Four ways development banks are calibrating blended finance concessionality
Blending concessional funds or grants with commercial capital can be a powerful way for impact investments to take on more risk, or to …
Tagged with: SDGs
Michiko Kogure, JICA | FLII 2025 in Merida
Michiko Kogure, JICA: Financing sustainable growth in Latin America
Japan’s International Cooperation Agency leads investments in sustainable development with a rare resource these days: trust. USAID’s retreat under the Trump administration has …
Photo by Oceanpick.
Global Fund for Coral Reefs backs Sri Lanka’s Oceanpick to expand sustainably farmed fish
Blast fishing, overharvesting and other unsustainable fishing practices pose a threat to coral reefs and marine ecosystems in and around the South Asian …
The verified value of impact investing
The prospect of achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, or SDGs, by 2030 looks increasingly bleak. The good news is that mobilizing …
How commercial investors are streamlining blended fund structures
Blended finance is rebounding, but this time with a twist. Commercial investors are stepping up to drive some of the biggest blended-finance funds …
Climate Fund Managers last year invested in one of the largest debt-for-climate conversions in history to protect the Galapagos Islands
Blending billions: Lessons in catalyzing capital at scale for climate and development
As host of last year’s COP28 climate gathering, the United Arab Emirates made a splash with its $30 billion Altérra climate fund. Tucked …
Global Fund for Coral Reefs blends opportunity and urgency to finance ocean resilience (Q&A)
Reefs are investable. As the value of the world’s disappearing coral reefs becomes abundantly clear, so too does the value of techniques and …
Blending Billions: Lessons from more than three dozen big blended finance transactions
In a world in which the UN SDG financing gap continues to grow, we face a double hurdle: blended finance is still struggling …
Three principles behind the SDG Loan Fund for mobilizing capital at scale
I had the privilege of being part of last month’s launch of the SDG Loan Fund, the $1.1 billion vehicle that is one …
How investors are moving from “alignment” to “contribution” to the UN Global Goals
From the time that the UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015, private finance was seen as a key component of financing …
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Blending global insurance assets for impact
ImpactAlpha, December 1 — The new $1.1 billion SDG Loan Fund is significant for the use of catalytic capital, in the form of …
Allianz’s SDG Loan Fund leverages a $25 million guarantee to catalyze $1.1 billion
A novel financing mechanism has stacked a small guarantee and a larger first-loss reserve to raise $1 billion from the German insurance giant …
Katni, INDIA
Investing in ‘meaningful connectivity’ to a better internet in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Heads of state from around the world gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York last week to review the implementation of the …
Photo by Wecyclers.
BII anchors SDG Outcomes Fund with $10 million for development impact bonds
ImpactAlpha, July 24 — SDG Outcomes Fund is seeking $100 million to provide upfront capital for approximately 15 to 20 “development impact bonds” …
UN metrics measure enterprise impact on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
Time is running out to meet the ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for 2030. There are real concerns that data related …
Bringing women to the forefront of sustainable development
The following is an excerpt from “Working to restore: Harnessing the power of regenerative business to heal the world,” by Esha Chhabra. In …
Photo credit: U.N. Association
Facing up to shortfalls – and trade-offs – in the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals need rescuing, a global sustainable investors group warned recently. The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked goals ranging …
Photo by AdobeStock.
Ocean 14 Capital raises €100 million to advance the blue economy
ImpactAlpha, September 12 — Investing in sustainable and regenerative oceans is a multi-trillion-dollar global opportunity that could create 40 million jobs by 2030, …
Photo by MNT.
Circulate Capital secures $53 million to reduce plastic pollution
ImpactAlpha, July 28 — Circulate Capital has been investing in recycling and waste-reduction efforts to keep plastic out of oceans and waterways since …
the Clinicas del Azucar in Guadalupe | Photo credit: IFC
Clinicas de Azucar to expand diabetes clinics with $7.3 million in financing from Blue like an Orange
ImpactAlpha, Jul. 27 – Diabetes has become one of the top three causes of death in Mexico, up from 15th in the 1950s. Clinicas …
Impact investors collaborate to amplify the impact of their catalytic capital
Editor’s note: This blog is part of ImpactAlpha’s series, “Seeding Impact,” authored by participants in the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) Seeding Learning Labs. …
How NGOs are blending capital to amplify their impact
The typical employee within a non-governmental organization doesn’t talk a lot to commercial banks, pension funds and insurance companies. But like everyone else, …
Pegasus Capital Advisors raises $170 million for Global Fund for Coral Reefs
ImpactAlpha, July 18 – Impact investor Pegasus is aiming to raise $625 million in blended financing to protect critically-threatened coral reefs and vulnerable coastal …
Photo credit: BRAC
BRAC International Microfinance taps capital markets for $40 million for households in poverty
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – BRAC International Microfinance, the non-governmental organization’s international arm, worked with Seattle-based Global Partnerships and Proparco, the French development bank, …
Photo credit: Solar Sister
Can off-grid solar keep focus on energy access for the poor as commercial capital arrives?
ImpactAlpha, May 2 – It’s one of the conundrums of the pandemic: commercial capital is pouring into off-grid electricity companies in Africa and …
Photo credit: Sun King
Sun King scores $260 million to ramp up off-grid solar access in Africa
ImpactAlpha, April 28 – The off-grid solar sector in Africa is growing up. Sun King, launched (as Greenlight Planet) in Chicago 15 years …
Photo credit: Kinara Capital
Kinara Capital secures $50 million from Nuveen and TripleJump for digital lending in India
ImpactAlpha, April 19 – Kinara Capital provides unsecured, no-collateral loans of up to three million rupees ($40,000) to micro and small businesses in …
Photo credit: Opinio Juris.
WaterEquity secures $153 million for water and sanitation impact
ImpactAlpha, April 4 — A subsidiary of Matt Damon’s Water.org, WaterEquity backs microfinance institutions along with micro-utilities, toilet manufacturers and water kiosks to …
Photo credit: Brogan Abroad.
Tikehau Capital impact debt fund secures $110 million from Dutch pension fund
ImpactAlpha, March 24 — Paris-based Tikehau Capital has received a $110 million allocation from Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, which has a commitment to invest 1% …
Memo to the Impact Task Force: Break down silos to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals
“And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in …
Photo by Flickr.
Impact Investment Exchange lists $30 million Women’s Livelihood Bond on the Singapore Exchange
ImpactAlpha, January 31 — Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange has listed WLB4Climate on the Singapore Exchange. Proceeds from the $30 million bond will be …
Photo credit: Summa Equity.
Summa Equity closes third SDG impact fund at $2.6 billion
ImpactAlpha, January 24 — Summa Equity launched in 2016 to invest in companies working to solve the global challenges identified in the U.N. …
How pre-construction financing is building a pipeline of water projects in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, January 20 – Water and sanitation is one of the fastest growing, yet still underinvested sectors of impact investing. An experimental fund …
Women’s Livelihood Bond from Impact Investment Exchange closes at $30 million
ImpactAlpha, December 14 — Proceeds from the fourth bond will support social enterprises that can impact 500,000 underserved women and girls in India, …
Photo by Getty Images.
Ocean 14 Capital secures €60 million for blue economy impact fund
ImpactAlpha, November 16 — London-based fund manager Ocean 14 Capital is looking to raise €150 million ($170.5 million) for growth-stage investments in technology …
Photo credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Citi issues $1 billion social finance bond for emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, November 1 — Citi has issued a $1 billion bond to advance social impact in emerging markets. Proceeds from the bond will …
Blended finance struggles for traction in the ‘decade of action’
ImpactAlpha, October 28 – Blended finance that leverages public or philanthropic capital to increase private investment in sustainable development has unlocked about $160 …
Quito, Ecuador
AXA takes a minority stake in Blue Like an Orange sustainable investment firm
ImpactAlpha, October 13 – Blue Like an Orange was launched in 2017 by former World Bank officials Bertrand Badré, Amer Baig and Suprotik …
Photo credit: IndustryWired.
Blue Bear closes $150 million fund for AI-enabled climate infrastructure
ImpactAlpha, September 27 — The Los Angeles-based fund received commitments from Goldman Sachs’ AIMS Imprint, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ZOMA Capital, McKnight Foundation, and …
Photo credit: Zola Electric
Zola Electric raises $90 million to expand off-grid energy access
ImpactAlpha, September 27 — Amsterdam-based Zola Electric launched in 2011 as Off Grid Electric to connect millions of energy-poor households to low-cost, renewable …
Freetown, Sierra Leone
CrossBoundary Energy and Zoodlabs develop solar-powered internet in Sierra Leone
ImpactAlpha, September 16 – CrossBoundary Energy invests in and develops commercial and industrial solar systems across Africa. Its latest deal is a 1.2-megawatt …
Photo credit: Oye Rickshaw
Investors rally behind India’s early, active climate tech scene
ImpactAlpha, September 9 – India’s recognition of its vulnerability to climate change has spurred a set of ambitious targets to curb carbon emissions …
Five critiques of blended finance – and five responses from Convergence
The opportunity to blend private capital with philanthropic and public funding has been heralded by financial heavyweights from Blackrock to the billionaire-backed Breakthrough …
Photo credit: PowerGen
CrossBoundary backs PowerGen to develop mini-grids in Nigeria
ImpactAlpha, July 26 – Nairobi-based PowerGen has developed three megawatts of small-scale distributed energy projects serving 20,000 people in Africa. The investment from …
Photo by Delightin Dee on Unsplash
Growth of gender-smart investing in development finance signals opportunity for commercial investors as well
Businesses in emerging markets run by women receive less than half the funding received by those run by men. In 2021, that fact …