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MEETS: Generating ‘Non-Energy’ to Drive Revenues from Efficiency
August 14, 2013 · 1 comment

Energy efficiency should be the low-hanging fruit of carbon-reduction schemes, with clear and reliable paybacks. Instead, the bountiful harvest has been tantalizingly out of reach, for lack of sufficient upfront capital. Now a new financing structure may finally get the...

Overcoming the ‘Original Sin’ of Impact Investing: New Approaches to Liquidity
May 5, 2013 · 2 comments

(Editor’s note: Some of impact investing’s most intriguing innovations in term sheets and financing structures are coming from Village Capital, a seed-stage impact fund and accelerator that has supported more than 300 entrepreneurs worldwide. Ross Baird is Vilcap’s executive director....

Markets for Good: Put Your Data Where Your Mouth Is (2)
January 17, 2013 · No comments

Closing the Deal It’s one thing to advocate for greater transparency to accelerate the marketplace for private investments that deliver positive social and environmental impact along with financial returns. It’s another thing to make it happen. As we explored the...

Markets for Good: Put Your Data Where Your Mouth Is (1)
January 17, 2013 · No comments

Open Data to Fuel Impact Investing I’m an old-school journalist steeped in the timeless wisdom: follow the money. So when I assigned myself in 2012 to cover impact investing, I wanted to know who was making bets on what, and...

Yellow Brick Road to the Impact Economy
December 18, 2012 · 3 comments

I’m from San Francisco, not Kansas, but when I stepped off the elevator at the Lexington Avenue headquarters of Bloomberg LP, it felt like Oz. Around the soaring 6th floor atrium, no walls or receptionists guard the newsrooms. Senior executives...

‘Impact Alphas’ Stake Their Claim
October 11, 2012 · No comments

Word on the Street: When pitching the big-money players, don’t lead with “impact.” Try “alpha” instead. That was the message from pension-fund advisors to leaders of the impact investing community who were gathered in San Francisco for the annual SOCAP...

Exits: Method and GoodGuide Deals Offer Evidence
October 11, 2012 · No comments

One of the enduring raps against impact investing is the scarcity of exits that return capital to investors. The acquisitions this summer of green cleaning brand Method Products Inc. and GoodGuide, a consumer products rating service, may help to allay...

E+Co Avoids Liquidation — Barely — and Emerges Persistent
October 1, 2012 · 4 comments

Millions of dollars in bad loans have driven E+Co, one of the pioneers of impact investing, effectively out of business, offering a cautionary tale for those seeking to provide financing for large numbers of small and growing businesses as a...

Letter from Nairobi: Vanity Capital and Vanity Companies
September 30, 2012 · 5 comments

NAIROBI – Here at ground zero for the new era of African innovation, investors are learning what an impact investing “bubble” looks like. Too much money, too few investment-ready companies. Lots of hype, uncertain impact. The city’s start-up scene has...