Gender Smart
Inclusive Economy | March 8, 2024
Five women who invest for social justice
Everyone in the impact investing ecosystem has an impact origin story, a moment that helped point them toward business and finance as tools …
Impact Investing | March 8, 2024
Rachel Robasciotti, Adasina Social Capital: Climate justice is social justice
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 …
Impact Voices | March 8, 2024
Sonya Dreizler, CHOIR: Build a bigger table
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 …
Impact Voices | March 8, 2024
Lakota Vogel, Four Bands Community Fund: Rewriting the rules
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 …
exclude from paywall | March 8, 2024
Beth Bafford, Calvert Impact Capital: Everyone deserves a chance to fly
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 …
Inclusive Economy | March 8, 2024
Tanay Tatum-Edwards, FreeCap Financial: We Can’t Change What We Don’t Measure
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 …
Gender Smart | February 20, 2024
WIC Capital invests in a local snack food company in Senegal
ImpactAlpha, February 20 – Most African markets are heavily dependent on imported food products, despite the fact that most Africans depend on agriculture …
Financial Inclusion | February 12, 2024
First Circle backs Egypt’s Balad for cross-border payments
ImpactAlpha, February 12 – Egyptians living abroad send more than $30 billion a year to friends and family back home. Most of the …
Gender Smart | February 8, 2024
Village Capital partners with Standard Chartered to catalyze capital to African women in tech
ImpactAlpha, February 8 – Female founders receive just 2% of venture capital in Africa (and about the same globally). Standard Chartered bank launched …
Climate + Gender | February 7, 2024
In the Asia-Pacific region, girls just want to have funds!
In the bustling financial hub of Singapore, Rhea See, an early-stage fund manager at She Loves Tech Asia Emerging Outliers Fund, leads an …
Education Tech | January 11, 2024
Parallel Learning scores $20 million to provide teletherapy to students with special needs
ImpactAlpha, January 11— New York-based Parallel Learning partners with psychologists, speech-language pathologists, clinical social workers and special education teachers to serve more than …
Latin America | November 6, 2023
Pomona scores backing from the DFC and IFC for small businesses in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, November 6 – Pomona Impact Management has made 28 investments since 2011 to support small businesses in Central America. It stretched a …
Podcasts | November 3, 2023
Maria Hollan of Timke Ventures shares her journey to impact investing
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 …
Climate + Gender | October 30, 2023
Doubling down on guarantees, MCE Social Capital is unlocking capital for climate + gender
ImpactAlpha, October 30 – Impact investors know the challenges that come with building a market. Moving capital to address both climate change and …
Gender Smart | October 24, 2023
Gender lens investors at SOCAP23 look beyond the ‘business case’ to move capital to women
Don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness. That adage captured the mood shift among gender lens investors at this week’s SOCAP23 in San Francisco. Investors …
Gender Smart | October 19, 2023
Through a gender lens in Latin America, investors see opportunities for impact and alpha (videos)
Oct. 19, Medellín – The women of Comuna 13, a sprawling neighborhood in the hills above downtown Medellín, turned to graffiti art, hip-hop music …
Climate + Gender | October 18, 2023
MCE Social Capital notches $41.6 million for its sustainable agriculture fund
ImpactAlpha, October 18 – The MCE Empowering Sustainable Agriculture fund, or MESA, builds on MCE Capital’s 17 years of support for small agribusinesses …
Gender Smart | October 12, 2023
Sanari Capital lands $65 million to invest in South African businesses and job growth
ImpactAlpha, October 12 – Sanari Capital has for a decade provided growth capital to South Africa’s mid-sized businesses. The portfolio of the women-led, …
Gender Smart | October 12, 2023
Can the Community Reinvestment Act be a model for closing gender credit gaps in emerging markets?
Consider this: women face a daunting $1.7 trillion financing gap globally, according to the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative. Research from the Bill & …
The Liist | October 3, 2023
The Liist, October 2023: Native and women-led funds tap opportunities in climate and creativity
ImpactAlpha, October 4 – There may be too few female fund managers managing too little global investment capital. But in many months, more …
Ownership Economy | October 2, 2023
How Dearfield Fund helps Black women buy homes to build wealth and health
ImpactAlpha, October 2 — Equitable homeownership is a key strategy for narrowing racial wealth gaps. Centering Black women is key to the success …
Podcasts | September 1, 2023
Democratizing gender lens investing in Latin America
Pro Mujer’s Carmen Correa joins host Monique Aiken to share how the pioneering Latin American microfinance institution’s bonds are democratizing gender lens investing …
Gender Smart | August 24, 2023
Local investors help Ditiro Capital raise $14.5 million for job creation in South Africa
ImpactAlpha, August 24 – South Africa has an abundance of minerals, renewable energy and other natural resources. It also has a struggling economy, …
Gender Smart | August 21, 2023
With gender bonds, Pro Mujer puts Argentina’s capital markets to work for female entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 21 – The amounts are small, but the implications could be profound. When micro lender Pro Mujer earlier this year distributed …
Investing in Health | July 26, 2023
Five35 Ventures backs Zuri Health to expand mobile healthcare in Africa
ImpactAlpha, July 26 – Kenya-based Zuri has a mobile app to help patients connect with doctors and local healthcare services. It also offers …
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. …
Inclusive Economy | June 29, 2023
BlueOrchard secures $100 million to back underserved small enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean
ImpactAlpha, June 30 — Swiss impact investor BlueOrchard, in partnership with Global Affairs Canada and IDB Invest, is launching a private debt fund …
Low-carbon transition | June 26, 2023
Kubik scores $3.3 million to upcycle plastic waste into low-carbon building materials
ImpactAlpha, June 26 — Buildings account for 40% of total global carbon emissions, because of how building materials are produced, what materials are …
Frontier and Growth Markets | June 14, 2023
Aviom Housing Finance scores $30 million to help low-income Indians become homeowners
ImpactAlpha, June 14 – Aviom Housing Finance offers affordable housing loans to low-income families in India, many of whom work in the informal …
Gender Smart | May 23, 2023
2X Challenge mobilizes $27 billion for women and girls’ economic resilience and inclusion
ImpactAlpha, May 23 – Development finance institutions of the G7 set a small but significant goal five years ago: within two years, invest …
Gender Smart | May 22, 2023
Bringing women to the forefront of sustainable development
The following is an excerpt from “Working to restore: Harnessing the power of regenerative business to heal the world,” by Esha Chhabra. In …
Catalytic Capital | May 10, 2023
Visa provides catalytic ‘working capital’ grant to three women-led funds in Africa
ImpactAlpha, May 10 – Female fund managers control just a sliver of private equity and venture capital assets globally, much less in Africa. …
Gender Smart | May 3, 2023
Anthemis scores backing from Visa and BMO for women-focused fintech fund
ImpactAlpha, May 3 – Despite growing recognition of gender-based investing, the needle on how much women-led startups raise hasn’t moved in years. In …
Climate + Gender | April 11, 2023
With climate + gender fund, Suzanne Biegel is heading for change
If and when we have met the climate challenge, a key success factor will be clear: women. If you share that thesis, you …
Dealflow | April 7, 2023
Deal spotlight: For female fund managers, catalytic grants are about more than money
ImpactAlpha, April 7 – Catalytic capital comes in many varieties, but the purpose is the same: to spur investment to people, places and …
Return on Inclusion | April 6, 2023
Native Women Lead secures backing from Comcast to finance Indigenous women-owned businesses
ImpactAlpha, April 6 – Indigenous women-owned businesses employed more than 61,000 people and generated $11 billion in revenues last year. Women are the …
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. …
Investing in Health | March 27, 2023
Mamotest secures $3.3 million for breast cancer screening in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, March 27 – Breast cancer survival rates are significantly lower in many emerging markets than in high-income countries. Startup Mamotest want to …
Frontier and Growth Markets | March 15, 2023
Inua Capital secures $8 million to offer flexible capital for small businesses in Uganda
ImpactAlpha, March 15 – Kim Kamarebe founded Inua Capital to provide growth equity and mentorship to Uganda’s small businesses that are creating jobs …
Climate + Gender | March 8, 2023
Frontline communities hold the keys to inclusive gender and climate finance
Good green jobs. Better climate solutions. Food security. Resilient supply chains. Increased wealth in low-income communities. And increased returns for more stakeholders. Those …
Impact Investing | March 8, 2023
Trillion-dollar opportunity: Tackling women’s digital exclusion in the developing world
For all the optimism contained in International Women’s Day, the reality is that in most places around the world, the gender gap isn’t …
Podcasts | March 3, 2023
Sana Kapadia on the alpha opportunity for investors who are gender smart
2x Global’s Sana Kapadia joins host Monique Aiken to ring in Women’s History Month and talk about the state of gender-lens investing. Plus, …
Women Entrepreneurs | January 17, 2023
Amplifica Capital raises $11 million to invest in women tech founders in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, January 17 — Mexico City-based Amplifica Capital has raised $11 million for its first venture capital fund. The fund will make early-stage …
Investing in Health | January 9, 2023
Herself Health scores $7 million to provide value-based care to older women
ImpactAlpha, January 9 — St. Paul, Minn.-based Herself Health is looking to deliver advanced primary care to women with Medicare and Medicare Advantage …
Gender Smart | December 14, 2022
IIX raises $50 million for fifth Women’s Livelihood Bond
ImpactAlpha, December 14 – Singapore-based IIX has raised $50 million for the fifth bond in its Women’s Livelihood Bond series. The bond will …