Bamboo Capital wants to raise $500 million for a series global funds make "missing middle" investments in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Impact Investment Exchange closes second Women’s Livelihoods Bond at $12 million

Proceeds from the bond, the second in IIX's Women’s Livelihood Bond series, will support organizations helping low-income women in Southeast Asia transition to sustainable livelihoods.

Agent of Impact: Faheen Allibhoy, JP Morgan Development Finance Institution

Allibhoy starts her job Feb. 1 with the clock ticking. The global development community estimates an additional $2.5 trillion is needed each year in order to meet the SDGs by 2030.

Blue Like an Orange offers a report card for the Sustainable Development Goals (podcast)

To share its early learnings, Blue like an Orange is releasing its internal rating system, SDG Blue, which scores investments against the SDGs in much the same way Moody’s scores companies’ credit ratings.
“We wanted to find a way to take the SDGs seriously and have a guide for how we select deals, diligence deals and how they move through our process,” says co-founder Suprotik Basu. “There’s a real temptation to back into the icon or the goal that makes sense, and that’s how you get to your SDG impact. That didn’t feel right to us.”

Ecovadis inks $200 million investment to rate companies’ supply chain sustainability

The company says its ratings system is used by more than 450 corporations’ procurement teams representing $2.5 trillion in business spending.

Small businesses, big opportunities: Where to hunt for impact investments in Africa this year

Different approaches in different sectors, “all add up to the same thing, which is improving small business infrastructure,” the key to inclusive economic growth.