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Greetings Agents of Impact! In today’s Brief: Featured: Ownership Economy ‘Tenant equity’ models start to give renters access to housing wealth. Tenants typically …
‘Tenant equity’ models start to give renters access to housing wealth. Tenants typically can't build wealth through the homes they rent. A spate of experiments aim to change that with shared-equity models that give tenants a stake in properties’ appreciation. By aligning tenant incentives with property performance, proponents say, renter equity models could boost occupancy and retention and improve long-term returns for property owners and their investors. “As more people rent for longer and homeownership isn’t a realistic near-term path, we need to think more expansively about how people build wealth,” says Catherine Toner of Denver-based Gary Community Ventures, which published a case study on the “tenant equity vehicle” with the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program. “Renters' wealth models open an important new door by recognizing the role renters play in creating housing value and offering a pathway to financial stability.”
Ecofy raises $42 million for lending to green businesses in India. Impact investors and development finance institutions have been instrumental in building a market for green lending for India’s tens of millions of micro and small businesses (see, "Blending finance for India’s green transition"). The Finnish, Dutch and British development banks contributed to a $42 million funding round for Mumbai-based Ecofy to provide credit for business owners to install rooftop solar or buy an electric vehicle. The company has partnered with equipment manufacturers and other financial institutions to make green loans available to more than 120,000 borrowers. British International Investment’s Shilpa Kumar said Ecofy’s retail financing “is enabling households and small businesses across India to access affordable climate solutions.” In addition to backing from Finnfund, BII and FMO, sustainable infrastructure investor Eversource Capital reupped its commitment in the new round.
South by Southwest showcases the power of human agency in the robot future. On the streets of Austin, Tesla’s Optimus robot served drinks to SXSW revelers. Nearby, a pint-sized android flipped the bird at passersby. The question surfacing across the conference: How can humans reassert themselves to shape what comes next? At a “creative bar” by Siegel Family Endowment and Stanford’s d.school’s Public House, Ideo designers coached entrepreneurs to reimagine “purpose” as a moat in the AI era. In a fishbowl conversation over at Omidyar Network’s The Light House, a 17-year-old student from the AI-enabled Alpha School reminded innovators to meet kids where they are. Poder Suave, a cross-border gathering of US and Mexican builders, used music and food to bridge political divides. “When a person earns some money, saves, invests, creates, trades, and in doing so, expands the freedom of other people around them, there’s a role in financing that,” Roberto Lazzeri, who leads Mexican development banks Bancomext and Nafin, said. Such “soft power," he said, “is not the opposite of hard power. It is the foundation that makes hard power legitimate.” Amid demos and dealmaking at the sprawling tech festival, a quieter push emerged to center culture, design and human connection in shaping what comes next.
Bridges Fund Management brings on Charlie Edwards, formerly with Alteri Partners, as co-head of Bridges’ inclusive growth strategy… Allie Mullen, formerly with Antler, joins Planeteer Capital in New York as head of platform… Proparco appoints Edgar Martin as principal in its Delhi office… Circulate Capital promotes co-founder Wolfgang Hafenmayer to chief investment officer.
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On the streets of Austin, Tesla’s Optimus robot served drinks to SXSW revelers. Nearby, a pint-sized android flipped the bird at passersby. The …
In January, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published “The Adolescence of Technology,” arguing that AI is powerful enough to reshape society but not yet …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Anthropic’s standoff with the Pentagon puts impact investors’ …
Few countries have the market heft, and impact opportunity, that India does. India’s fast-growing consumer class, and also its large rural and urban …
Anthropic’s standoff with the Pentagon highlights the confoundingly complex challenges of crafting effective guardrails around a transformative technology that is charting the fastest …
Europe is often cast as a laggard in the global race for AI dominance, behind the US and China. But the continent is …
Credit unions, nonprofit member-owned financial institutions, serve more than 140 million people in the US. Quash is helping the often low-tech institutions upgrade …
Slowly, then all at once. The adage sums up the feeling of late that artificial intelligence, under development for years, is suddenly on …
Deploying AI for good is nice, but not enough. Impact investors and others are mobilizing capital to build “good AI.” This month’s sudden …
Inside the big business of impact investing.
Who would be funding this, if not us? That’s the question Bryan Goh, the CEO and chief investment officer of the Tsao Family …
Brazil’s newest generation of family wealth holders is a promising force for catalytic impact investing in the country. Younger members of wealthy families …
When Bridges Fund Management, the London-based sustainable and impact investor cofounded by Sir Ronald Cohen, wanted to expand its private equity platform into …
Tom Steyer sees an opportunity in America’s aging building stock. Steyer’s climate investment firm, Galvanize Climate Solutions, launched a real estate strategy three …
A trio of powerhouse investors has teamed up to create a renewable energy company that will generate steady cash flow in a turbulent …
Greetings, Agents of Impact! Welcome to this week’s ImpactAlpha LP/GP, where we take you inside the real business of impact investing and the …
South African venture firm Hlayisani Capital manages nearly one billion rand ($60 million) across three venture capital and private equity funds that support …
For The Riverside Company, a $13 billion private equity buyout firm, broad-based employee ownership has evolved from a values-driven experiment into a proven …
Bogotá-based ALIVE Ventures has closed its second impact fund at $55 million, drawing commitments from a mix of development finance institutions, foundations, and …
Provocative opinions and insightful analysis from the community
There is an unspoken design decision fundamentally shaping our economy: economic rights and governance rights are inextricably linked. Whether it’s a venture capitalist …
Building savings is critical to establishing financial security. The ability to save underpins financial health for low-income and low-wealth households. It also serves as an …
What if public entities could act more like private impact investors? What if public capital could be deployed for measurable social and environmental …
From Hollywood thrillers like “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another,” to indie crowd-pleasers like Folktales and Orwell: 2+2=5, impact is playing a starring …
One of the central themes in the Oscar-nominated film, “Sinners,” is the demand for a cultural experience that is both for us and …
Six years ago, most Americans couldn’t imagine working on their own. But when the pandemic upended the world of work, newly laid-off workers …
Aging energy and transport networks are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. Yet traditional inspection models can’t keep up with the growing strain caused …
Much ink has already been spilled about the $10 trillion transfer of business assets that is underway across the United States. Millions of …
When Congress added $45 billion in federal immigration detention funding in 2025, Wall Street understood the signal immediately. For the two dominant publicly …
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