One of the largest BIPOC-led impact investing funds, the Equitable Prosperity Fund I, will seek to help accelerate the growth of companies that are creating positive impact in underserved communities.
MAY 14, 2024 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations is proud to announce the final closing of its inaugural fund, the Equitable Prosperity Fund I LP (the “Equitable Prosperity Fund” or the “Fund”), one of the largest BIPOC-led impact investing funds, with commitments of $171 million.
The Fund’s investments are intended to help growth-stage companies create more social impact in their communities, focusing on outcomes such as increasing access to healthcare and healthy foods, while supporting employee ownership and diverse entrepreneurs.
Through the Equitable Prosperity Fund, the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations will be able to provide opportunities that are rarely available for many entrepreneurs, particularly those who are often underserved and have received a mere fraction of the venture funding available in recent years.
The annual report for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations showcases the deep and durable impact being created in communities nationwide.
The annual report showcases the many ways that Momentus Capital utilizes financial capital, social capital, and knowledge capital to help entrepreneurs, community leaders, and the communities they serve.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed. Our work is focused on helping the entrepreneurs and communities whose access to the opportunities they deserve has been limited,” said Ellis Carr, President and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance.
Now in its second year, “Keeping It Cool” grants provide cold storage support for local small food businesses and nonprofits to improve access to healthy foods
May 1, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) – More than $700,000 in grants have been awarded to 22 food businesses and nonprofits to help them grow while expanding access to healthy food for disinvested communities in the Washington metro area. These include communities experiencing food apartheid, adults and students living with low incomes, children and families that are unhoused, refugees, and incarcerated youths.
The “Keeping It Cool” grants, funded by The Morningstar Foundation, provide these businesses and nonprofits with something essential that many might otherwise take for granted — cold storage infrastructure. The grants will go toward refrigerators, freezers, coolers, delivery vehicles, display cases and other upgrades.
In its 2024 rankings, The NonProfit Times selected the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations as the #3 large nonprofit, #17 overall.
April 15, 2024 (Arlington, VA / San Diego, CA) – The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations has been named one of the best nonprofit employers in the United States, according to The NonProfit Times, the leading publication for nonprofit managers.
Momentus Capital was ranked as the #3 large-sized nonprofit — which includes organizations with 250 or more employees — and #17 overall for organizations of any size.
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations includes several mission-driven organizations that are dedicated to providing people with access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. These organizations include Capital Impact Partners, CDC Small Business Finance, and their affiliates, Momentus Direct Capital, Momentus Securities (a FINRA-member broker/dealer), and Ventures Lending Technologies.
“It is an honor that The NonProfit Times recognizes the great work we are doing at Momentus Capital. We strive to promote an inclusive culture where employees are motivated to perform at their best, are excited by the work they do, support the customers and communities we serve, and have a sense of belonging,” said Kim Dorsett, Chief Human Resources Officer for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations.
S&P Global Ratings’ opinion states that Capital Impact’s Social Bond Framework related to the current offering of $200 million of its Capital Impact Investment Notes is fully aligned with accepted social bond principles and social loan principles released by the ICMA, LMA, LSTA, and APLMA
April 1, 2024 (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 that it has secured a second-party opinion, or SPO, from S&P Global Ratings stating that Capital Impact’s Social Bond Framework related to the current offering of $200 million of its Capital Impact Investment Notes is fully aligned with international standards, including the 2023 Social Bond Principles published by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the 2023 Social Loan Principles published collectively by the Loan Market Association (LMA), the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA).
Social Bond Principles outline stringent eligibility criteria for social projects that Capital Impact Partners may finance and require that the net proceeds of its Impact Investment Notes offering be used for eligible uses, primarily to fund social projects in the affordable housing, education, health care, and food security sectors, and to projects that advance its social mission.
“We are delighted to receive this second-party opinion from S&P Global Ratings,” said Natalie Gunn, Chief Financial Officer of Capital Impact Partners “At Capital Impact Partners, we are committed to providing a continuum of capital to disinvested communities, helping these communities have the chance they deserve to thrive. As such, we are committed to financing social projects benefiting underserved populations and communities.”
Ms. Stallings launched the Housing Equity Accelerator Fellowship and led the Equitable Development Initiative and Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in the D.C. area, helping diverse developers and small business owners receive pivotal financing, training and mentorship.
These awards recognize the entrepreneurial drive, creativity and success of the recipients. The honorees were judged based on their professional accomplishments, community leadership and philanthropy.
Ms. Stallings joined Momentus Capital at the start of 2022 and has made a significant impact with her work over these past two years. She leads programs that help diverse entrepreneurs overcome barriers caused by systemic racism to grow their businesses, close the racial wealth gap, and create more affordable housing, jobs, and other opportunities for the communities they serve.
“These are entrepreneurs who don’t often have easy access to capital compared to their counterparts,” Ms. Stallings said. “Through a number of resources, including flexible capital, technical assistance, educational programming, and by helping them expand their network, we’re hopefully leveling the playing field for them.”
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 18, 2024 (Arlington, VA) – For the seventh 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.
Capital Impact Partners also remains on ImpactAssets’ Emeritus Impact Managers list, which illuminates impact fund managers that have achieved consistent recognition for at least five years on the ImpactAssets 50. Only 46 of the 155 fund managers on this year’s ImpactAssets 50 have received the Emeritus Impact Managers label.
OCTOBER 17, 2023 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – Ellis Carr, the president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, part of the Momentus Capital branded family of companies, has been named to the Washington Business Journal’s annual Power 100 list.
“We assembled our annual Power 100 list of the most influential business leaders with the pending revival of Greater Washington top of mind,” wrote Washington Business Journal Editor-in-Chief Douglas Fruehling. “Who has the courage to stand up and discuss our problems without holding back? Who has the leadership skills — and, sometimes, the dollars — to make a difference? Who can we count on?”
Mr. Carr was one of 25 business leaders featured in the “Big Money & Financiers” section, which includes “the bankers, investors, and private and public behemoths driving the Greater Washington economy.”
The ninth annual Co-op Innovation Awards supported four organizations’ work in Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington state.
October 3, 2023 (Arlington, VA) – Four innovative cooperatives in four cities have received a combined $170,000 in catalytic grant funding from Capital Impact Partners’ 2023 Co-op Innovation Awards, which aim to increase cooperative development in communities living with low incomes and/or communities of color.
A composting company owned and staffed by formerly incarcerated individuals
A collaborative effort to convert multi-family housing into resident-owned co-ops
A training program for queer and trans farmers, and farmers of color
Professional development for maternal health workers who serve historically disinvested communities
“The recipients of this year’s Co-op Innovation Awards are helping to strengthen the kinds of shared pillars — access to housing, employment, health care, and healthy foods — that help build healthy communities and generational wealth,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, which includes Capital Impact Partners, among others. “Capital Impact Partners was founded more than four decades ago as part of a federal effort to encourage co-op development, and supporting the co-op model continues to be one of our key sectors. In addition to these grants, we have disbursed more than $315 million in loans to support cooperative businesses since our founding.”
“Providing support to spur new co-op development is critical in helping cooperatives grow and prosper across the United States,” said Casey Fannon, president and CEO of National Cooperative Bank. “We are proud to continue our support of the Co-op Innovation Awards, which fully align with our mission and help improve the lives of our communities.”
AUGUST 3, 2023 (Arlington, VA/San Diego,CA) – The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations announced today that Aeris — a leading expert in the financial and impact performance of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other private impact loan funds — has recognized it with strong ratings in the areas of impact management, financial strength and performance, and contribution to public policy.
