the-300-club
Beats | March 30, 2017
Social impact is a tangible return on investment
The social impacts of our investments “have a much more profound impact on the majority of savers” than the returns a financial manager …
Generate’s Jigar Shah tapped to rev up the Department of Energy’s loan office. The lending program, mostly moribund for the past four years, “is back in business,” declared Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Shah pioneered no-money-down solar installations at SunEdison and went on to co-found Generate, an investor, owner and operator in microgrids, HVAC systems, biogas converters, charging depots, wastewater treatment and other categories of sustainable infrastructure (see, “Generate Capital raises $1 billion to scale sustainable infrastructure-as-a-service”). The department’s loan programs office has $40 billion in capital to speed the low-carbon transition. “He’s going to help us put together an indomitable portfolio of investments for American taxpayers, that will help us tackle climate change and create jobs,” Granholm said. “We’re ready to invest in advanced vehicles, carbon capture, advanced reactors and so much more.” The office, established by the 2009 stimulus bill, supported solar makers – including, famously, Solyndra – and helped Tesla build its first factory, but languished under the Trump administration. Shah will step down as Generate’s president. Scott Jacobs remains CEO; chief investment officer Matan Friedman will re-join the company’s board.
A new fund to launch the decade of purpose. Looking to meet the appetite of retail and professional investors for genuine and measurable impact investments, Conduit Capital and Ascension Ventures have launched The Conduit EIS Impact Fund to invest in high-impact businesses sourced by Conduit Connect.
Chicago-based venture funds aim to bridge funding gaps for overlooked founders. Three-quarters of the record $130 billion in U.S. venture capital funding last year went to startups in California, New York and Massachusetts. Chicago Ventures, Lightbank and Cleveland Avenue are looking to even the playing field with new funds based in and focused on the Midwest.
Michael Herskovich is named global head of stewardship at BNP Paribas Asset Management… Prime Coalition is hiring a director of impact in Cambridge and a partnerships associate in San Francisco… UN Women is hiring a strategic partnership specialist in New York... Google is accepting grant applications from Black tech startup founders in Europe… Tideline’s Ben Thornley hosts “Climate Investing with True Impact” with Nuveen’s Allison Spector, Prime Impact Fund’s Amy Duffuor, Brookfield Asset Management’s Natalie Adomait and Rede Partners’ Jeremy Smith, Tuesday, March 9.
ImpactAlpha, January 6 — A few of the keywords thrown around on last month’s Agents of Impact Call No. 26: accountability, electrification, institutional, …
What: The Call No. 25: Gender-smart investing for a sustainable recovery Join SME.NG’s Thelma Ekiyor, Trade Depot’s Onyekachi Izukanne, Development Partners International’s Takudzwa Mutasa, Alitheia’s Temilade Denton, …
The people and principles needed to solve the challenges of financing solar power for frontline health clinics were represented on ImpactAlpha’s Agents of …
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – What got us here won’t get us where we need to go. Guidelines that govern global finance need to …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 27 – Investors have been talking about systemic risks at least since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. More recently, climate …
It’s long past time to get political. Impact investing, with appeal on both the left and the right, has generally steered clear of …
“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.
ImpactAlpha, Jun 24 – The action in climate action is shifting to infrastructure. Driven by falling price curves for renewables, mispriced risk, and …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 4 – A disruptive technology has to be 10 times better than what it’s replacing. Tech venture capitalists aim to recoup …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 30 – The first annual assessments of impact investors are coming in under the International Finance Corporation’s Operating Principles for Impact …
ImpactAlpha, February 5 – Small and growing businesses are the pillars of local economies, in both developed and developing economies. Startups are engines …
ImpactAlpha, April 14 – Don’t refer to conventional finance as ‘mainstream,’ ImpactAlpha’s David Bank said on The Call earlier this month. Call it ‘legacy …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 1 – There was an important history lesson embedded in the confirmation hearings of Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland, who is expected to …
On this week’s podcast, host Monique Aiken chats with ImpactAlpha’s Roodgally Senatus about Bitwise Industries’ big raise and BlocPower’s Donnel Baird, this week’s …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 25 – Philanthropic foundations tend to be cautious and slow-moving beasts. One signal of the urgency of the current moment: the billion-dollar …
Host Brian Walsh is joined by Amy Cortese to talk about the growing corporate demand for soil carbon.
Host Monique Aiken checks in with Suzanne Biegel in London to debrief this week’s GenderSmart Investing Summit.
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 10 – The broad problem of systemic bias in the asset management industry became very specific when fund manager Rachel Robasciotti pitched …
On this week’s show, host Brian Walsh engages NYU Stern School’s Tensie Whelan about corporate board leadership – or the lack of it …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 3 – As founder of The Workers Lab, Dr. Carmen Rojas led a nonprofit incubator and investor with the tagline “building power …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 2 – A contested election. A political deal. An historic sellout. Screech… halt… stop. The presidential election just finished had a decidedly …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 1 – Talk about a signal. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 kicked off the period of systemic reform, multi-racial progress and shared …
ImpactAlpha, Feb 1 – The Reconstruction series will engage investors, entrepreneurs, activists and academics in the U.S. and around the world, as Aiken puts …
Host Monique Aiken and David Bank introduce The Reconstruction, the series of racial justice podcasts and posts launching next week on ImpactAlpha.
In The Price of Inequality, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz notes the moments in history when people rise up to say something …
With Democrats now in control of both the House and Senate, the Biden Administration has a once in a generation opportunity to “build …
As it reported its fourth straight quarterly loss yesterday, Exxon tried to deflect a growing shareholder revolt by adding an independent board member …
“Materiality is being redefined – through pressure on business from wider civil society, and through precedents established by company practice and, increasingly, regulation …
As we finally put 2020 into hindsight, the road ahead is uncertain. On the one hand, stock markets continue to thrive, and the …
Regenerative agriculture may be in vogue, but in many ways, it’s as old as agriculture itself, as practiced by our ancestors and to …
Pollution and climate change disproportionately affect communities of color. In the U.S., decades of systemic racism and economic disadvantages mean Black and Hispanic …
After years of signaling its intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement to fight climate change, the United States made the decision official …
During Bill Clinton’s campaign for the presidency, he shared his vision of a federal government initiative that would provide $1 billion in financial …
Marcia Fudge will be the 6th Black person to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 1966, so how could …
Power is critical to Africa’s development. At least 600 million people across the continent that don’t have access to affordable and reliable power. …
Redavia Solar created a concessionary solar power program to continue attracting customers
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 26 – There was no heat in the building in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood where Baird grew up, so he and his sister …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 19 – The former Hollywood super agent spotted a disconnect. Those green-lighting movies and TV didn’t represent the diverse audiences consuming them. …
Goldman Sachs’ commitment this week of $130 million in credit to Jackson, Miss.-based Hope was the latest, and one of the largest, shows …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 5 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a warning for nations prioritizing self-interest in their pandemic responses: “No one in the world can be …
If putting a price on carbon is the key to getting to net-zero, Bill Winters – with an assist from Mark Carney – …
In a star-studded inauguration featuring Lady Gaga and J-Lo, the 22-year old poet stole the spotlight at president Joe Biden’s inauguration. Accolades poured …
“Welcome to the New Georgia,” proclaimed Senator-elect Raphael Warnock. “It is more diverse, and it’s more inclusive. And it readily embraces the future.” …
Earlier this week, 91-year-old Margaret Keenan in England received the first COVID-19 vaccination (yes, the second was an 81-year-old named William Shakespeare). That …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 4 – You could almost see the tumbleweed blowing down the streets of downtown Las Vegas when Tony Hsieh launched The Downtown …
ImpactAlpha, November 20 – Follow the women… to catalyze an economic recovery and unlock trillions in new consumer spending power. Tech-enabled startups are …
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 13 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline on the snappy Agents of Impact section on the new ImpactAlpha.com …
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 30 – Two years ago, ImpactAlpha recognized Kesha Cash as an Agent of Impact for her cutting-edge investment thesis: the billion-dollar …
The social impacts of our investments “have a much more profound impact on the majority of savers” than the returns a financial manager …