Mission Driven Capital Directory—USA

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

Posted May 20, 2021

Mission Driven Capital Directory—USA: There are more and more sources of seed and venture capital which have a bias in favor of sustainable business. Their number is growing very rapidly; this list has more than 100 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.

Communities/Social Change (C/S)
Minorities (M)
Healthcare (H)
Social/Sustainability/Environmental/Educational (S/E)
Technology (T)
Women (W), and take a look at the Venture Founders Directory of Funding for Female Founders.
Consumer (C)

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.

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. 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.

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