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"Green and Social Venture Capital One potential source of funding for green and social entrepreneurs is venture capital (VC). Venture capital firms generally make equity investments in enterprises beyond the seed stage of development. In addition to financial resources venture capital firms can provide business guidance and other resources to entrepreneurs. Many traditional venture capital firms now have dedicated funds and staff that focus on one or more aspects of environmental or social responsibility. In addition, some VC firms (sometimes known as "social venture capital firms") explicitly incorporate additional investment criteria, such as social or environmental benefits, in their mission and investing activities. This page also includes links to some relevant "angel investors." Angel investors generally provide capital at an early stage of an enterprise's development, prior to the period of investment by traditional venture capital firms."

About SOCAP10 Today a new form of capitalism is arising that recognizes both the power and efficiency of market systems and the ability to direct them toward social and environmental issues leading to a more balanced set of "returns." Early efforts by social entrepreneurs and enlightened investors have given rise to "Social Capital Markets" that include affordable housing, clean technology, microfinance, fair trade and many other socially focused enterprises. SOCAP10 convenes the major players and emerging thought leaders in the field to discuss innovative ways to expand those markets and bring socially responsible investing and the channeling of capital to SMEs and grassroots business organizations into the mainstream. We want to talk about where private sector dollars can work at venture start up speed without being encumbered by laborious engagement with government structures who have complex theories of change. We'd like to bring funders to the table to talk about how they can co-invest and what restraints there are around the capital, including expectations and desired impacts. We'd like to bring NGO's and entrepreneurs to the table to talk to the ways they are working with government to make their programs more effective. We want to bring government to the table to talk about the channels they are opening for private and public partnerships. We need to change the way we do business, as individuals, organizations and government institutions. We want to prove that it is possible to do well by doing good.

"about equilibrium capital group we are helping to build the leading companies that are defining sustainable commerce. our strategy is to invest in growth equity stage companies in the areas of green building, food shed, & resource management (in particular, waste and water management). sustainability trends are impacting both the cost structures and the product needs in each of these three sectors. the companies we target are not technology centric companies & are often overlooked. they have three common attributes: 1. brands that have created loyalty and reputation in their markets, but where their eventual value has yet to be harvested. what money can't buy is the authenticity of these brands and the degree that these entrepreneurs have build business models that execute sustainability throughout their product and business processes. 2. team/entrepreneurs that have a passion for these businesses. these are not in general people that have entered these sectors yesterday after reading about it in the Economist or the WSJ. these are pioneers and business people that are building lasting enterprises that serve these emerging market needs. these entrepreneurs see our work in the public policy of sustainability and in public service as value statements of our ability to understand them and their businesses. 3. operating in large & high growth market segment. our strategy is to partner with these entrepreneurs to unlock these levers, fuel enterprise value growth in these fast growing markets and create the leading companies in their sectors…while holding true to the values behind the brand. our goal is to build the leader in sustainability rooted investing. at the end of the day, it is about access and scope of opportunity. via our earned access in these sectors, we have surfaced and are gaining access to a significant number of these unique deals that fit this profile. "

" As a management company, TouchPoint provides unique and innovative solutions. We do this by providing capital resources and building strategic partnerships with companies whose business models have future growth potential and are dedicated to building a responsible new economy. The recent collapse of global capital markets has been particularly onerous for companies seeking new investment to grow their business. Particularly hard hit have been Triple Bottom Line (TBL) companies, a sector of business defined by its commitment to people, planet and profit. While consumer demand for TBL products that has driven market caps to over $200B, there is currently only $5B of private equity capital invested into TBL companies. TouchPoint sees the current crisis as an opportunity for companies to raise new cash from the investment community. TouchPoint is a for profit company supporting for profit initiatives and enterprises. We do this in two ways. First, we build our own financial products. But in addition to that, we build strategic partnerships that scale and support other business models we believe have growth potential and will positively impact the future. We strive for sustainability and prosperity. TouchPoint is committed to developing sustainable resources, both at home and abroad. We share a vision with our partners of developing three sectors: Green Consumer Products, Renewable Energy and Emerging Market Development."

"MissionMarkets.com is a centralized, private, password protected and FINRA regulated investment exchange. The system affords organizations and companies (issuers) that generate positive social and environmental impact a unique marketplace for raising capital. Issuers that meet minimum listing criteria may upload and display their capital requests and debt offerings for accredited impact investors via our online transaction platform. This offers an issuer a broad and diverse audience of potential investors to view their offerings and simultaneously provides accredited impact investors with a centralized marketplace with increased investment opportunities from which to choose. Investors may use our secondary market to sell or exit existing investments by negotiating the terms of a resale with other investors. MissionMarkets.com provides users with a highly efficient, transparent, regulated and secure infrastructure that will scale the impact investing markets."

The Utilikilts Company is committed to pioneering a comfortable alternative to trousers by producing "Men's Unbifurcated Garments" (MUG's). The Utilikilt has become a growing social phenomenon, inspired debate, consistently challenged the media, changed lives, and created a common symbolism among its wearers. With customers all over the world, the Utilikilts Co. continues to both pioneer and to follow the best examples it can find, in every area of running a socially responsible business. We became a B Corp because Utilikilitarians are evangelists. We want to have an impact on public policy in this country. Our politicians aren't doing what we need them to do and hopefully a community of businesses like this can become a constituency for change. The Utilikilts Company, established April 2000, was originally founded in order to fund a global arts project that would travel the world putting on an interactive road show of music, dance, video art, and drama and leaving change in its wake. The Utilikilt was one of several designs implemented by Form Follows Function, an original design company, in order to raise money for this Arts project. The Utilikilt spawned the Utilikilts Company, and right before our eyes, this unique garment began to accomplish the goals that Form Follows Function had originally set out to promote. The Change We Seek™ Utilikilts seeks to set a global example, defining "business with a conscience", driving a worldwide paradigm shift toward a more conscientious form of capitalism, and channeling company gains and resources back into the community. * Our mission statement explicity states that the management of the company will not exploit cultures, peoples or environments to achieve capital gains. * We strive to be socially, environmentally, and economically responsible and make a vigilant effort to construct a profitable, sustainable, and transparent business class or corporation type having 7th generation values that will

"Pura Vida Coffee sells 100% organic, fair trade and shade grown coffee and a full line of sustainable beverages to individual and institutional customers throughout the US. We believe that companies can be both 'tough-minded and tender-hearted', integrating the discipline and rigor of a for-profit with the heart and soul of a mission-driven non-profit organization. We believe that there is a 'new sector' forming and want to be in on the ground floor! The mission of Pura Vida is to Create Good™ by using business to empower producers, motivate consumers, inspire business leaders, and, ultimately, serve the poor. By utilizing every facet of our company-capital structure, governance, employee recruitment, product sourcing, marketing and sales-to achieve social outcomes, we can demonstrate that the worlds of business and charity can not only co-exist, but can thrive on one another. Pura Vida Children The Change We Seek™ The mission of Pura Vida is to bring compassion and capitalism together in order to "Create Good™" for children living in coffee communities around the world. * Pura Vida seeks to provide all of its coffee farmers enjoy a fair wage and can support a family. To accomplish that goal, we only buy and sell 100% Fair Trade coffee, which ensures that our workers are treated fairly and that their land is preserved naturally. * We also make sure that we are active in the communities where our coffee is grown. Pura Vida operates programs for at-risk children through the sale of products and the financial support of customers and partners. We work in partnership with local non-profit agencies to provide educational opportunity and nurture physical health, confidence, character, and strength of spirit. * All of our coffee is organic and shade-grown, which means that every bean we harvest is as pure as it can possibly be. Growing our coffee in the shade preserves the nutrients and minerals found in coffee beans, and our organic status affirms

"Funk Ventures is a multi-faceted and entrepreneurial investment firm with focus on venture capital, business acceleration and real estate. Supported by an experienced and passionate team, our philosophy is grounded in the belief that businesses can make a significant and positive contribution to people, society and the environment. Our portfolio companies and our investment focus on wellness, medical devices and clean technologies put this philosophy into action every single day."

"Investors' Circle is a network of over 225 angel investors, professional venture capitalists, foundations, family offices and others who are using private capital to promote the transition to a sustainable economy. Since 1992, Investors' Circle has facilitated the flow of over $133 million into more than 200 companies and small funds addressing social and environmental issues."

"The mission of the NUST-SEECS Social Entrepreneurship Club is to create, organize, manage and capitalize the venture to make social change and to provide the students of SEECS with a platform to create awareness among the people especially our youth about the concept of social entrepreneurship and to link them with social organizations to resolve their issues and learn from these organizations the basic skills to make a positive social impact on individual level."

"Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help (CASH) provides the business training, supportive community and capital to help enterprising individuals with limited financial resources gain self-sufficiency through small business ownership."

Our mission is to help companies reach their highest potential in the context of the next paradigms in business. At shiftalliance™, we advise businesses on how to innovate their entire business model through the lens of meaningfulness, the key value driver of the 21st century. shiftalliance shows a business-any business-how to improve profitability with minimal capital investment from the companies we serve. We are experts in powerful, low-cost ways of discovering new ideas to increase the value your company generates, motivating a company's work force, inspiring its leaders and attracting new customers. Whether you're a leader seeking to revitalize the ROI of an existing business or a venture capitalist needing to optimize a business in your portfolio, shiftalliance™ can help you discover the innovation opportunities to enhance your business model and align your company with emerging shifts of the 21st century. Our singular approach comes from the combination of rigorous business analysis + design thinking + awareness mindset leadership coaching to unlock the full potential of your strategy, leaders and performance. We coach your people to lead and embed meaningfulness into your culture. We became a B Corp immediately upon discovering B Corporation. We had collected 231+ better practices in business and realized that B Lab was promoting many of these practices through their certification and legislation initiatives. We were thrilled to discover that companies could be recognized for their meaningful practices and potentially even benefit financially (through tax breaks) as a result of their commitment to socially responsibility. Most management and specialist consulting firms address business, organization development, innovation, brand or sustainability. We use the lens of meaning, the value driver of the 21c, to assess, innovate and embed all of the above into meaningful business models and unleash greater value for all stakeholders and the enter

"The rise of social and sustainable enterprise has occurred in response to an overwhelming need for systemic change. Yet collectively, the issues we're seeking to address require more intelligence, more resources and more influence than we individually have access to. We firmly believe that the wisdom we require to pass through the perfect storm of social, environmental and economic problems is to be found in the collective - in our connections and collaborations - as opposed to within the confines of our own individual, entrepreneurial and organizational structures. W1SDØM has been created to support change agents, investors and advisors by facilitating the flow of capital - be it human, intellectual, social or financial - to more effectively create the next generation of global sustainable enterprise."

"Green VC is developing a comprehensive resource of funding sources for entreprenuers working on socially- or environmentally-focused ventures. Please visit the pages below for some initial funding sources and feel free to send suggestions for additional sources to info [at] greenvc.org * Green and Social Venture Business Plan Competitions * Green and Social Entreprenuership Awards, Competitions, and Fellowships * Green and Social Venture Capital * Green and Social Venture Credit and Lending "

The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship creates training and mentoring programs for sustainable, mission-based businesses. Our core program is Social Enterprise Academies. The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship plays the role of convener and catalyst, connecting the organizations and people needed to create, grow and celebrate social enterprises. SOCIAL ENTERPISE ACADEMIES ABOUT THE ACADEMY A Social Enterprise Academy creates an eco-system of support that nurtures entrepreneurship and innovation in non-profit organizations. Its goals are to: * Enable non-profit organizations to develop the skill sets and resources that will enable them to attract growth capital and increase revenue from earned, rather than donated income. * Build overall organizational capacity. Academies enable non-profits to improve organizational performance by applying business practices and analytical thinking to their everyday operations. * Create community-based change in the broader local non-profit marketplace by promoting convergence between the best practices of business and philanthropy. IMPACT OF THE ACADEMY To date, our unique combination of training, mentoring & "fast pitch" plan competition has: * Expanded capacity in 126 non-profit organizations; * Utilized the mentoring talents of more than 100 business men and women ; * Produced millions of dollars in new investment and earned income streams. 90% of those participating in one of our business plan competitions say that it had a significant positive impact and 65% have launched or expanded ventures which generate new income for their agencies within a year. Academies are currently planned or under way in OrangeCounty and Los Angeles and San Diego counties (California) and in Las Vegas.

"Entrepreneur CommonsCM is a not-for-profit for and by entrepreneurs, dedicated to helping them through peer-support groups. "

Vision To enable entrepreneurs to realize their dreams while benefiting the lives of people at the base of the economic pyramid. Mission To deploy needed financial and human resources to high impact social ventures addressing the needs of large, underserved populations.

"NewSchools Venture Fund is a venture philanthropy firm working to transform public education through powerful ideas and passionate entrepreneurs so that all children - especially those in underserved communities - have the opportunity to succeed."

"Mission Markets operates a private investment exchange for multiple asset classes and market based mechanisms within the social and environmental markets. The Mission Markets platform provides companies and organizations with access to impact investors and provides these investors with an efficient way to identify, evaluate, invest in and monitor sustainable investment opportunities."