In Africa, female fund managers step up to bridge gaps in foreign finance
Organizations and projects that had received some of the $40 billion in annual funding from USAID are winding down their work. As leaders …
Credit: HEVA Fund
Tagged with: Entrepreneurship
Photo by New Majority Capital.
Through small business acquisitions, New Majority aims to create ownership access for underrepresented entrepreneurs
An impact buyout fund is helping aspiring business owners in US cities acquire profitable, cash-flowing small businesses as a pathway to asset ownership. …
Kenya’s Co-op Bank gets $25 million EU-guaranteed loan to support female entrepreneurs
Co-operative Bank of Kenya was founded nearly six decades ago to cater to Kenya’s cooperative movement. It has serviced a broader range of …
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Everytable raises $25 million to open new locations for food entrepreneurs of color
ImpactAlpha, July 6 — Los Angeles-based fast-casual chain Everytable has raised $25 million to support its growth plan, “which includes opening retail locations …
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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 …
Dorcia Whitebrake, an Everytable franchisee candidate. Photo by Everytable.
With inclusive loans and business support, franchise ownership offers a path to wealth for entrepreneurs of color
ImpactAlpha, May 18 — Employee ownership is having a moment. One promising strategy: democratizing the franchise model to widen pathways to ownership and …
Photo by Simon Luethi/8SP.
Overheard at Upstart Co-Lab: Cultural institutions are learning how to invest for an inclusive creative economy.
ImpactAlpha, May 1 — An art museum investing in a portfolio designed to prove out the viability – and impact – of investments …
(top, left to right) Amy King, Julien Gervreau, Kristen Carroll (bottom, left to right) Angela Williams, Simon Mainwaring, Janie Hoffman
On the minds of impact CEOs: Opportunity, scale and succession
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 27 – “Deliver impact, drive sales” was the mantra of executives of high-performing impact companies at Big Path Capital’s MO Summit in …
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: COVID recovery funding
ImpactAlpha, April 14 — Community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions played a crucial role in channeling COVID-relief funding to small businesses …
Community Preservation Corp. invests $5 million in SHIFT Catalyst Fund to back diverse developers
ImpactAlpha, February 13 — SHIFT Catalyst Fund has secured a $5 million equity investment from Community Preservation Corp. to invest in real estate …
Nature's Garden for Victory and Peace in Tuskegee, AL, a member of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance
Common Future launches first racial equity accelerator
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 9 – When Common Future absorbed the social impact accelerator Uncharted last May in a rare nonprofit merger, it brought together …
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Warburg Pincus takes control of Indian micro-enterprise lender Vistaar Finance
ImpactAlpha, October 13 — New York-based Warburg Pincus is acquiring a majority stake in Vistaar Finance, an India-based non-bank financial company that provides …
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New Mexico taps fixed-income strategy for small business lending
ImpactAlpha, October 12 — A fixed-income strategy that has helped hundreds of low-income, women-led and Native families in New Mexico access housing and …
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Amazon Catalytic Capital to invest $150 million in underserved founders
ImpactAlpha, October 11 — Amazon has launched Amazon Catalytic Capital to invest in at least 10 venture capital funds, as well as accelerators, …
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HCAP Partners raises $353 million to take its good jobs strategy nationwide
ImpactAlpha, September 19 — San Diego-based private equity impact investor HCAP Partners invests in underserved lower middle-market businesses. By working with businesses to …
McKeever “Mac” Conwell | Photo by Kaitlin Newman.
Emerging fund managers form pooled investment vehicle to raise capital for overlooked founders
ImpactAlpha, September 19 — Baltimore-based RareBreed Ventures, Oregon’s Rogue Women’s Fund and VitalizeVC in Chicago are combining efforts to raise a collective $10 …
Photo by Sahyadri Farms.
Sahyadri Farms raises nearly $40 million to digitalize India’s smallholder farmers
ImpactAlpha, September 15 — Sahyadri Farms is a farmer-led fruit and vegetable processing and export business that works with more than 18,000 farmers …
Photo credit: Teranga Capital
Teranga Capital: Taking risks to build an impact ecosystem in West Africa
ImpactAlpha, August 22 – Dakar-based Teranga Capital does private equity deals. It deploys venture capital. It helps small businesses that are too early for …
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Five Black tech founders join Northwestern Mutual’s accelerator
ImpactAlpha, July 14 — Among the startups in the new cohort are Nashville-based Xcellent Life, which helps identify health issues through an AI-based …
Photo credit: Aera.
India’s M Auto raises $20 million for electric mobility-as-a-service in Africa
ImpactAlpha, May 24 — Investing in the low-carbon transition of Africa requires solutions to alleviate poverty and uplift local economies as well. Chennai-based …
Photo credit: IFC.
IFC invests $30 million with Partners for Growth to deploy private credit in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, May 24 — San Francisco-based Partners for Growth, which specializes in private lending for growth-stage companies in emerging markets, will invest $30 …
photo: Chris Kendig
Overheard at Total Impact: Diversify decision-making and shift power to communities
ImpactAlpha, May 19 – Agents of Impact convened upon the City of Brotherly Love, even as some unbrotherly events unfolded across the country …
Business financing beyond venture capital to fuel the boom in entrepreneurship
ImpactAlpha, May 13 – One defining outcome of the pandemic: a boom in entrepreneurship. A record five million businesses were started in the …
Photo credit: Greenwood.
Greenwood acquires The Gathering Spot to build a community for minority professionals
ImpactAlpha, May 12 — Atlanta-based neobank Greenwood has raised $43 million on the promise that it can deliver better banking services for Black …
In volatile market, alternatives to venture capital keep financing flowing to diverse founders
ImpactAlpha, May 9 – There’s more than one capital market for startups and small businesses. Venture capital and bank loans finance less than …
Common Future and Uncharted merge to expand entrepreneurship and wealth-building in underserved communities
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – Call it the un-M&A deal. Common Future, the Oakland-based nonprofit focused on economic inequality, and Uncharted, the nonprofit social …
Something Better Foods founder GW Chew
Flexible and equitable financial tools for a more inclusive economy
Seemingly everyone is creating a fund to address themes ranging from reparations to crypto-enviro. As impact investors, redesigning our economic relationships is just …
Steve Case and J.D. Vance in 2017 | Photo credit: Revolution
J.D. Vance, the impact fund manager his partners would rather forget
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 28 – Before he got Donald Trump’s nod in the Republican primary for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat, J.D. Vance was – briefly …
Startups raise ‘community rounds,’ turning customers and fans into investors
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 6 – Raising money from “the crowd” has sometimes seemed anonymous and unstrategic, if not a bit desperate. By calling such a …
JOSE LUIS PELAEZ INC/GETTY IMAGES
Black Vision Fund creates a pipeline of loan capital for Black-owned small businesses
ImpactAlpha, March 17 — Misperceptions of risk among many lenders make Black-owned small businesses twice as likely to get rejected for bank loans …
Photo credit: 99minutos.
99minutos raises $82 million for electric delivery for online vendors in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, March 3 — Retail e-commerce in Latin America is projected to nearly double to $160 billion in 2025, from $85 billion last …
Image credit: Gamiphy, an Ibtikar portfolio company
Ibtikar’s second fund for Palestinian tech reaches $15 million first close
ImpactAlpha, February 17 – Ibtikar Fund is building on the thesis of its first fund from 2016: that Palestinian tech entrepreneurs building regional …
Photo credit: John Martin PERRY.
KKR invests $45 million in GrowSari to digitalize ‘sari-saris’ in the Philippines
ImpactAlpha, January 27 — GrowSari, launched in 2016, helps more than 100,000 Filipino owners of brick-and-mortar retail convenience stores, or “sari-sari” stores, make …
Inventa co-founders, from left, Fernando Carrasco, Marcos Salama and Laura Camargo | Inventa.
Inventa scores $20 million to connect small Brazilian retailers with global suppliers
ImpactAlpha, January 25 — São Paulo-based Inventa, launched last year, has built a digital marketplace for Brazilian small businesses to purchase inventory. Inventa …
Elevar backs Fairplay’s revenue-based financing for online businesses in Mexico
ImpactAlpha, January 18 – Fintech startup Fairplay provides revenue-based working capital loans and inventory financing to Mexico’s small and mid-sized online businesses. The …
Photo credit: Novo.
Novo snags $90 million to provide banking services for U.S. small businesses
ImpactAlpha, January 12 — Miami-based neobank Novo provides bank accounts without fees or minimum balances for approximately 150,000 small businesses owners, entrepreneurs and …
Photo credit: Tul
Tul raises $181 million to digitalize independent hardware stores in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, January 12 – Bogotá-based Tul helps Colombia’s mom-and-pop hardware stores source products from large construction suppliers like ArcelorMittal and Cemex. It launched …
photo: New Voices
New Voices secures $97 million for its second fund for women of color entrepreneurs
Dec. 22, ImpactAlpha – Richelieu Dennis launched the venture firm New Voices to plug a funding gap for women of color entrepreneurs after …
Alitheia IDF secures $100 million for an African gender-lens fund
ImpactAlpha, December 20 — Alitheia IDF, a joint venture between women-led fund managers Alitheia Capital and IDF Capital, aims to positively impact women …
Photo credit: East African Business Week.
Aceli Africa raises $27 million to boost lending to agribusinesses in East Africa
ImpactAlpha, December 16 — More than half of East Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, but loans to grow their businesses are …
Photo credit: Elsevier.
Medical Credit Fund raises $36.7 million to finance health clinics in Africa
ImpactAlpha, December 16 — Nairobi-based debt provider Medical Credit Fund has since 2009 made loans of more than €120 million ($135.5 million) to …
Photo credit: TechCabal.
Flutterwave backs Côte d’Ivoire digital payments processor CinetPay
ImpactAlpha, December 9 — Lagos-based Flutterwave, helps merchants, banks and other businesses transact across borders and currencies. The digital payments platform, which has …
Third Derivative launches carbon removal partnership and new cohort
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 8 – Third Derivative selected 16 startups for its latest cohort, dubbed Cohort 419 for the peak level of atmospheric CO2 …
Can the recovery catalyze a business revival on the Navajo Nation?
ImpactAlpha, December 1 – The Navajo Nation, which includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, is one of the hardest places to …
Photo credit: Paul Langlois-Meurinne.
Nigerian B2B marketplace Sabi raises $6 million to support Africa’s informal businesses
ImpactAlpha, November 30 — Lagos-based Sabi is among a wave of enterprise tech ventures applying technology to fix market failures and inefficiencies. Sabi’s …