In the Loop Inside Impact Investing: Investors’ Circle’s biannual community wide e-zine publication

By Cathy Clark, CASE at Duke University & Investors’ Circle Board of Directors and Bonny Moellenbrock, Investors’ Circle & SJF Institute. As a potential extension of its pioneering work on impact investing, the Rockefeller Foundation commissioned SJF...

March 29, 2013 | Press Release via 3BLmedia. Investors’ Circle Philadelphia (ICP) is pleased to announce a $500,000 commitment for investment into graduates of the Ventures Program at GoodCompany Group (GCV). The ICP-GCV2013 Seed Fund reflects the long-standing...

How would you describe your business? Farmland LP acquires conventional farmland and converts it to organic, sustainable farmland as an investment fund, similar to a REIT. Farmland LP owns over 6,300 acres of farmland (nearly 10 square miles) worth $43 million, with 673 acres...

How would you describe your business? First Light Hospitality is a destination resort management company, an impact investment and a founding B Corporation.  At First Light, we provide our guests with memorable hospitality experiences while operating a...

How would you describe your business? Genomic Expression’s technology takes the guesswork out of the process of developing personal diagnostics. The kit and software can be used on any of the instruments already in the labs. The company’s goal is to partner with...

How would you describe your business? We are a K-12 education technology company that provides software that empowers the success of ALL students.  We are focused on creating elegant and intuitive software that empower the educators, administrators, and parents who work...

How would you describe your business? Herb’n Farm ~ Om Style Cooking (HnF) is a proven, fast-casual, eco-driven, healthy foods restaurant brand designed specifically to scale worldwide.  CEO and sustainable foodservice pioneer Lauren Bell created the award winning,...

How would you describe your business? Jack & Jake's, Inc. connects local growers to market and enables access to fresh healthy foods at an affordable price through a new regional food hub business model. We work with local growers to scale production, implement...

How would you describe your business? Requirements like cost of resources, regulations and demand for transparency are driving the need to develop greener products. Traditional methods for assessing environmental impacts are costly and time intensive. Sustainable Minds has...

By Melissa L. Bradley, CEO, Tides. Last fall, Matthew Patsky, CEO Trillium Asset Management, and I co-authored a white paper called Total Portfolio Activation – A Framework for Creating Social and Environmental Impact across Asset Classes.  The paper provides...

By Rachael Chong, Catchafire. “It is one of the beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely help another without helping himself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Americans are used to giving back. The average American household gives $2,213...

By Kai Hopkins, Keystone Accountability. It seems that meaningful evidence of investee and investor performance has eluded impact investors.  In 2010, Keystone surveyed 330 investees who provided anonymous feedback on seven leading impact investors - Acumen, E+Co, GBF,...

By Drew Tulchin, Social Enterprise Associates Industry reports in impact investing cite lots of capital, with millions of dollars more flowing into this sector each year. For those running social ventures, however, capital is hard won. Raising money can feel like a full time...

By Eleni Vlachos, International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery. It is no secret that lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare is a universal problem.  Reasons for a lack of access vary throughout the world, from cost barriers, to remote...

The Good Life Organization specializes in creating innovative curricula and training for educators and youth workers seeking to engage youth labeled “at-risk”. Our Fulfill The Dream curriculum cultivates leadership, relationship, and citizenship skills while engaging...

Have you had any great mentors and what is the most valuable thing(s) they've taught you? I have indeed!  First and foremost, they were my parents and grandparents, who instilled in me the belief in myself that I could accomplish anything I set my mind on achieving,...

The Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) is a series of venture capital funds that invest in Investors’ Circle companies.  PCC funds are typically raised every two years.  Each fund invests in four to six promising IC companies.  PCC funds offer...

Slow Money crossed many thresholds in 2012. Over $23 million has now been invested in 185 small food enterprises throughout the country. At the local level, there are now seventeen Slow Money Chapters, including one in France, and six investment clubs. Slow Money has more than...

B Lab supports the world’s leading entrepreneurs using business to solve social and environmental problems. To support these initiatives B Lab focuses on three main initiatives: 1.     Shine a Light on the Entrepreneur through Certifying companies as B...

By Alexandra LaForge, Investors' Circle The flyers were wrong.  In two hours, Woody was due to speak at Bioneers, and he was across the Bay with the wrong flyers.  Karyn took his frantic call, Kelsi found the right Kinko’s order, Molly wrote out public...

By Brian Dunn, Growth Capital Services There’s a good reason why Investors’ Circle understands entrepreneurs.  We are entrepreneurs ourselves, tackling audacious challenges with spirit, creativity and perspicacity.   The resilience of this group...

Inteview with Steve Monti, Solidarity Capital Group and IC North Carolina Can you describe your background and what brought you to impact investing and Investors’ Circle? I was at IBM for 20 years – I started technically, doing analog VLSI chip development and...

Interview with Guenevere Abernathy, LoMo Market Could you give us a brief overview of LoMo Market and what led you to build this company?  Your background as an entrepreneur? LoMo Market is an innovative new “direct to consumer” e-commerce platform that...

Interview with Rachel Weeks, School House Could you give us a brief overview of School House and what led you to build this company?  Your background as an entrepreneur? School House is an American collegiate lifestyle brand I founded after graduating from Duke in...

General Compression builds Dispatchable Wind farms designed to deliver renewable electricity to customers on demand. How would you describe your business? General Compression is developing utility-scale, long-duration energy storage projects with its proprietary...

Numi inspires well-being of mind, body and spirit through the simple art of tea.  Numi Organic Tea is a premium, Fair Trade sustainable company; specializing in unique and innovative blends of green, black, white, and oolong teas. How would you describe your business?...

Peacekeeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetics line to give all of its after-tax, distributable profits to women’s health advocacy and urgent human rights issues. PeaceKeeper builds a bridge between extraordinary women in the land of plenty and extraordinary women...

Scream Sorbet makes exquisite seasonal sorbets from local organic ingredients.  Scream uses the best local, organic, and seasonal produce available and makes its sorbet one quart at a time. How would you describe your business? Scream Sorbet is based in Oakland,...

By Cliff David and Chris Bentley, Conservation Economics Clean air - free?   Clean water - free?  Healthy environment - free?  Maybe they used to be. The concept of the cost of maintaining a healthy ecosystem has been discussed for several decades, but as...

By Vamsi Sistla It takes a certain chutzpa and compassion to part with your money in the interest of the communal good and society at large. Most of impact investing goes against the rationale and justification that is core to traditional investment decisions. So what...

By Phil Henderson and Michelle Knapik, Surdna Foundation The art and science of social change in this era of declining public spending and economic doldrums has philanthropy stretching to meet unprecedented needs in new ways. We have long counseled that grants from...

Interview with Moving Forward Education, 2012 Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Awardee Can you give us a quick overview of Moving Forward Education? Moving Forward Education is an academic mentoring program that combines focused tutoring support with intentional social and...

B Lab supports the world’s leading entrepreneurs using business to solve social and environmental problems. To support these initiatives B Lab focuses on three main initiatives: 1.     Shine a Light on the Entrepreneur through Certifying companies as...

The Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) is a series of venture capital funds that invest in Investors’ Circle companies.  PCC funds are typically raised every 18 months.  Each fund invests in four to six promising IC companies.  PCC funds offer...

Slow Money crossed many thresholds in 2012. Over $20 million has now been invested in 167 small food enterprises throughout the country. At the local level, there are now fourteen Slow Money Chapters and six investment clubs. Slow Money has more than 200 Founding Members, 2,400...

We believe that impact investment transactions are magic moments. At its core, a transaction occurs when sellers engage in exchange with buyers.  As we look around the impact investing ecosystem, a growing number of social enterprise incubators and accelerators have...

By Steve Monti, IC North Carolina We’re pleased to announce the formation of a new IC local network in North Carolina. The IC NC Network held its inaugural meeting in December 2011 and now meets on the second Tuesday of eachmonth at the offices...

An interview with Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth Could you tell us what led to the birth of DailyWorth? I was an entrepreneur and web programmer in my 20s and - after buying too big of a house in my early 30s – was sent on a journey into finance media.  I found...

An interview with John Moore, IC Philadelphia and Robin Hood Ventures Can you describe your personal investment experience and what brought you to Robin Hood Ventures and Investors' Circle? Prior to getting involved in angel investing, I spent eight years in medical...

A closer look by Alexandra LaForge, Investors' Circle Founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth offers women financial empowerment.  DailyWorth’s business model is based around email, reaching more than 250,000 email subscribers daily...

How would you describe your business? Alter Eco is a values-based brand of specialty food products that brings sustainable, delicious, exotic, and healthy ingredients from around the world to people here in the United States and Canada while directly benefiting farming...

How would you describe your business? Everyone Counts is the world's leading provider of state-of-the-art election administration and voting systems for government and private organizations. We uniquely combine world-class expertise in technology, computer security,...

How would you describe your business? Mamma Chia is a San Diego based company and the creator of the first-to-market, organic chia seed beverage. We have a passion for chia, the planet and her people!  Mamma Chia’s Vitality Beverages, winner of BevNET’s 2011...

By Jamie Shea, Social Venture Fund at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Wharton, Stern and the London Business School. What do these schools have in common? They have all contacted me about how they too can start a student-led...

By Ben Bingham, 3 Sisters Sustainable Management Thanks for the chance to say a few words to the IC community.  First, I would like to honor my brother, Hiram (Tony) Bingham who passed away not so long ago, who was a pioneering IC member, and who broke the rules in...

By Sean Greene, Small Business Adminstration SBA recently licensed our first nationally-focused Impact Investment Fund, SJF Ventures III, LP. The fund will make equity investments in growth-stage clean-tech and positive-impact companies in targeted clean energy businesses...

An interview with Tom Mills, IC member mentor Have you had any great mentors and what is the most valuable thing(s) they've taught you? Yes, I’ve been very lucky to have a few of them, including my business partner today.  From her, I’ve learned to...

By Beth Richardson, GIIRS GIIRS (pronounced “gears”, stands for Global Impact Investing Rating System) is a ratings and analytics platform for impact investing that provides comparable and verified social and environmental performance data on high impact funds and...

By Tom Balderston & Sky Lance, Patient Capital Collaboration The Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) is a series of venture capital funds that invest in Investors’ Circle companies.   PCC funds are typically raised every 18 months and generally invest in...

By Michael Bartner, Slow Money Slow Money crossed many thresholds in 2011. Over $16 million has now been invested in 95 small food enterprises throughout the country. Fourteen Slow Money Chapters are now in existence (10 more in formation) and local investing is happening in...

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Jed Emerson and Antony Bugg-Levine’s new book, Impact Investing, and Socap11 discussion have left the term “both/and” ringing in many ears.  According to Emerson and Bugg-Levine, we live in a bifurcated world where the notions of making a difference and...

Message from Cliff David – President, IC Philly After launching as a pilot program in 2009, we are very excited to announce that the Investors’ Circle Philadelphia Chapter has formalized.  The chapter consists of 15 members that meet monthly at Blank Rome,...

Can you describe your personal investment experience and what led you to Murex Investments? Two things about my relevant experience: First, I started in strategy and growth consulting and entered Murex at the associate level when I was quite young. Second, before that I...

Could you tell us briefly what Drop the Chalk does? Drop the Chalk builds web-based software applications for use in results oriented classrooms.  Our flagship product, Kickboard, allows teachers and school leaders to collect everything from grades, preparedness,...

How would you describe your business? Castlewood Surgical provides a medical device which helps surgeons to overcome the stroke risk of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, which is done 350,000 times per year in the US alone.. What impact do you hope to have with your...

How would you describe your business? DailyWorth delivers practical tips on personal finance to over 100,000 women's inboxes daily. Founded in 2009 as a trusted platform for women to learn about money management, DailyWorth has since stood out as the go-to...

How would you describe your business? Emerge is a social company. Our goal is to provide better borrowing choices for the 50 million workers in the US living paycheck-to-paycheck with little to no access to savings. Emerge provides workplace-based affordable personal loan...

How would you describe your business? Peepoople offers a totally new, sustainable and easily scalable solution to providing hygienic and dignified sanitation to the world's poor. The Peepoo is a self-sanitising biodegradable single-use toilet that after use turns...

Robert Foster, Capitopia Strategies Why do Fish Matter? Imagine a future where only the extravagantly wealthy eat ocean fish.  Farmed fish are a rare indulgence for the upper-middle classes.  And, the billion plus individuals that now depend on fish for their...

Don Shaffer, RSF Social Finance At a SOCAP special session on September 8, RSF Social Finance presented and released its white paper, “A New Foundation for Portfolio Management.” This paper, authored by Leslie Christian, CEO of Portfolio 21 Investments with...

Jonathan Storper, Partner, Hanson Bridgett, LLP Co-Chair California Benefit Corporation Legal Working Group Current corporate laws do not provide impact investors with the shareholder rights to guard against their early-stage impact investments suffering mission-creep...

Investors’ Circle is proud to partner with The Hitachi Foundation and its Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Program.  The Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Program identifies and supports inspiring young entrepreneurs who are operating businesses that create greater economic...

  GIIRS Ratings & Analytics was launched in September at Clinton Global Initiative along with a commitment from 15 GIIRS Pioneer Investors who represent $1.5 billion in impact assets. These investors have declared as part of their impact investing strategy an...

The Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) is a series of venture capital funds that invest in Investors’ Circle companies.   PCC funds are typically raised every 18 months and generally invest in four to six promising IC companies each.   PCC funds offer...

  “Slow Money is critical to the future of social investing.” —Robert Zevin (often called the father of socially responsible investing) What could make more sense than the idea of a million Americans investing 1% of their money in...