Episode nine of season two of SOCAP’s podcast series, Money + Meaning: Unlikely Allies Building New Markets for Impact is now available!
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Episode 2.9: A Conversation with Impact Equity Fund Pioneer Dave Kirkpatrick of SJF Ventures and Impact Capital Managers
Dave Kirkpatrick is a Managing Director and co-founder of SJF Ventures, a venture capital fund that focuses on high growth, positive impact businesses. Kirkpatrick began his career in impact as an entrepreneur. He founded and managed a cleantech investment research firm and a solar energy and recycling company. When he and venture capitalist Rick Defieux discovered their shared interest in cleantech and sustainable economic development they partnered to create a fund that would invest in innovative companies that were yielding social and environmental returns along with profits. They co-founded SJF Ventures in 1999, years before the term “impact investing” was coined. Kirkpatrick also now serves as the founding co-chair of the Impact Capital Managers, a network of private capital fund managers in the U.S. and Canada investing for financial returns and impact. Kirkpatrick said of the value of this organization, “there is a craft to the type of work that we do and it is really helpful to be able to meet other craftspeople working in the field.”
Impact Capital Managers recently released a white paper with Tideline, The Alpha in Impact, Instead of asking “what’s the tradeoff?” Kirkpatrick says, their study addresses the question, “what’s the advantage of being an impact fund?” He also noted that the report covers other questions such as, “How can you win access to companies? How can you build value while you are in the company? When you exit, how can you get a win-win exit?”
At the recent Mo Summit in Asheville, North Carolina, a gathering of CEOs who are scaling high-growth, positive-impact companies, Money + Meaning host Alex Kravitz sat down with Kirkpatrick for a conversation about the changes that he has seen in the impact investing industry along with the evolution of his investment philosophy and approach.
Featured Voices
Dave Kirkpatrick
SJF Ventures and Impact Capital Managers
Host: Alex Kravitz
About Money + Meaning
Money + Meaning is the official podcast of SOCAP. This series aims to expand the conversation around impact investing and strategies to finance and support social change while stimulating innovative and valuable new partnerships across sectors.
Resources
White Paper: The Alpha in Impact: How operating with an impact objective can add financial value for investors, A Tideline Publication with Impact Capital Managers
