In the Climate Week mix: Policy tailwinds, green banks, talent pipeline. Hard choices have to be made… about which of the hundreds of Climate Week NYC events to attend. As the rain gave way to sunny skies, so did the gloomy outlook from the United Nations and its less-than-ambitious Climate Ambition Summit. The brighter outlook was palpable all over town among the entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and experts chomping at the bit to drive the zero-carbon transition.
European Investment Fund plugs €40 million into Blume Equity. Blume is one of a small number of climate tech venture funds with all female founders. The firm invests in growth-stage companies in Europe supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, such as carbon accounting venture Normative, which helps large companies account for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, and Aerones, which makes robotics for wind turbine maintenance. EIF backed Blume as part of its commitment to direct a quarter of its investments to climate and environment-related projects. It joins Swedish pension fund AP4, Visa Foundation, and Impact Engine as an investor in Blume.
Messiness, mutuality and methodology: Three tips for measuring impact. The impact investing advisory firm Candide has moved more than $200 million into 110 social justice-focused companies, funds and other organizations. Its investments include ventures like Totem and Solar Holler and managers like Impact America Fund and Mac Venture Capital. What was the actual impact of those impact investments? Candide’s Jasmine Rashid and team spent the last two years seeking answers to that question for the firm’s first public impact report. In a guest post for ImpactAlpha, Rashid shares tips for designing meaningful impact measurement processes “that serve all stakeholders – not just those providing financial capital.” Among them:
Agents of Impact are remembering and paying tribute to catalyst-at-large Suzanne Biegel, who passed away yesterday. A champion of gender-lens investing and founder of GenderSmart (now part of 2X Global) Biegel created a legacy project, Heading for Change, with her husband, Daniel Maskit (for background see, "With climate + gender fund, Suzanne Biegel is heading for change").
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, Feb. 9 – The fatal beating by police of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month exposed risks to the city’s finances that have …
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 18 – Cities around the U.S. are raising low-cost capital in the municipal bond markets by highlighting intentional efforts to address long-standing …
ImpactAlpha, September 30 – Capital to support women’s economic growth and financial inclusion is flowing – finally! – in many advanced economies. In emerging …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 19 – Investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and world leaders have descended on New York for Climate Week, the annual gathering alongside the …
ImpactAlpha, June 27 – ImpactAlpha’s spring season of Agents of Impact Calls spanned a period of tumult in the financial markets: instability in …
ImpactAlpha, June 3 – Just as investment in financial inclusion in Africa was really ramping up, a market downturn threatens to slow progress. Or …
ImpactAlpha, May 13 – One defining outcome of the pandemic: a boom in entrepreneurship. A record five million businesses were started in the …
🎧 Impact Briefing. Host Brian Walsh chats with Amy Cortese to set the stage for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC. …
David Bank catches up with Robert Munson, President of SOCAP and Managing director at the Sorenson Impact Center, who is putting together next …
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 …
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 …
Paris Prince of the Intentional Endowments Network joins host Monique Aiken to talk about how impact investors are responding to legal attacks on …
Quito, Ecuador, is more than 9,000 feet above sea level. But even higher than the city are Andean wetlands that filter, store and …
David Bank chats with Acre Africa’s Niza Banda in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting capital to communities” gathering at the Salzburg …
Drawing Africa’s pension funds deeper into impact investing is one of the goals of this week’s Africa Impact Summit in Cape Town, South …
David Bank chats with Empowa’s Glen Jordan in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting Capital to Communities” gathering at the Salzburg Global …
David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital …
David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital …
David Bank catches up with Michaela Kauer of the city of Vienna to talk about that city’s model of social, affordable housing. Plus, …
Note: This is an abridged version for ImpactAlpha. For all 10 tips, please visit this article on Medium.com. At the end of 2022, …
As world leaders gather in New York City this week for the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week, investors and funders …
African countries have huge infrastructure needs, and governments need private investment to help meet them, particularly considering increasing climate impacts and green development …
Renewable energy generation and storage opportunities were a key focus at last week’s Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, culminating in $26 billion in new …
Impact investing offers the promise of greater impact per dollar as funds are returned and recycled into new investments that generate new impact. …
This essay is adapted from Marjorie Kelly’s forthcoming book, “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s …
The European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as SFDR, is making waves in the investment industry. The legislative measure, introduced in 2019, …
The temperature was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit the day I met Roopa, a widowed mother of three, on her tiny plot of land …
An increasingly important question for impact investors is how to validate that their investments are having the intended impact on people or the …
Over the last few years, the main story around U.S. food waste funding has been that private capital has started to pay attention and invest …
Investors focused on societal impact are often concerned with corporate treatment of workers. To assess job quality performance across a portfolio, they generally …
There is untapped capacity and enthusiasm for catalytic capital by “high net wealth individuals” (HNIs) and family offices. TONIIC recently surveyed more than …
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 …
ImpactAlpha, April 28 — A first generation Nigerian-American, Su Sanni grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens. The low-income neighborhoods, …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 21 – Attorney and academic Lourdes Germán recognized early the power of public finance. She has spent years working at firms including …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 14 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors tells ImpactAlpha’s David Bank. “You …
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – Hundreds of companies and investors this week urged policymakers to protect their “freedom to invest responsibly,” marking a new …
ClearlySo, an impact investment bank, helped Thrive beat its fundraising target of £500,000 ($630,000) to develop software to help individuals manage mental health conditions.
ClearlySo said it also helped Crehana, based in Lima, raise a seed round of $750,000 to build out its online platform for designers, photographers and video-producers in Spanish-speaking markets.
Photo: GARY WATERS VIA GETTY IMAGES
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{{beat.name}}ImpactAlpha, September 14 — Women leaders of color are stepping up ecosystem-building efforts to counter the recent legal attacks against minority-owned and led …
This essay is adapted from Marjorie Kelly’s forthcoming book, “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s …
ImpactAlpha, August 23 — Over the decades, discriminatory practices in the US real estate industry have blocked many households of color from the …
ImpactAlpha, August 22 — Brooklyn, NY-based Teamshares has raised $245 million to build a national portfolio of 10,000 employee-owned small businesses. The opportunity: …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 — KKR’s acquisition of New York-based book publishing giant Simon & Schuster earlier this month signals that investors with employee-ownership …
ImpactAlpha, July 25 — In Kansas City, Mo., Troost Ave. divides the predominantly Black eastside from whiter and more affluent neighborhoods to the …
ImpactAlpha, July 24 – Rapid development of new clean energy capacity may be what’s needed amid an increasingly urgent climate crisis. But fast …
ImpactAlpha, July 12 — A “new wealth agenda” aims to increase by 10-fold the wealth of U.S. households of color and those in …
ImpactAlpha, July 6 — Los Angeles-based fast-casual chain Everytable has raised $25 million to support its growth plan, “which includes opening retail locations …
ImpactAlpha, June 28 — Chicago Trend is looking to raise $50 million to purchase and renovate blighted neighborhood shopping centers in majority-Black neighborhoods. …
ImpactAlpha, May 24 – The mechanics and other employees at Clegg Auto’s four car-repair shops in northern Utah since last fall have received an …
ImpactAlpha, May 24 – The Ford Foundation liked the “quality jobs” focus of Two Sigma Impact, the private equity manager that last month raised …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post or on …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post or on …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post or on …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 21 – The amounts are small, but the implications could be profound. When micro lender Pro Mujer earlier this year distributed …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post …
ImpactAlpha, Aug 8 – Electric vehicle, battery and chip factories are rising in the US south and midwest. Hybar’s planned mill in Osceola, …
ImpactAlpha, July 20 – Historically Black colleges and universities may represent the ultimate social impact investment. But instead of enjoying a social-benefit premium, many …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post …
If you build it they will come. An innovative bond issuance will help a public agency in the city of Cincinnati acquire and …
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha has partnered with HIP Investor to highlight upcoming bond issues with social and/or environmental significance. Disclaimer: Nothing in this post …
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
ImpactAlpha, September 15 — Impact investors in the US, Europe and the rest of the world are looking to fill newly-vacant positions ahead …
ImpactAlpha, September 1 — In the US, Europe and other international locations, impact investors are searching for talent to help maximize their impact. …
ImpactAlpha, August 25 — Impact investors in the US and abroad are looking for analysts, managers, associates, interns and fellows ahead of a …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 — Impact investors are on the hunt for impact talent ahead of a busy fall. Just this week: US East …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Impact investors recruiting talent to kick off a busy fall season. Check out the latest jobs and opportunities: East Coast …
ImpactAlpha, July 28 — Impact investors are looking for impact analysts, directors, officers and associates in the US and abroad. Just this week: …
ImpactAlpha, July 21 — The majority of employers in this week’s impact jobs roundup are looking to scoop up impact talent in Europe, …
ImpactAlpha, July 14 — The majority of openings on this week’s impact jobs board are in big cities such as New York and …
ImpactAlpha, July 7 — The summer impact jobs board in the US and abroad is starting to fill up. The latest: US East …
ImpactAlpha, June 30 — Impact associates, managers, analysts and directors are in demand, both in the U.S. and globally. Just this week: US …
ImpactAlpha, June 23 — Impact funds and investors are looking to bring in new talent, from managers to analysts and coordinators to principals. …
ImpactAlpha, June 16 — Impact investors in the U.S. and abroad are hiring associates, analysts and directors. Just this week: In New York …