The ImpactAssets 50 is a publicly available, searchable resource of impact investment fund managers who deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns
March 28, 2023 (Arlington, VA) – For the sixth straight year, Capital Impact Partners has been selected for the ImpactAssets 50 – a free, annual database for impact investors, family offices, corporations, foundations, and institutional investors that features a diversified listing of private capital fund managers delivering social and environmental impact as well as financial returns.
This year, Capital Impact Partners was elevated to ImpactAssets’ Emeritus Impact Managers list, which illuminates impact fund managers that have achieved consistent recognition on the Impact Assets 50. Only 41 of the 163 fund managers on this year’s ImpactAssets 50 have received the Emeritus Impact Managers label.
Capital Impact, a leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), began offering its Capital Impact Investment Notes in 2017. The Investment Notes allow retail and institutional investors the opportunity to invest in the organization’s nationwide efforts to create social impact for disinvested communities.
Independent rating recognizes Capital Impact for its financial performance and strong management
March 13, 2023 (Arlington, VA) – Capital Impact Partners, a nonprofit corporation, certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), announced today that Fitch Ratings, one the world’s leading providers of independent credit ratings, has assigned an A+ rating with a stable outlook to both Capital Impact and the issuance of up to $275 million of its Capital Impact Investment Notes (Notes). The issuer rating was assigned on August 31, 2022 and the Notes rating was assigned on September 22, 2022.
“These ratings from Fitch are an endorsement of our strong financial performance, our proven track record with impact investing, and our Investment Notes program” said Natalie Gunn, chief financial officer of Capital Impact Partners. Capital Impact Partners is one of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, which also includes CDC Small Business Finance and Ventures Lending Technologies, among other organizations.
“We are one of just a select number of mission-driven financial institutions to receive ratings from multiple agencies, which is important as this is one of the tools used by corporate and philanthropic investors when evaluating investment decisions,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. “More important, these investments allow us to invest deeper into underestimated communities and provide the capital and resources they deserve.”
Applications are now being accepted for an additional grant round totaling $400,000
March 10, 2023 (Arlington, VA/Washington, DC) – The Nourish DC Collaborative has announced their second round of grantees in neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores and other food amenities. The $500,000 in grant funding will help create more opportunities for 13 food businesses owned by people of color in Washington, DC, as well as for the communities they serve, through access to healthier food, economic prosperity, and high-quality jobs.
The Nourish DC Collaborative provides food businesses with grants, technical assistance, and loans — focusing on communities that have experienced systematic underinvestment, poor health outcomes, and limited economic opportunities. Nourish DC was created in 2021 in partnership with DC’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), and additional funding for this grant was provided by the Bainum Family Foundation. Capital Impact Partners, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) headquartered in the DC region, serves as fund manager for the collaborative, which also includes several other local CDFIs and technical assistance providers.
The latest round of grant awards brings the total of grants from the Nourish DC Collaborative to $900,000 since 2021. To date, the collaborative has also provided over $15 million in loans and given technical assistance to more than 200 food businesses.
Grants will support equitable lending products, healthy food initiatives, and supportive housing
MARCH 3, 2023 (Arlington, VA) – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced this week that Capital Impact Partners was awarded $6.14 million in grants through the fiscal year 2022 round of the CDFI Program.
The CDFI Program awarded a total of $199.4 million to 435 organizations.
These grants will enable Capital Impact Partners to expand its efforts to create new, innovative lending products for emerging developers of color in Dallas, expand support for healthy food businesses in Washington, D.C., and increase supportive housing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“We are grateful to the CDFI Fund for this substantial support that will be leveraged with our balance sheet capital to significantly expand three critically important financing initiatives,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. “These awards will increase our work to build healthy communities and generational wealth in disinvested communities in Texas, the District of Columbia, and California.”
Mr. Gougis launched the first cohort of Capital Impact Partners’ Equitable Development Initiative in Dallas, helping developers of color with training, mentorship, and pathways to financing that are often unavailable due to systemic racism.
FEBRUARY 27, 2023 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – Aaron Gougis, the Dallas Initiatives Manager for the Momentus Capital branded family of companies, has been honored by the Dallas Business Journal in the publication’s annual “Leaders in Diversity” awards.
Mr. Gougis received the “Community Champion” award, which recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond in the promotion of initiatives, resources, or community involvement to advance diversity in the Dallas region.
Mr. Gougis launched the first cohort of Capital Impact Partners’ Equitable Development Initiative in Dallas and then managed the first cohort of the six-month program in 2022. The Equitable Development Initiative helps developers of color with training, mentorship, and pathways to financing that are often unavailable due to systemic racism.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done to bring the Equitable Development Initiative to Dallas, what the program has already meant for the developers who participated in it, and what it will continue to mean for the community,” said Mr. Gougis. “And I’m excited for what ’s still to come — how we can better support the Dallas area as an organization, to learn about the challenges that community members of color are facing, their goals, and their needs.”
Mr. Carr is part of a prestigious class of honorees recognized on December 8 in Washington, D.C.
DECEMBER 9, 2022 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – Ellis Carr, the president and CEO of the Momentus Capital branded family of companies, has been named “Nonprofit Leader of the Year” by the Washington Business Journal.
The Washington Business Journal’s annual CEO of the Year awards highlight top leaders in the area that have demonstrated great innovation, strength and perseverance while also maintaining a commitment to the community.
“I am honored to be recognized on behalf of the important and innovative work that my colleagues do in the Washington Metro area and throughout the country,” said Mr. Carr. “What we do is really about giving someone a fair and equitable opportunity. An opportunity to fulfill their dreams for themselves and their community, an opportunity to build a life for their family, in a community that has the resources they need to thrive. That’s the work that we’re doing here, and that’s our reason for being, and that’s what we should always be striving for.”
These investments will help companies grow and create impact in their communities, filling a crucial gap in the CDFI space while taking a different approach than traditional venture capital.
NOVEMBER 16, 2022 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – The Momentus Capital branded family of companies is proud to launch its Impact Investments line of business to jumpstart growth-stage, for-profit businesses that are creating social impact. These investments will focus on companies with diverse leadership and/or are operating in communities of color.
Many of these companies need something other than traditional debt — so that they can instead concentrate their resources on growing their enterprises. However, those opportunities are often not available. For example, less than 1% of venture capital funding nationally goes to Black founders. And equity investments make up less than 2% of CDFI portfolios in the United States.
“As a mission-focused organization, we provide support in a way that helps owners maintain control over their companies. We work alongside these owners to help them grow — seeking a modest, short-term return while enabling owners to maximize their impact within the community through economic growth and job creation,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact Partners, each of which is part of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations.
Momentus Capital is proud to announce that it is working with Macy’s, Inc. on S.P.U.R. Pathways: Shared Purpose, Unlimited Reach — a multiyear, multifaceted funding program to advance entrepreneurial growth, close wealth gaps, and shatter systemic barriers faced by diverse-owned and underrepresented businesses.
This innovative effort advances a longstanding Macy’s, Inc. commitment to underrepresented businesses and aims to galvanize the retail industry to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs.
It features a comprehensive range of financing options, from growth equity capital to loans for working capital and commercial real estate. Additionally, this effort will provide a full suite of educational resources, fueling a holistic supplier ecosystem and acting as a catalyst for outsized growth.
The eighth annual Co-op Innovation Awards supported five organizations’ work in California, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
September 28, 2022 (Arlington, VA) – Five innovative ideas in five cities have received a combined $170,000 in early-stage grant funding from Capital Impact Partners’ 2022 Co-op Innovation Awards, which aim to increase cooperative development in communities of color and communities living with low incomes.
This year’s awards, issued by Capital Impact Partners and National Cooperative Bank, are funding projects such as enabling Cambodian refugees to have permanent affordable housing; keeping a neighborhood safe so that families and businesses can thrive; creating an online marketplace for street food vendors; teaching skilled laborers how to become upholsterers; and helping a housing cooperative move toward sustainable growth.
These worker, housing, and food co-ops are innovating programs or strategies to offer workers, especially workers of color, an alternative to extractive systems.
Developers of color have historically faced significant barriers resulting from generations of structural racism and disinvestment. This investment will go toward Momentus Capital’s efforts to help developers grow their businesses.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2022 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) –Momentus Capital announced today that U.S. Bank has purchased a $5 million Racial Equity Bond from Capital Impact Partners, part of the Momentus Capital family of companies. It is the first time that Capital Impact Partners has offered a bond like this; the use of funds is restricted to ensure investors’ funds go to developers of color and the work is achieving its intended racial equity impact.
This investment will help support Momentus Capital’s continued work toward helping real estate developers of color in an industry where they are starkly underrepresented to create generational wealth, construct developments that are aligned with community needs, and build more affordable housing.
