Feb 8, 2017 | Uncategorized
The Sorenson Impact Center’s founder, Jim Sorenson, and the Sorenson Impact Center’s president & CEO, Jeremy Keele, discuss Jim’s role in pioneering Impact Investing as well as social change, data, measuring impact, and social innovation.
Wayfinder creates and licenses social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum for K-12 schools, fostering healthy self-esteem, belonging, and purpose. Developed at Stanford University’s K12 Innovation Lab, the curriculum spans 13 years, aligns vertically, and is designed to enhance students’ social-emotional competencies and future-ready skills, fostering community and engagement across school districts.
VilCap Investments backs entrepreneurs tackling crucial social and environmental challenges in India. They focus on early-stage to growth-stage companies in education, agriculture, energy, and financial services, aiming for both financial returns and positive societal impact.
Vertical Harvest Farms cultivates fresh, local produce year-round using indoor hydroponic farming, empowering communities with sustainable and accessible lettuce, herbs, and microgreens while creating positive social impact through job creation. With a workforce of over 40% individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, Vertical Harvest is committed to providing work and economic opportunity to the communities in which it operates.
A Native-led fintech startup, Totem offers tailored digital banking infrastructure for Indigenous communities, collaborating with Tribal governments and enterprises to streamline benefit distributions and payroll through a neo-banking platform. The company also provides secure essential banking services to individual users, contributing to economic empowerment within Native communities.
Taleemabad is an education technology company that provides primary schools in Pakitsan with a comprehensive learning management system that significantly improves learning outcomes for students through curated curriculum programs, engaging content libraries, and world-class teacher training modules.
Redemption Bank is a mission-driven impact bank aiming to bridge the wealth gap in America by acquiring non-minority banks and converting them into minority depository institutions (MDIs), making financial resources and banking services more accessible to underserved communities.
Rasa expedites and creates a more affordable alternative to criminal record expungement using software and a mobile application that analyzes court records to determine expungement eligibility and process expungement as well as offense reduction at an affordable price.
NESsT Lirio Fund focuses on the underserved “missing middle” in the Andes-Amazon region of Latin America by providing loans to enterprises often overlooked by traditional finance. This strategic financing aims to promote sustainable business growth, contribute to local economies, enhance community resilience, and support environmental stewardship, aligning with NESsT’s commitment to advancing social and economic progress in emerging markets.
Navajo Power Home is a solar utility company that installs self-sustaining, individual solar systems for the 15K rural homes in the Navajo Nation without electricity access.
A platform that revolutionizes how social benefits are accessed and delivered for disadvantaged individuals. The secure digital platform allows low-income individuals to safely manage and share vital documents, empowering social service organizations to scale their reach and enhance efficiency in connecting clients to a wide array of benefits and services.
An impact venture capital firm dedicated to investing in Latin American startups that tackle the region’s structural challenges, prioritizing the development of innovative solutions for social and environmental issues. The firm’s geographic focus encompasses Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Peru
A subscription-based digital media brand focusing on business journalism with an Impact and ESG lens that distributes content across various channels, including web, podcast, email, and social media. Serving educational institutions, financial organizations, and individuals, ImpactAlpha acts as a media source and data intelligence platform, promoting awareness and understanding of Impact and ESG-focused companies and news.
A comprehensive platform that simplifies education-related finances. Users can contribute to 529 college savings plans or tackle student loan debt, using features like gift cards for funding. The platform also acts as a payments facilitator for 529 plans, and offers employer-sponsored benefits like student debt repayment and 529 contributions via payroll deduction, making education planning and funding more convenient and accessible.
Unitus Capital was founded in July 2008 to accelerate the development of local and international capital markets for the benefit of businesses delivering deep social and environmental impact. Since launch, we have been committed to delivering best-in-class investment services that unlock the capital needed to fuel the rapid and sustainable growth of businesses committed to positively impacting the lives of low-income populations is possible.
We are a regional investment firm that was born with the purpose of supporting innovative and resilient entrepreneurs who seek to improve the lives of people in Latin America through the use of technology.
We invest in Spanish-speaking Latin America, in early-stage and scaling-up companies.
In addition to providing capital, we seek to create value by supporting our entrepreneurs where they need it most, whether by leveraging our network of regional and global connections, making our industry and business expertise available, or supporting future capital raising, business development and strategic recruitment. .
Arifu is a digital content and interactive learning platform which is personalised and free for its learners. Arifu’s chatbot is omnichannel and allows both smart and feature phone users to learn via SMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Our vision is to provide easy access to information and opportunity within everyone’s reach. Our purpose is to place opportunity and information within the reach of everyone. Our chatbot is FREE to our learners and available via any mobile chat application including SMS, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp.
Inaru’s farmer-first approach enriches producers without middleman and markups, through direct payments to farmers via exclusive contracts. Farmers enjoy a profit share from products made from their beans, directly aligning Inaru’s success with their own.
Inaru provides farmers in its community cost-free access to tools, resources and training for regenerative production. By processing onshore- the carbon footprint of our products is oceans lighter.
ZUMI connects apparel wholesalers and retailers in a transparent, affordable marketplace.
ZUMI empowers women retailers with the technology, logistics and financial services to scale.
WorldHaus is in the business of Morden Housing Technology / Products / Services, which is the largest market segment for Construction as an Industry, across geographies around the world. We’re living a moment in history when solving the world’s problems is more necessary and achievable than at any other time. With rapidly expanding population growth putting increasing strain on domestic natural resources, providing safe, reliable housing to millions of citizens is an intensifying challenge to governments around the world.
Waste Ventures India is a waste management social enterprise that is moving India’s solid waste sector to models that are simultaneously environmentally and financially sustainable. We offer professional waste collection and processing services to households, corporate clients and waste pickers. Since late 2013, we have averted over 3,000 tons of waste from Indian dumpsites.
When entrepreneurs join Abaca, they take an assessment on their company’s overall investment readiness. Our matching algorithm benchmarks their company from Level 1, a founding team and an idea, to Level 9, a market-leading company.
VIA Global Health fills the gap in global healthcare distribution by eliminating the friction and inefficiencies of serving hard to reach communities. We provide access to critical medical products, information and services to ensure healthcare providers have the tools to do their job effectively.
The University Venture Fund is the premier student investing experience. At UVF, students engage in a bona fide investment fund where they scrutinize new ventures, debate investment decisions, and make real impact.
THINKMD was founded by physicians from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine committed to developing disruptive solutions to improve quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere. The company’s mission is to eliminate preventable deaths by combining next-generation digital clinical intelligence logic with mobile technology in order to dramatically increase global primary healthcare capacity and improve access by decentralizing the healthcare delivery paradigm. Our team includes clinicians, engineers, data scientists, finance, and global health specialists. We utilize an integrative patient-centric approach to develop novel technology to change healthcare delivery and leverage critical public health data that will improve clinical decisions, disease and population surveillance, healthcare monitoring and evaluation globally.
Our thesis is that by taking a sector-focused approach that brings together leadership, knowledge and funding, and leverages collaborations across sectors and disciplines, we may be able to help accelerate medical innovations that could benefit our most vulnerable citizens of the world, where the burden of preventable deaths is most concentrated.
Every day we’re innovating and building partnerships with farmers, mills, and brands to achieve our big dream of making pure and vibrant, consistent and scalable bio-based dyes.
We take what’s great about synthetic dyes – consistency, vibrancy, and scalability – and leave out what’s harmful. This allows us to innovate natural dyes that clean up the fashion industry, tout full integrity, and contribute to a thriving future.
Sparrow is a mobile service for all on a mission to end digital poverty and create a more inclusive world, together. For every month of service, you help someone in need get digital access.
SourceTrace is a global leader in providing digital solutions to agriculture and food businesses. We enable full visibility into the agricultural and food value chain, with touchpoints across every stage – from farm to retail. Our SAAS solution and agri value chain management software make farming sustainable, supply chains efficient and bring transparency and traceability into food trade across 32 countries.
The Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund, LLC (SVF) is an impact-first fund investing in early-stage social enterprises to expand opportunity for people living in poverty in Eastern Africa. The fund was created to address the “pioneer gap” by supporting early stage social enterprises with a combination of investment capital and Board-level advisory support.
Life expectancy in India is 14-18 years lower than that in many developed countries. A lack of primary healthcare in India, particularly in smaller cities and villages outside of major urban centers, results in poor health outcomes and shortened life expectancy.
Sevamob delivers primary healthcare through mobile clinics to low-income groups for an annual subscription ranging from $4 USD for children and $10 USD for adults. Mobile clinics are supplied with software (operable offline and from remote locations) to track patient medical records. Sevamob also launched India’s first telehealth marketplace where patients are able to receive video consultations, second opinions, and in-clinic appointments from participating health providers.
A Sanitation Partner for African Secondary Cities. Developing and operating city-wide sanitation solutions.
Our work cleans up cities, creates jobs, and mitigates climate change.
Salt Lake County launched simultaneous Pay for Success (PFS) projects in partnership with First Step House, a specialized substance abuse treatment center with a mission to help people build lives of meaning, purpose, and recovery and the Road Home, a nonprofit, social services agency that assists individual and families experience homelessness in Salt Lake County.
The Criminal Justice REACH project aims to improve outcomes for individuals with moderate to severe substance use disorders and a number of other co-occurring criminogenic characteristics by providing holistic support and treatment.
The Homes Not Jail program aims to scale comprehensive rapid rehousing and wraparound supportive services in order to improve housing stability, reduce the number of days homeless individuals spend in the County jail, and improve their economic and behavioral health.
The initiative will address the complex and intertwined issues of homelessness and criminal justice reform and will result in more than 500 of the county’s most vulnerable residents receiving highly targeted, innovative services never before available in Salt Lake County through two new programs.
We are a venture firm investing in entrepreneurs whose innovations help people achieve financial health and prosperity. As an evergreen fund, we deploy patient capital with a long-term perspective.
Ruma is a technology-based company that leverages the trust and convenience of the neighborhood shop to deliver financial information services to low-income communities in Indonesia.
(This company has exited)
Rimidi enables clinicians to remotely monitor their patients’ blood pressure, blood-glucose levels, weight and more, and virtually send encouragement or treatment adjustments when necessary.
We are a technology driven startup that innovates solutions for sustainability, starting with recycling. We believe that recycling and sustainable options should be accessible to everyone.
Quidnet operates at the nexus of energy and water to enable predictable delivery of power from intermittent sources and large-scale deployment of renewable energy. Our breakthrough energy technology uses existing natural resources to store renewable energy over long durations and in large quantities. This drives down large-scale electric grid storage costs to half that of traditional pumped hydro storage and enables widescale deployment of renewable energy across the power grid.
The mission of PPH is to make pension saving products available and affordable to people working in the informal economy. To do so PPH sets up Greenfield pension companies towards the successful realization of informal worker pension funds in developing countries.
PPH holds the IT backbone and pension knowledge to share and replicate her experience in the field of micro pensions. Steps in the business development process include a feasibility study in the specific country, business design, business implementation and business excellence.
Founded in 2014, Owl Ventures is the largest venture capital firm in the world focused on the education technology market with over $2 billion in assets under management. The Silicon Valley-based firm was purposely built to partner with and help scale the world’s leading education companies across the education spectrum encompassing PreK-12, higher education, future of work (career mobility/professional learning), and “EdTech+” (intersection of EdTech and other major industries such as FinTech and healthcare). We invest in companies at all stages from seed, early, growth, and later stages and across all geographies around the world.
Omnivore funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Omnivore defines itself as a “financial first” impact investor, seeking to deliver market-rate venture capital returns, while impacting the lives of Indian smallholder farmers and rural communities.
Ojay Greene is a brand built around women who we love and we are, whether you are a farmer in rural Kenya or a single mom working a 9-to-5 job anywhere in the world. In a world where unpaid labor often goes unseen and undervalued, we intend for our products to speak to the unseen work of caring for others in our life. We hope that Ojay Greene feels like an embrace of gratitude to anyone, anywhere.
Social impact bond focused on increasing employment and reducing recidivism
Newday Impact offers portfolios addressing the major ESG issues in the world, including climate action, fresh water, human rights, gender equality, animal welfare, and quality of governance. Newday Impact works with family offices, institutions, investment advisors, financial services platforms, and individual investors, who want both a return on investment and community impact.
At Neopenda, we believe that the most vulnerable patient populations in the world deserve access to high quality health care. We’re a social enterprise startup passionate about improving newborn health through innovative technology solutions, and implementing them sustainably in emerging markets. Neopenda’s first product is a scalable wireless vital signs monitor for patients in overcrowded, understaffed health facilities. Our solution reduces response time to newborns in distress, and helps healthcare workers to save more lives.
The Mentor Method is easy-to-use mentoring software platform that helps companies build inclusive, cross-functional mentorship programs at scale. We help HR and DEI leaders retain, engage, and develop underrepresented talent.
Maycomb Capital is a pioneering impact investing platform. We provide financing across asset classes to fund strategies and enterprises that transform communities. We drive capital toward effective solutions for underserved communities, using data and rigorous analysis to guide our decisions.
The Massachusetts Pathways to Economic Advancement Project is a Pay for Success (PFS) initiative that will increase employment opportunities for limited English speakers and help them progress up the economic ladder by providing workforce development services. The project was developed through a partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Jewish Vocational Service (JVS Boston), and Social Finance.
We:
Support limited English speakers to find work, increase their earnings, and make successful transitions to higher education
Equip Massachusetts residents with the skills that Commonwealth employers are seeking
Build on Massachusetts history of Pay for Success to expand workforce development opportunities for residents
Liberty & Justice Development Organization was established to help the African apparel industry meet the challenge of global competition by achieving higher output and lower costs, to build the industrial skills of the African work force, and to establish models for social and environmental justice in apparel manufacturing that are transferable to other industries. Our focus is on building local capacity for the future, but our programs and materials are designed to benefit the industry today.
The Leonardo was created to honor and embody the spirit of this Renaissance Man. We see the world as he saw it: full of wonders to be uncovered, always asking why? Our museum is a place where you can freely wander and wonder. Come and discover your inner genius, just like Leonardo did.
The name Lal10 comes from the Hindi word “Lalten” that means “Lantern” in Hindi. Just like the simple lantern, we at Lal10 are ringing light into the lives of artisans across India. Lal10 is a technology driven, B2B platform that helps global brands source authentic Indian handloom and handicraft products.
We bring together state-of-the-art technology infrastructure, best-in-class CRM, supply chain processes, and innovation in design and production, to provide the one-stop sourcing experience for global brands.
Small Business Entrepreneurs supported by Kinara Capital report an average income increase of 20-25% and a boost to their business growth with increased production capacity, higher sales and turnover and ability to hire more employees.
Kasha wants to make it easy for all women to get the health & self-care products and information they need to live their best lives, including women in low-income rural areas of emerging markets.
As a critical lever, Kasha works with corporations and organizations aligned with our purpose to get genuine products and services to the people that need them. Products women want, at the right quality and the right price with information so women can make the right choice for themselves.
InReturn Strategies is redefining the purpose, execution, and scale of inclusion through a single platform that allows businesses to lead and control the results which drive long-term value.
indieDwell offers modular solutions for affordable housing developers. Revolutionize the building industry by producing dwellings that better occupant health and well-being, improve the health of the environment and empower community.
indieDwell is proud to be GoodWell Certified as a Fair, Equitable and Humane Workplace and is a Certified B Corp demonstrating we meet the highest levels of social and environmental responsibility.
Inclusively is a professional network transforming the way candidates with disabilities, mental health conditions, and chronic illness connect to inclusive employers.
Inclusively goes beyond a candidate’s background, matching their experience, skills, and accommodations needed to succeed in the role.
Graduation Alliance provides versatile pathways to high school graduation for youth and adults, fosters college and career exploration, and connects job creators to skilled and ready workers. Since 2007, Graduation Alliance has worked with more than 200 state agencies, school districts, community colleges, and workforce boards around the country to recruit, re-enroll, educate, and mentor students. Graduation Alliance also operates The American Academy, an exemplary online high school that is fully accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission, a division of AdvancED.
(This company has exited)
Flare offers software infrastructure and operational support for emergency
response teams, both government and private.
ePesos provides financial services for the unbanked in Mexico. Financial stress is a main cause of low performance and employe attrition. ePesos enables your employees to access their paychecks before payday, 24/7/365. We don’t indebt your employee, because we don’t offer a loan – it’s their money, today. Contact us to learn how to offer this benefit without cost for your company.
Eneza Education aims to make 50 Million students in rural Africa smarter by leveraging low-cost mobile technology. We’re a virtual tutor and teacher’s assistant that uses high-quality educational content for students and relevant data, tips and resources for teachers, all on a simple mobile phone. Spreading quality affordable education via readily available mobile technology. Dial *291# on a Safaricom line to study.
eMoneyPool is an online money marketplace that specializes in short term savings. It operates as an online community portal for peer-lending groups. It enables its users to pool money each month and take turns receiving the total lump sum.
EMoney offers an online platform that helps people access capital through their social networks and creates a path for individuals to access traditional mainstream lenders by leveraging alternative credit and payment histories.
We de-risk micro and SME loan portfolios by providing banks with relevant and reliable data captured by our Elevateros and PYME Connect data platform. We lower default and delinquency rates, increase customer loyalty, enhance cross-selling, generate new customer leads, and accelerate customer borrowing power.
EcoFix(K) is committed to sustainable agribusiness development and organic agricultural outputs.
Find a van and pay your fare, right from your smartphone. Dollaride provides a safe and transparent service, allowing you to see who your driver is and how far your destination is. You can now enjoy the fastest, affordable and most reliable transportation service in the New York City.
Nonprofits are solving critical problems in their communities, and they can’t do it alone. Catchafire knows how to deliver flexible, responsive support that meets organizations where they are.
Our proven model addresses the chronic underinvestment in Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) changemakers and all resource-constrained nonprofits by connecting them with the operational framework and human capital they need to make and sustain long-lasting impact.
Simple emergencies can cause significant financial hardship. So, Canary built a solution. The Canary team brings a deep understanding of American financial lives to help organizations both big and small understand why workers need access to emergency cash and how they can support them. We believe employee assistance grants should be a ubiquitous part of the employee financial health package.
37% of adults could not cover an unexpected $400 expense with savings… and that was before COVID-19.
60% of Americans have a financial shock each year; half find it difficult to make ends meet for months afterwards.
The 10x racial wealth gap means the highest risks are for people of color.
We solve last mile logistics problems in India. In 2014, we surveyed the Indian logistics market and recognized that a robust logistics solution with standard pricing and organized fleet, powered by a robust technology platform, could make tremendous difference to the last mile supply chain landscape in India
Hands-on or hands-off, we offer an investment account for you. The best part? At Axos You don’t have to decide between data-driven Managed Portfolios and Self-Directed Trading. You can have both.
Asante Financial Services Group is a Credit-Led Neo Bank that supports Africa’s growth through provision of financial services to growing businesses . Asante commenced operations in early 2018 and has grown to become a leading SME Digital Bank in the region. We have partnered with the largest telcos, mobile-based marketplaces, airlines, retailers, payment processors, insurance companies, smartphone phone OEMs and large FMCGs, as corporate channel partners, to access the MSMEs in their ecosystems. Our presence countries are Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda with active plans to expand to 7 more countries by 2025
Our theory of change professes that the resources currently available to the public sector and private philanthropy are not sufficient to resolve global issues before critical tipping points are reached. We believe that Impact Investing can help unlock and mobilize additional resources for sustainable development, and complement the efforts of the public sector and private philanthropy.
By combining the speed and scale of Private Equity with the preservation and wealth creation power of Employee Ownership, specifically a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) — Apis & Heritage Capital Partners (A&H) is attacking the Racial Wealth Gap and helping to restore dignity and status to the American Worker.
Washington DC-based business veterans, bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and equity.
Businesses that can profitably scale and make a lasting impact on low income communities, can seem impossible. Yet, we are obsessed with finding, and fun ding, entrepreneurs who have the ambition to build exactly that type of high-momentum business – an e.M business that can fuel the economic resilience and vibrancy of low income communities.
The Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund, LLC (SVF) is an impact-first fund investing in early-stage social enterprises to expand opportunity for people living in poverty in Eastern Africa. The fund was created to address the “pioneer gap” by supporting early stage social enterprises with a combination of investment capital and Board-level advisory support.
Impact fund focused on early stage social enterprises
Element3 Health is a unique benefit that helps health plans attract new members and keep existing members active, healthy, loyal and engaged. The company combines the three most powerful elements of health into one cohesive solution to tackle $75 billion of unnecessary healthcare spending associated with social, mental and physical decline. A growing network of activity clubs across a broad spectrum of passions delivers fun, inspiring opportunities to get members active physically, social and mentally.
With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, innovation and business development, the Element3 Health team is poised to change the landscape of healthy aging. Only Element3 Health addresses all three determinants of health: physical, social and mental activity. Meet the people behind this unique, comprehensive approach to addressing $75 billion in preventable healthcare spending.
ACCESS® hearing aids are high quality devices. In addition, they handle demanding dust, humidity and temperature conditions, from the extreme north of Canada to southern India.
Advancing smallholder farmers through specialty crops.
1,500 Mobile Access Points
300,000 Unique monthly users
3.7M Sessions per month
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) launched the CORI Innovation Fund(CIF) to invest in growth businesses located in rural Opportunity Zones. CIF seeks attractive technology-enabled operating startups in rural geographies, which are under-served by traditional venture capital institutions. We identify, fund, and support the best and most innovative tech entrepreneurs in rural America, enhancing economic growth and tech job creation in small communities across the United States.
CIF invests in early-stage technology businesses located in, or willing to relocate to a rural Opportunity Zone. In general, we fund companies that are generating revenue and need capital for their plans to scale significantly over time. As a Qualified Opportunity Fund, we invest only in equity and typically in a company’s seed round. We can act either as a lead investor or as a participant in a funding round.
Copia™ makes healthy food more accessible to people in the community by helping businesses redistribute high-quality excess food to feed people in need. Businesses use our technology platform to feed the community, save money, and reduce waste.
Together, we’re making hunger history.
Capria is a global investment firm leading the largest network of fund managers collaborating to deliver superior returns in emerging and frontier markets, using flexible capital, advanced investment systems, and deep partnerships. Through its network fund, Capria invests in venture capital, private equity, and other debt and equity funds backing early-growth businesses. Capria applies global best practices of impact investment and ESG management in order to increase resilience of its portfolio. Capria and its global network deliver profits with scaled impact aligned with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Capria leads the largest network of collaborating fund managers in emerging markets.
Connecting Africa to the internet. Making the internet accessible to everyone and providing the tools to take advantage of the digital economy.
Everyone should have the ability to take advantage of the global digital economy. We want to level the playing field for those who can’t pay for it.
BookNook is on a mission to to ensure equitable access to rigorous and engaging instruction through technology innovation.
BookNook launched out of the belief that only through technology can rigorous programs truly scale. After a small pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016, BookNook has quickly spread across hundreds of schools and after-school programs, throughout dozens of states.
5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe surgery. Expensive surgical equipment contributes to this lack of access and propagates the burden of injury.
The aggregate of this individual burden of injury has greater social and economic impacts on communities, cities and countries as a whole.
On the global scale, the annual burden of injury exceeds that of HIV / AIDS + TB + Malaria combined (“Injuries and Violence: the facts.” WHO, 2010)