Dealflow | April 20, 2021

Indigenous Growth Fund raises $150 million to back Native lenders in Canada

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, April 20 – A new fund in Canada is aiming to impact marginalized Indigenous communities by channelling capital to Indigenous-owned financial institutions.

The Indigenous Growth Fund will invest in Aboriginal Financial Institutions, or AFIs, to get more capital flowing to underserved Indigenous businesses. The evergreen fund, managed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, an umbrella network for Canada’s roughly 60 AFIs, reached its first close with backing from the Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada and Farm Credit Canada.

Last month, Vancouver-based Raven Indigenous Capital Partners raised $25 million to invest in Indigenous-led early-stage startups in Canada.

Native-led CDFIs in the U.S. are developing unique financial services to overcome the barriers to lending to businesses on tribal lands (see, “Native-led financial institutions tackle challenges of lending to businesses in Indian Country”).