Mission Driven Capital Directory—USA Seed & Venture Capital with a Sustainability Bias

 In Benefit Venture Blog, Directories

Mission Driven Capital Directory—USA: There are more and more sources of seed and mission driven capitalventure capital which have a bias in favor of sustainable business. Their number is growing very rapidly; this list has more than 120 firms.They add criteria beyond the purely financial to make their investment decisions, but that does not in any way imply that they are soft touches. Ten or more of these impact-oriented investment firms are already BCorporations. My guess is that more will seek to become a BCorp. It’s also interesting to note that over 150 venture capital firms have invested in a B Corp, many receiving multiple funding rounds.

How to Approach a Listed Firm

Any pitch to these investors in mission driven companies will need to be even more rigorous than to conventional Venture Capitalists—to include the benefit-based aspects of the startup. They make statements such as this one from Now Capital, “dedicated to enabling early-stage companies with transformative solutions for a prosperous world. We invest seed capital into paradigm-shifting companies and accelerate startup growth through our networks and growth expertise.”

Approaching these mission driven capital organizations is best done by reference, and in any case close attention will need to be paid to the investment criteria these sources of mission driven capital use and the special requirements they demand of potential investments. A blanket and un-tailored approach will not do. Find out about the stage of business in which the company makes investments there’s no point in approaching a firm that specializes in seed capital if your business is well-established.

Before you even start you search for investors in mission driven companies, you may want to browse nearly 550 angel investors in social enterprise on AngelList, where you’ll find a treasure trove of mission driven capital investors. Be aware that despite my attempts to keep entries updated, the Mission Driven Capital Directory may not yet have listed the very new source of mission driven venture capital that would be ideal for your new venture. S keep searching for the right financial partner for you.

A Progressive Alternative to Mission Driven Venture Capital

Equity Crowdfunding has taken off thanks to a few pioneers who managed to get the law changed so that equity funding is open to non-accredited investors—us ordinary mortals. The leader of the pack was and still remains Wefunder. Their aim is to attract people to invest in ‘founders of the future’, and as they boldly state, “we’re here to fix capitalism.” The company is a Public Benefit Corporation and a BCorp, and hence a majority of the campaigns they run to raise equity are for startups or early stage companies that are likewise purpose driven and want to make the world a better place—doing good and making profit.

Investments can be made with as little as $100. Amounts raised go from $50K to $5 million. The upper limit was just reset, thanks in large part to Wefunder’s campaigning. So far more that 1,500 founders have been funded, $287 million has been invested, $5 billion additional funding has followed from Wefunder investments. As important as anything else is the fact that nearly 20,000 new jobs have been created.

How to Use the Mission Driven Capital Directory

Many of the mission driven capital sources have a special focus. I have marked each of the investors in mission driven companies with their special focus, and some have more than one. The categories are general and imprecise. If you think you have found a potential investor in the Directory, then not only visit their website, but dig deeper. One good way might be to examine the companies in their portfolio. Then, if one strikes you as relevant and interesting to you and your startup, make contact, visit them and understand the sues they faced. You may even find that the founder would be happy to make an introduction to the investor firm.

Trianz has a very good Guide for Resources for Minority-Owned Businesses. It covers much more than funding and is well worth a visit. Trianz is a firm that helps leaders and organizations reimagine value to stakeholders and transform with digital technologies. Tips, Tools, and Resources for Black-Owned Small Businesses is a good source of help, too. It’s from Tailor Brands who want to see Black-owned small businesses flourish. The guide provides information on starting a new business, marketing tips, advice on overcoming adversity, networking opportunities, and other valuable tools for success.

Other investors in mission driven companies have an even sharper focus, for example:

Next Frontier Capital invests in Montana businesses; the Designer Fund invests in businesses where there is at least one founder who is a designer; Rise of the Rest Seed Fund only invests in promising seed stage companies outside Silicon Valley, NYC and Boston, or Afore Capital that only invests in pre-seed companies; Bonsal Capital is a mission-driven partnership, and supporting education has been a core driver since 1999.. Some, such as Wave Equity Partners have very precise purposes. In Wave’s case, it is to find and empower innovative solutions that create high growth businesses and also nourish our ecosystem. Grounded Capital Partners have a laser focus on regenerative agriculture.

Sustainability-focused funds attracted record inflows during the first quarter of 2021, pushing global assets under management in Environmental, Social & Governance funds to nearly $2 trillion, according to a report from Morningstar.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, then visit Funding the Benefit Sector, where you may get results. If you do make contact with any of the firms, please do mention that you discovered them through Venture Founders.

This list in incomplete—for sure. Please write to will@venturefounders.com to make additions, updates or improvements.

Mission Driven Capital Directory

  1. Access Ventures (C/S) https://accessventures.org
  2. Advantage Capital Partners (S/E) https://www.advantagecap.com
  3. Alante Capital (S/E & C) https://www.alantecapital.com
  4. Aligned Partners (W) http://www.alignedvc.com
  5. Attain Capital Partners (S/E & T) https://attain.capital/
  6. Renewal Funds (C/S & S/E http://www.renewalfunds.com
  7. Arthur Ventures (T) https://arthurventures.com
  8. Aspect Ventures (W) http://aspectventures.com
  9. Backstage Capital (W & C/S)  http://backstagecapital.com
  10. Bain Capital Double Impact (S/E & C/S) https://www.baincapital.com/businesses/double-impact
  11. Belle Capital (W) http://www.bellevc.com
  12. Better Ventures (S/E) http://www.better.vc/
  13. Big Path Capital (S/E & C/S) http://www.bigpathcapital.com/
  14. Bonsal Capital (S/E) https://www.bonsalcapital.com
  15. Broadway Angels (W) http://www.broadway-angels.com
  16. Builders Fund (S/E) http://www.thebuildersfund.com
  17. Candide Group (CS/SE) https://candidegroup.com
  18. Capital Impact Partners (C/S) https://www.capitalimpact.org
  19. Catamount Ventures (S/E & C/S) http://www.catamountventures.com
  20. City Light Capital (C/S) http://citylightcap.com
  21. Clean Energy Angel Fund (S/E & T) http://calcefangelfund.com
  22. Climate Impact Capital (S/E)  https://climateimpactcapital.com
  23. Clean Energy Venture Group (SE & T) https://cevg.com
  24. Closed Loop Partners (circular economy) https://www.closedlooppartners.com
  25. Colorado Impact Fund (H, S/E& T) https://www.coloradoimpactfund.com
  26. Collaborative Fund (S/E) http://www.collaborativefund.com
  27. Committed Capital (S/E) http://www.committedcapital.com/
  28. Commons Capital (S/E, C/S) http://www.commonscapital.com/index.htm
  29. Cowboy Ventures (C/S & T) http://cowboy.vc/index.html
  30. Cue Ball (S/E) https://cueball.com/home/
  31. Cutting Edge Capital (C/S) https://www.cuttingedgecapital.com
  32. Designer Fund https://designerfund.com
  33. Drumbeat Ventures (C) https://www.drumbeatventures.com
  34. DBL Partners (M & C/S) http://www.dblpartners.vc
  35. Echoing Green (W, M, S/E) http://www.echoinggreen.org
  36. Elevate Capital (S/E) http://elevate.vc
  37. Enable Impact (S/E) http://www.enableimpact.com
  38. Engine No. 1 (S/E) https://engine1.com
  39. Expansion Capital Partners (T) http://www.expansioncapital.com/index.php
  40. Female Founders Fund (W) http://femalefoundersfund.com
  41. Fenway Summer Ventures (T) http://fenwaysummer.com
  42. Founder Collective (S/E) http://www.foundercollective.com
  43. Foundry Group (T) https://foundry.vc
  44. Fresco Capital (C/S) http://www.fresco.vc
  45. Generation Investment Management (T) https://www.generationim.com
  46. Giant Ventures (T) https://www.giant.vc
  47. Global Good (S/E, C/S & T) http://www.intellectualventures.com/globalgood
  48. Golden Seeds (W) http://www.goldenseeds.com
  49. Grounded Capital Partners (SE) https://www.groundedcapitalpartners.com
  50. Harlem Capital Partners (M, T, W) https://harlem.capital
  51. Heed Capital (S/E & T) https://heedcapital.co
  52. Homebrew (S/E) http://homebrew.co
  53. Illuminate Ventures (W) http://www.illuminate.com
  54. Impact America Fund (SC, C/S, T) http://www.impactamericafund.com/
  55. Impact Engine (S/E) https://www.theimpactengine.com
  56. Impact Venture Capital (T) https://impactvc.com
  57. Incite Ventures (C/S) https://www.incite.org
  58. Initialized Capital http://initialized.com
  59. Investors Circle (S/E) http://www.investorscircle.net
  60. JC2 Ventures (T) https://www.jc2ventures.com
  61. Kapor Capital (S/E) http://www.kaporcapital.com
  62. Koa Labs (S/E) http://koalab.com
  63. Lorient Capital (H) https://lorientcap.com
  64. Lux Capital (T) http://www.luxcapital.com
  65. Maveron (C) https://www.maveron.com
  66. Mindfull Investors (S/E) http://mindfullinvestors.com
  67. Mission Driven Capital Partners (CS/SE) https://www.missiondrivencp.com
  68. Mission Driven Finance (CS/M) https://www.missiondrivenfinance.com
  69. Moore Ventures (S/E & T) https://www.moore-ventures.com
  70. Next Frontier Capital (S/E) http://www.nextfrontiercapital.com
  71. New Age Ventures (S/E) https://www.newage.vc
  72. Now Ventures (S/E & C/S) http://nowventures.co/
  73. Obvious Ventures (S/E & H) https://obvious.com
  74. Omidyar Network (S/E & C/S) https://www.omidyar.com
  75. O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures (SE & T) http://oatv.com
  76. Owl Ventures (SE & T) http://www.owlvc.com
  77. Pipeline Angels (W) http://pipelineangels.com
  78. Plum Alley (F) https://plumalley.co
  79. Precursor Ventures (C/S) https://precursorvc.com
  80. Propel Capital (S/E) https://www.propelcapital.org
  81. Radicle Impact (S/E) http://www.radicleimpact.com
  82. Renewal Funds (C/S & S/E) http://www.renewalfunds.com
  83. Rethink Capital Partners (C/S, S/E & C) https://rethink-capital.com
  84. Rethink Impact (W, T, H &S/E) http://rethinkimpact.com
  85. Rise of the Rest Seed Fund (C/S) https://www.revolution.com/entity/rotr/
  86. Rivet Ventures (W) http://www.rivetventures.com
  87. RSF Social Finance (S/E) http://rsfsocialfinance.org
  88. SJF Ventures (S/E) http://sjfventures.com/
  89. Sagona Capital (S/E) https://www.sagonacapital.com
  90. Shields Capital (H) https://shieldscapital.com
  91. Social Capital (S/E & T) http://www.socialcapital.com
  92. Social Impact Capital (S/E & H) https://social-impact-capital.com
  93. Social Leverage (T) https://www.socialleverage.com
  94. Social Starts T https://www.socialstarts.com
  95. Sogal Ventures (C/S & F) http://www.sogalventures.com
  96. Solidarity Capital Group (S/E) http://www.solidaritycap.com
  97. Sou Sou (W) https://investsousou.com/
  98. Springbank Collective (H & W) https://www.springbankcollective.com
  99. Stray Dog Capital (S/E) https://straydogcapital.com
  100. Strugatz Ventures (S/E & C/S) http://www.strugatzventures.com
  101. Sustain VC (S/E, M & H) https://sustainvc.com
  102. The Ecosystem Integrity Fund (S/E) https://ecosystemintegrity.com
  103. The Builders Fund (C/S) http://www.thebuildersfund.com/
  104. The Jump Fund (C) http://thejumpfund.com
  105. The Rise Fund (S/E & C/S) http://therisefund.com
  106. Torch Capital (C) https://torchcapital.vc
  107. Two Sigma Investments (T) https://twosigmaventures.com
  108. 3×5 Partners (S/E & T) https://www.3x5partners.com
  109. Uberis Capital (S/E) http://www.uberiscapital.com/
  110. Unschackled (S/E & M) https://www.unshackledvc.com
  111. Village Capital (SE & C/S) http://vilcap.com/
  112. Vision Ridge Partners (S/E) https://www.vision-ridge.com
  113. Vulcan Capital (SE & C/S) https://vc4a.com/vulcan-capital/
  114. Wave Equity Partners (S/E & T) https://waveep.com
  115. Webster Equity Partners (H) https://websterequitypartners.com
  116. White Road Investments (S/E) http://whiteroadinvestments.com
  117. WK Kellogg Foundation (S/E) https://www.wkkf.org/what-we-do/mission-driven-investments
  118. Women’s Venture Capital Fund (W) http://www.womensvcfund.com
  119. Xcelerate Fund (W) http://www.xxceleratefund.com
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