Anne Field | February 26, 2018
Building on the track record of its Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Detroit, JPMorgan Chase is expanding the program to the Bronx and San Francisco. The two new loan funds, totaling more than $5 million, will provide much needed capital and technical assistance to minority-owned small businesses. San Francisco and New York City’s tech startups are hardly struggling. But […]
Jenny Kassan | January 2, 2018
Tired of bootstrapping and ready to raise money to expand your business this year? Congratulations. That’s the first step toward achieving your dreams. Too many of us, especially women, constrain our business’ potential by scraping by on a tight budget or maxed out credit cards. But before you dive in, it pays to get really […]
B the Change | December 15, 2017
Chances are you’ve heard of moringa, a nutrient rich plant that has been dubbed the next superfood. If so, you’ve probably also heard of Kuli Kuli Foods, a fast-growing social venture that has helped popularize moringa in the U.S., while helping women farmers in West Africa and the Caribbean. Kuli Kuli was founded in 2013 […]
B the Change | July 27, 2017
What do you do if you’re a mission-driven company that would like to raise outside capital, but have no intention of selling the company? That’s the dilemma faced by a growing number of indie-minded entrepreneurs that want to grow their companies while staying true to their values. Traditional Medicinals, a pioneering maker of organic herbal […]
Anne Field | July 10, 2017
For social entrepreneurs concerned about growing income inequality in the U.S. and around the world, one way to spread the wealth is through employee ownership. With that in mind, you’d think impact investors would be clamoring to invest in such companies. But, not so much. They may be missing out. “Companies with meaningful ownership and […]
Anne Field | June 30, 2017
There’s a lot of talk these days about impact investing. But ask any social entrepreneur, and they’ll tell you that raising capital is their number one challenge. Impact investors tend to regard these early-stage social enterprises as too risky, even as they complain about a lack of high quality investment opportunities. Call it the social innovators’ […]
Locavesting Staff | April 24, 2017
Raising capital while female. It comes with a unique set of challenges, not least of which is that the investors you’re pitching are likely to be white males with a certain sort of background. Given the tendency of people to invest in and generally gravitate towards others similar to them—a trait known as homophily—women and […]
Douglas Raggio | April 10, 2017
DEAR FOUNDER, YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT A FUCKING UNICORN. A unicorn is a mythical animal. You created a real business. Regardless of your company size or promise, you took a significant risk, saw something others didn’t and acted on it. I find it borderline insulting to call your business something that isn’t real (sorry 7-year-olds). […]
Amy Cortese | February 27, 2017
Anne Field | January 27, 2017
Opening a grocery store in a food desert in West Oakland is not easy—just ask Brahm Ahmadi. Despite strong community support, he’s had to get creative to when it comes to funding and building his social enterprise. After several years, he’s finally nearing his goal, having raised money from the community and partnered with a […]
