The Brief | November 9, 2020

The Brief: Post-election tailwinds, ESG-impact convergence, electric scooters in India, Twinkie factory rehab, Kenya’s women farmers

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Greetings, Agents of Impact! 

Featured: Impact Voices

Under Biden, impact investors expect tailwinds for climate action, racial justice and local economic revival. President Donald Trump may have accelerated the growth of impact and ESG investing – as a counter-response to his administration’s record on environmental and social issues, not to mention governance. President-elect Joseph R. Biden could accelerate impact investing as a complement to public policy. “President Trump’s policy positions on issues central to ESG and impact have raised the stakes and a sense of urgency from investors,” writes CNote’s Yuliya Tarasava. “It’s a safe bet that a Biden administration will accelerate ESG and impact investing through broad support of regulatory and administrative decisions that eliminate roadblocks and incentivize investments.” 

On COVID and climate, the economy and healthcare, infrastructure and racial justice, impact investments could get a policy boost from the new administration, according to Agents of Impact who answered ImpactAlpha’s call to share their post-election “hot takes” and insights into the new operating environment. A “more rational, science-based and empathetic response” to COVID-19 will “clear a path forward toward rebuilding our economy,” writes JumpScale’s Josh Knauer, while government investment in green infrastructure R&D and improved international relations will provide market signals. “Investors will be able to see their investment dollars go further within their portfolios of green infrastructure-related companies,” Knauer says. “It will become easier to find and invest in the innovative impact companies that exist around the planet, yielding global solutions for local (and global) problems.” More insights:

  • A small business revival is as bipartisan as it gets. “We need our elected officials to put aside their partisan differences and get to work” on small businesses’ behalf, writes Small Business Majority’s John Arensmeyer. Needed: access to more equitable and responsible capital, affordable healthcare, paid leave, retirement and other benefits that can support the success of both entrepreneurs and their employees. 
  • Tailwinds for climate investing. “There is a major opportunity in the Midwest and other U.S. regions for further development of clean technology jobs and clean energy manufacturing, creating more U.S. jobs from U.S. energy innovation,” says Daniel Goldman of Clean Energy Ventures. “With a divided federal government, state and local government – as well as industry players – will continue to play a critical role in climate action,” adds Elemental Excelerator’s Dawn Lippert.
  • The real divide is small vs. big. “Our country has forgotten how to make things; forgotten how to assert our values in the world; and constantly favors and kowtows to the big guy over the little guy (or woman),” writes Ross Baird of Blueprint Local. “Red-state and blue-state America both want a different world. Democrats will be set up to succeed if they prove they can govern and deliver.”
  • What’s next for your work – and for you? Send a few lines or a bit more to [email protected] (or reply to this email) or use this handy form.

Keep reading, “Under Biden, impact investors expect tailwinds in climate action, racial justice and local economic revival,” on ImpactAlpha.

Sponsored: Tideline

ESG and impact management are converging around real-world outcomes. The ESG and impact investing industries have evolved in parallel yet divergent paths, leading to market confusion and, sometimes, impact-washing. The two movements are now coming together in helping build a more sustainable and inclusive society. In the next installment of Impact Verified, a sponsored series with BlueMark, a Tideline company, CEO Christina Leijonhufvud discusses how this convergence is essential for the financial community to move beyond the tallying of discrete metrics and toward real positive outcomes. Independent verification can play an important role in driving the convergence by encouraging the adoption of best practices across ESG and impact management.

Read, “ESG and impact management are converging as investors turn their attention to real-world outcomes,” by BlueMark’s Christina Leijonhufvud.

Dealflow: Follow the Money

Ather Energy raises $35 million to deliver electric scooters in India. India has the third-largest road network in the world, about 250 million registered vehicles, and some of the world’s highest levels of toxic air pollution. Bangalore-based Ather Energy started producing an electric scooter this year as a cleaner alternative to the majority two- and three-wheel vehicles driving on India’s roads. Its Ather 450 scooter starts at about $2,000—roughly double the average price of a standard scooter. Ather’s Series D round was led by Sachin Bansal, founder of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, with backing from Hero MotoCorp, which makes a range of lower-priced electric scooters. 

  • EVs in India. A raft of local and international companies are competing to lower the cost of electric vehicles and expand charging infrastructure. Last week, Charge+Zone, based in Vadodara, Gujarat, raised $3 million to expand its network of EV charging stations. 
  • Dive in

LISC invests in the redevelopment of a Wonder Bread factory in Toledo. The factory that once produced Twinkies and white bread will be converted to a mixed-used development with $4.7 million in financing from Local Initiatives Support Corp.’s ProMedica-LISC Health Impact Fund. The long-vacant factory sits in a historic and low-income district of Toledo, Ohio. The redeveloped site will add 33 rental units and 4,000 square feet of commercial space. 

  • Black leadership. ARK Development, a Black- and women-led real estate firm that acquired the 96-year-old factory in 2017, is managing the redevelopment. The City of Toledo, Finance Fund, the Lucas County Land Bank and historic tax credit investors chipped in $2.8 million alongside LISC’s commitment. More.

Kenya’s Farmers Pride gives women farmers access to inputs and finance. Farmers Pride raised seed financing to help female smallholder farmers access seeds, fertilizer, equipment and other farm inputs, along with insurance, financing and technical assistance. Its platform is powered by SMS messages and voice commands. Gray Matters Capital’s coLABS invested $220,000 to support the company’s “last-mile” reach and its work improving farmers’ resilience in the face of climate change and COVID. 

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Sam Gyimah, formerly U.K. member of parliament, joins Goldman Sachs as a non-executive director to advise on innovation, ESG and impact investing… The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing is hiring a program associate or senior program associate in Washington, D.C. or New York… Reach Capital is looking for an investment associate in San Francisco or Washington, D.C.

The END Fund seeks a head of fundraising in New York… TheVentureCity is named the official accelerator of The World Bank’s Innovate4Climate event… US SIF is launching its “Report on U.S. Sustainable and Impact Investing Trends 2020,” Monday, Nov. 16… The American Sustainable Business Council and Social Venture Circle host “Remaking & Revitalizing the Economy,” from Dec.1-4. 

Thank you for reading.

– Nov. 9, 2020