"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."
"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. "
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.
" 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."
"egg is a visionary marketing, brand development, and advertising agency for sustainable brands. We specialize in creating emotional connections between the conscious consumer and sustainable brands. Our proprietary research into and understanding of this rapidly-growing cultural movement provides us with the insights needed to create messages that inspire action and brand loyalty.
As a leading visionary in the realm of marketing and brand development for economic, social, and environmental change, egg similarly believes in the need to reassess, redefine and renegotiate the corporate charter to serve a greater public need beyond solely private economic benefit. egg believes in this new effort to register "public benefit companies".
Today, people expect more from brands and companies. They are searching for brands that share their values and priorities. They look behind the logo, often voting with their pocketbooks to ensure that their personal values are reflected in their spending. egg is a one-of-a-kind brand communications firm that specializes in helping these brands build lasting, meaningful connections with today's conscious consumer.
The Change We Seek™
egg seeks to build brands for a better future.
* Our strength is building connections between consumers and responsible brands. We understand today's conscious consumer, and we know how to communicate with them through traditional and non-traditional channels. Communicating about responsible brands requires a simple but transformational shift in thinking, both in the message and the medium. For example, responsible brands find little benefit from spin. Instead, they find success in a meaningful amplification of what they truly are - from authenticity.
* We gear our brand-building toward the 7-70 consumer. 7% of the population is socially responsible to the core. And 70% are socially responsible in some way, but to a lesser extent. They are motivated by many different values and ideas, but
"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."
"About Hydrovolts
Hydrovolts' new hydropower technology taps a plentiful but overlooked global source of renewable energy from water currents in canals and channels. Hydrovolts turbines offer an economical and easy way to generate reliable, local clean power in millions of locations around the world. The company's initial market is artificial waterways such as irrigation canals and wastewater and cooling water discharges. After initial growth in the USA, Hydrovolts will supply the huge global market for affordable local clean power from canals, dams, rivers and even tidal channels.Hydrovolts won the 2009 National Sustainability Award in the Clean Tech Open, the world's largest clean tech business plan competition. The sustainability chapter of Hydrovolts' overall business plan was judged the best out of more than 280 entrants. The sustainability is available for free download from the Hydrovolts website. Hydrovolts also won the 2009 "Best Investment Opportunity" and a $50,000 investment prize from the Zino Society Green Forum.
We became a B Corp because the B Impact Assessment and corporate structure requirements are fundamental to operating as a sustainable business. B Corp has created a management metric system that is relatively simple but comprehensive and related to global standards such as the Global Reporting Inititiave and the Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce. We will use the B Corp resources and network to ensure our growth to a sustainable corporation is guided by the best management practices for sustainable profits and positive impacts.
The Change We Seek®
The change we seek is local economic and environmental sustainability. The Hydrovolts technology produces electric power at the household scale. It also can pump water and make fresh drinking water using reverse osmosis. Over a billion people have no electricity at all, and more than that have unsafe drinking water. We can help them as part of
"The current African social entrepreneurship market is growing rapidly but it is still fragmented and opaque.
Complication: Players active in the African social entrepreneurship space cannot find, learn and collaborate with each other. There are information asymmetries in the market.
Solution: An online "living" platform created for members - by members.
ASEN aims to provide Social Entrepreneurs with an opportunity to collaborate and access resources. "
"Entrepreneur Commons is a platform to support entrepreneurs through self-help groups and loans. The fund is managed by a not-for-profit social network of entrepreneurs - a support platform that can scale, and that also provides a way to screen deals, based on inclusion of every entrepreneur into the process rather than exclusion through a competitive process. It is especially useful to social entrepreneurs, for whom the regular funding processes do not really work. And it simplifies the investment decision for social investors because success can easily be measured - when the beneficiary businesses are social businesses and loans (with rates that can be benchmarked against market returns) are paid off, then the social investor can be satisfied that he has done his part."
ELC Clients - Social Entrepreneurs & Non-Profits
Individuals or groups who wish to build a non-profit business or charitable services organization, as well as those pursuing social entrepreneurship objectives, fit into this category. Most of these ventures will be generally eligible for ELC services. Well established non-profits with substantial endowments, as well as private foundations, will likely not be eligible for ELC services. Because of the emerging trend in social entrepreneurship for new ventures to demonstrate both low cost access strategies and profitable market strategies, ELC will consider providing services to founders who are not exclusively committed to forming a non-profit. In fact, ELC can help such founders think through the pros and cons of establishing non-profit vs. for profit organizations.
Accepted clients will be assigned a team tailored to the needs of the proposed venture. In some cases this will be a full team consisting of different students and attorneys for review of: business planning, structure, and governance; intellectual property, particularly trademarks, trade secrets, copyright, and, if applicable, patents; employment law; business licensing; and tax planning and compliance. In other cases, a non-profit or social entrepreneurship venture will be assigned a team with a single student and supervising attorney. For example, a small co-op that needs to focus solely on governance and co-op organization law, or obtaining tax exempt status can benefit from the efficiencies of a single business and tax law trained student and supervising attorney team.
The initial confidential legal and business audit report will assess the following areas, as applicable; additional legal services in these areas may also be offered upon mutual written agreement of the venture and ELC:
* Business planning
* Entity selection and registration
* Differences between non-profit governance (including co-ops) and for profit governanc
"Milepost Consulting weaves together strategic business acumen, a field-tested toolkit and communication know-how to help your team define its game plan, establish its road markers and learn from its accomplishments. Our cross-industry expertise gives us insight into how the markets are shifting course and a vision for the leadership position your company can establish. Together with your talent we'll help make phrases like "sustainability" and "green" meaningful to your business, navigate you through the complicated world of climate change and carbon emissions, and communicate with your stakeholders in a way that inspires them to action. Milepost is committed to helping you more effectively set your sights on your destination, chart your course, and have fun along the journey. "
"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
While social entrepreneurs have emerged in every sector and nearly every market, they often lack the high-level business, management, and strategy skills that have propelled the private sector to its remarkable growth. We aim to leverage our expertise in management education and training to develop and deliver the world's best executive training for social entrepreneurs. Our pioneer ISEP program, launched in 2005 and running annually in both our Fontainebleau and Singapore campus, has established itself as the most valuable for program for leading social entrepreneurs and the entry ticket into a valuable life-long network of support and knowledge sharing.
More fundamentally, we aim to organize our faculty and bring our academic expertise to bear upon the unique challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. Our research agenda aims to foster a two way dialogue: advanced management thinking is applied to the challenges of social entrepreneurs while the innovative approach of social entrepreneurs is leveraged back into business research and corporate practice.
The social entrepreneurship initiative is housed under both INSEAD's Social Innovation Centre and the Rudolf and Valeria Maag International Centre for Entrepreneurship. The Social Innovation Centre is a premier hub for research and learning on the connection between business and society. The Maag Centre is the catalyst at INSEAD for innovations in entrepreneurship research, teaching and outreach.
"The Lemelson Recognition and Mentoring Programme (L-RAMP) recognises, connects, mentors and funds ideas that seek to serve the rural poor, with a focus on ideas in agriculture, water, energy and dairy. We support innovations right from the idea stage and incubate them till they enter the market. "
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