this course promises valuable insights and a supportive community eager to help you make a difference.
InStride Health raises $30 million for pediatric mental health services. About one-third of young people will struggle with anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorders by the age of 18. Boston-based InStride launched in 2021 to provide affordable specialty outpatient care for young patients. The company uses evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention. InStride says 90% of its nearly 1,000 patients experienced a reduction in anxiety after two months. InStride's digital platform offers care "at a lower cost than inpatient care, making it easier for underserved populations to access care," said Erin Sietstra of San Francisco-based Hopelab, founded by the Omidyar Group, which backed InStride’s Series B round. Other investors in the round include General Catalyst, Mass General Brigham Ventures and .406 Ventures.
How a $75 million ‘basket bond’ is catalyzing climate lending to small businesses in emerging markets. Local and community lenders in the US are preparing for a windfall of financing from the federal government to advance climate resilience and the green transition in underinvested communities (see above). There isn’t yet a comparable pot of capital for lenders in underinvested and climate-vulnerable countries. Investors are designing instruments to prepare and capitalize local financial institutions for green lending to small businesses at scale. “There's a real need for this type of smaller-ticket climate lending,” says Jo Fry of British International Investment. The UK development finance institution partnered in 2022 Symbiotics on a “basket bond” to spur green lending among small business lenders in Africa and Asia.
Bala Nagarajan, formerly of NextEra Energy, joins S2G Ventures as managing director of its energy team… The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund and the Climate Equity Action Fund seek a president and chief executive officer… Blue Earth Capital is recruiting a private equity analyst or associate in New York… Blackrock is hiring a climate finance partnership director in New York or London… Black Farmer Fund seeks a development and investor relations director and a business support director.
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
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 …
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
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 …
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
On This Week in Impact, Brian Walsh dives into some of ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. This week: the …
Venture capital invested nearly $500 billion in 2022. By investing into startups seeking transformational scale, successful venture-backed companies have the potential to change …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 29 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors told David Bank of ImpactAlpha …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 22 – Diverse innovators building for all customers in large industries like digital health, fintech and the future of work have been …
The numbers tell the story: overall attendance at COP28 is up threefold from last year – and the number of fossil fuel lobbyists …
Private foundations collectively control more than a trillion dollars of capital invested across a variety of traditional asset classes. A small portion of …
ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
Pension funds, with hundreds of billions in long-term assets, can be a key source of capital for impact investors and entrepreneurs. Black, Indigenous, …
The Wilmington coup of 1898 is not as well known as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. But the events of that day changed …
ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price catches up with María Hollan, a second-generation steward of her family’s assets at Timke Ventures in Mexico City. Hollan was …
“We need to invest in life, rather than expensive infrastructure investments,” Anne van Leeuwen, a founding farmer from the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture, pleaded …
Over the past 15 years, my personal journey has been dedicated to making the world a better place, navigating through various stages of …
(Editor’s note: The insights in this article reflect the work of a diverse array of Catalytic Capital Consortium partners. The outputs of this …
Editor’s note: This guest post is sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with Impact Ventures, ImpactAlpha is exploring the …
Even as inflationary pressures begin to subside, affordable housing and community-based organizations continue to operate on thin margins. That means they’re less able …
Much like the broader financial system, green lending in the US has primarily focused on higher-income, White borrowers with higher credit scores. The …
Should the US government really be allocating public funds to support oil drilling in the Middle East? This question comes sharply into focus …
Essential insights: The core of the debate Recent discussions have raised critical questions about the role of private equity in fostering resilient, inclusive …
When the University of Virginia issued the first Build America Bond ($250 million) in April of 2009, it was just about three months …
Municipal (muni) bond financing is as influential for communities as it might be invisible to many. It is the driving source of funding …
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
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 …
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – John Moore quit his corporate gig and moved to Philadelphia two decades ago. He found a city rich in …
EPA’s new partners plot a $27 billion path to a US green bank. The announcement of the winners of “green bank” funding under the Inflation Reduction Act is so close at hand that the Environmental Protection Agency has imposed a 48-hour press blackout. Even if they're not saying anything publicly, the lineup of nonprofit housing developers, state-level green banks, local community development financial institutions, and other networks seeking mandates under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund already know who they are. The three coalitions that are widely expected to be chosen to manage the largest part of the fund, the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, include Power Forward, Climate United and the Coalition for Green Capital. The capital infusion is expected to accelerate not only the low-carbon transition, but access to capital in low-, middle-income and other communities that have borne the brunt of environmental pollution (see our recent Agents of Impact Call). Another $6 billion for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will be distributed through a half-dozen nonprofit hubs to provide technical assistance to community lenders; and $7 billion in Solar for All grants is expected to soon go out to states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities and nonprofits.
Private investing and blended capital with a climate + gender lens. Partners Invest for Better and Heading for Change are offering a five-part virtual course on investing at the nexus of climate and gender. Heading for Change, established by Suzanne Biegel and Daniel Maskit, makes catalytic investments and grants to accelerate climate solutions and advance gender equity. Producer and host Tuti Scott, author of “Moving Money for Impact: A Guide to Gender Lens Investing,” designed the 90-minute sessions to move participants from interest to knowledge to action. The weekly program kicks off Wednesday, April 17. Whether you're a seasoned investor or new to private equity and debt, this course promises valuable insights and a supportive community eager to help you make a difference.
InStride Health raises $30 million for pediatric mental health services. About one-third of young people will struggle with anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorders by the age of 18. Boston-based InStride launched in 2021 to provide affordable specialty outpatient care for young patients. The company uses evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention. InStride says 90% of its nearly 1,000 patients experienced a reduction in anxiety after two months. InStride's digital platform offers care "at a lower cost than inpatient care, making it easier for underserved populations to access care," said Erin Sietstra of San Francisco-based Hopelab, founded by the Omidyar Group, which backed InStride’s Series B round. Other investors in the round include General Catalyst, Mass General Brigham Ventures and .406 Ventures.
How a $75 million ‘basket bond’ is catalyzing climate lending to small businesses in emerging markets. Local and community lenders in the US are preparing for a windfall of financing from the federal government to advance climate resilience and the green transition in underinvested communities (see above). There isn’t yet a comparable pot of capital for lenders in underinvested and climate-vulnerable countries. Investors are designing instruments to prepare and capitalize local financial institutions for green lending to small businesses at scale. “There's a real need for this type of smaller-ticket climate lending,” says Jo Fry of British International Investment. The UK development finance institution partnered in 2022 Symbiotics on a “basket bond” to spur green lending among small business lenders in Africa and Asia.
Bala Nagarajan, formerly of NextEra Energy, joins S2G Ventures as managing director of its energy team… The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund and the Climate Equity Action Fund seek a president and chief executive officer… Blue Earth Capital is recruiting a private equity analyst or associate in New York… Blackrock is hiring a climate finance partnership director in New York or London… Black Farmer Fund seeks a development and investor relations director and a business support director.
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
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 …
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
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 …
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
On This Week in Impact, Brian Walsh dives into some of ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. This week: the …
Venture capital invested nearly $500 billion in 2022. By investing into startups seeking transformational scale, successful venture-backed companies have the potential to change …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 29 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors told David Bank of ImpactAlpha …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 22 – Diverse innovators building for all customers in large industries like digital health, fintech and the future of work have been …
The numbers tell the story: overall attendance at COP28 is up threefold from last year – and the number of fossil fuel lobbyists …
Private foundations collectively control more than a trillion dollars of capital invested across a variety of traditional asset classes. A small portion of …
ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
Pension funds, with hundreds of billions in long-term assets, can be a key source of capital for impact investors and entrepreneurs. Black, Indigenous, …
The Wilmington coup of 1898 is not as well known as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. But the events of that day changed …
ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price catches up with María Hollan, a second-generation steward of her family’s assets at Timke Ventures in Mexico City. Hollan was …
“We need to invest in life, rather than expensive infrastructure investments,” Anne van Leeuwen, a founding farmer from the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture, pleaded …
Over the past 15 years, my personal journey has been dedicated to making the world a better place, navigating through various stages of …
(Editor’s note: The insights in this article reflect the work of a diverse array of Catalytic Capital Consortium partners. The outputs of this …
Editor’s note: This guest post is sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with Impact Ventures, ImpactAlpha is exploring the …
Even as inflationary pressures begin to subside, affordable housing and community-based organizations continue to operate on thin margins. That means they’re less able …
Much like the broader financial system, green lending in the US has primarily focused on higher-income, White borrowers with higher credit scores. The …
Should the US government really be allocating public funds to support oil drilling in the Middle East? This question comes sharply into focus …
Essential insights: The core of the debate Recent discussions have raised critical questions about the role of private equity in fostering resilient, inclusive …
When the University of Virginia issued the first Build America Bond ($250 million) in April of 2009, it was just about three months …
Municipal (muni) bond financing is as influential for communities as it might be invisible to many. It is the driving source of funding …
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
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 …
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – John Moore quit his corporate gig and moved to Philadelphia two decades ago. He found a city rich in …
With Silicon Valley the epicenter of immigrant-driven wealth creation, tech titans are making up for a slow start to speak out against the …