The Brief

The Brief: Outcomes-based financing for substance use recovery

ImpactAlpha · July 2, 2025
Photo by Roodgally Senatus.

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In today’s Brief:

  • Outcomes-based financing for substance use recovery in DC
  • Sustainable timber products in West Africa
  • Empowering mom and pop retailers in India

A different Medicaid story in Washington DC: Financing a ‘Recovery Cafe’ to cut hospital visits. On a sunny spring afternoon in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington DC, a dozen construction workers are laying the foundation for a four-story building with a ground-floor commercial kitchen for local food businesses and 42 affordable housing units that will mostly go to renters that are formerly homeless and recovering from substance abuse. The project will be anchored by the DC Recovery Cafe, part of a national network of nonprofits that offer community support for individuals recovering from homelessness, addiction, mental health challenges and other traumas in more than 80 US cities. When it opens next year, the center plans to tap a novel financing mechanism to support the recovery of about 300 individuals each year: Outcomes-based financing agreements with local Medicaid insurance providers that would support the program as a way of keeping recovering addicts out of emergency rooms and hospital beds. “The vision that God gave me was to build a community,” says Donald Conerly, himself a recovering addict. Conerly and his wife, Jacqueline, developers of the project and founders of the DC Recovery Cafe nonprofit, were among Washingtonian Magazine’s Washingtonians of the Year last year. 

  • Outcomes-based financing. The mixed-use development has secured $31.5 million in philanthropic grants from foundations, including the William S. Abell Foundation and Margaret Willard Harrington Trust, and federal and state low-income housing tax credits. Through the outcomes-based agreements, DC Recovery Cafe is looking to build a sustainable stream of revenue over time. DC Recovery Cafe plans to ink outcomes-based financing agreements with local Medicaid insurance providers like AmeriHealth Caritas. “Because we will save them money, they’re happy to share those savings with DC Recovery Cafe,” says Eric Letsinger, a board member of DC Recovery Cafe and a founder of Quantified Ventures, which has facilitated billions of dollars in outcomes-based financing agreements for stormwater management in Atlanta, reforestation in Appalachia and soil and water conservation across dozens of states. “As the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ decimates federal funding for our social safety net programs like Medicaid, now is the time for taking giant steps forward with outcomes-based financing,” Letsinger says.
  • Call to service. The Conerlys’ journey started when Donald was released from jail in 2008 after more than 35 years in and out of prison. Inside, Donald had found a calling to help “men of God” who had lost their way. Donald, living at a local Southeast DC homeless shelter, would bring the men from the shelter to Jubilee Jobs, a nonprofit that provides job placement and workforce development services. Jacqueline, Jubilee Jobs’ deputy director, expanded the couple’s ministry with a focus on women. The couple created Recovery Circles, for men and women who were within 90 days of being released from DC jail. The Recovery Circles currently have more than 60 members, and growing, who have participated in thousands of hours of recovery support sessions. The Conerlys say all of them report that the sessions have helped avoid relapse. Jim Knight of Jubilee Housing, an affordable housing development nonprofit, and Kim Montroll of Recovery Cafe Network helped to bring in the Anacostia Economic Development Corp. as co-developer of the project. As the tax credits expire in 15 years, DC Recovery Cafe will become the full owner of the project. Montrose says she appreciates being part of a project that moves beyond the idea, “‘If only they would get themselves together…’ That’s a narrative that is too common. DC Recovery Cafe is a change in that.”

Dealflow: Nature-based Solutions

Lagata invests in Miro for sustainable forestry and timber products in West Africa. UK-based Miro plants trees on degraded lands in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Its commercial forests span nearly 49,000 acres and produce sustainable timber products such as plywood and utility poles for West Africa and global markets. The company received an undisclosed amount of funding, led by London-based Lagata, which backs sustainable agriculture and forestry ventures. Existing investors including British International Investment, FMO, Finnfund, French impact investor Mirova and a UK-based family office topped up their previous investments. BII has backed Miro since 2015, “when commercial capital for such an ambitious and unproven venture was not available,” it said. FMO had invested $30 million in the third Africa Forestry Fund earlier this year, to provide equity for forest management ventures.  The fresh funding will support Miro’s entry into new markets and expand its vertically integrated operations from seedling production to timber processing.

  • Local impact. Miro employs nearly 4,000 people for its operations, with manual harvesting being done in Sierra Leone. Its “outgrower” program equips smallholder farmers with tools and inputs for agroforestry. The company says it has planted over 20 million trees since its launch in 2010. In addition to selling Forest Stewardship Council-certified timber products, it generates over 200,000 tons of carbon credits annually. It also partnered with renewable energy assets developer CrossBoundary Energy in 2022, to set up solar energy and battery storage systems in its Sierra Leone plant.
  • Gift this post. 

Standard Chartered’s venture fund leads $120 million round for Indian B2B marketplace Jumbotail. India’s informal shops and sellers make up more than four-fifths of the country’s retail sector. Jumbotail’s online B2B marketplace, warehousing and logistics solutions link over a half-million mom and pop grocery retailers to 2,000 packaged food, home and personal care brands. The startup has secured $120 million in a Series D funding round led by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank. Previous investor and late-stage e-commerce VC firm Artal Asia joined in. 

  • One-stop shop. Jumbotail also acquired Solv India, a B2B online marketplace incubated by SC Ventures, which has more than 200,000 users. The acquisition expands Jumbotail’s product catalog to include apparel, footwear and electronics as well as its small business reach. Jumbotail plans to strengthen its operations and AI integration. The platform offers payment solutions via its mobile application as well as working capital with its lending partners. 
  • E-commerce comeback. Jumbotail has raised over $263 million since it was founded in 2015, from investors including the social enterprise accelerator Unreasonable Group and Ajax Capital, the family office of Ajay Gupta, who has launched three fast moving consumer goods brands. The fresh funding for Jumbotail might be a positive sign for India’s B2B e-retailers. The digitalization of small businesses in India attracted some $2 billion during the pandemic; enthusiasm withered as high customer acquisition costs and other issues hit startups. Indian B2B-commerce competitor Udaan last month raised $114 million from existing investors M&G Prudential and Lightspeed Venture Partners – after seeing its valuation halved.  

Dealflow overflow. Investment news crossing our desks:

  • San Francisco-based Station A, a platform that connects commercial real estate owners with solar, storage, and EV charging providers, raised an $8 million Series A round from Building Ventures, Climactic Capital, Systemiq Capital and previous seed investors. (Building Ventures)
  • WaterBridge Ventures and India-focused Japanese VC firm Enrission India Capital co-led a $3.25 million round for Loopworm, an Indian insect biosciences company. The funding will support the commercialization of Loopworm’s technology for diagnostics and animal vaccines. (Entrepreneur)
  • Sahel Capital extended a $1 million loan to Kenyan avocado oil processor Persea Oil to improve supply chain efficiency, procure new equipment and upgrade its infrastructure. (Tech Journal)
  • South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank and several development finance institutions provided $137 million in debt to Wave, which offers low-cost mobile money services in West Africa. The funding will provide working capital and accelerate growth in new and existing markets. (Techcabal)
  • Telecom giant Nokia secured a €1.5 billion ($1.73 billion) multicurrency revolving credit facility, with interest rates linked to its progress halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. (ESG Today)

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

The Ford Foundation’s board of trustees has selected Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, to become the organization’s 11th president in November this year (disclosure: Ford Foundation is an investor in ImpactAlpha)… Ninety One appoints David Knee, previously with M&G Investments, as head of multi-asset starting later this year… NeighborWorks Capital welcomes Ben Greenberg, former lending director of Housing Partnership Network, as chief lending and customer engagement officer. 

Shahzad Memon was promoted to senior portfolio manager of responsible investments at APG Asset Management… Claudia Appel joins Northcountry Cooperative Foundation as cooperative housing advisor… Chisom A’Marie, previously with New Voices Fund, joins Comcast as director of sustainability strategy… Sherry Wang, previously with Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group, joins Vistria Group as a real estate partner to lead the firm’s affordable housing investing strategy. 

AXA Investment Managers has an opening for a global health investment associate in New York… Sustainable Northwest is looking for a controller in Portland… Impact Amplifier is on the hunt for an analyst in Johannesburg… Pew Charitable Trusts is recruiting a senior vice president of strategy in Washington, DC… The UK’s Office for Investment is hiring a head of impact investing and philanthropy in London… Kataly Foundation seeks a program officer for its restorative economies fund in San Francisco.

Impact Investing Ghana is searching for a finance officer in Accra… Oikocredit seeks a compliance intern in the Netherlands… Astanor Ventures is looking for an impact intern in Brussels… Bridges Fund Management seeks a private equity analyst in London… New Majority Capital will host a mixer for aspiring business owners in North Carolina, with a focus on its entrepreneurship through acquisition strategy, Wednesday, July 17.

👉 View (or post) impact investing jobs on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub.

Thank you for your impact!

– July 2, 2025