Catalyzing investment in social enterprises through collective philanthropy
At ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ, our clients are coming together to pool efforts, skills and resources to fund key social and environmental initiatives.
Philanthropists today are finding that making impact requires philanthropy that is radical, catalytic and collaborative. They’re seeking out innovations with evidence of delivering results. And they’re accelerating those innovations to scale.
One of the key vehicles we see them using to achieve meaningful impact is collective giving. And a powerful approach that can make collectives catalytic is blended financei, which uses the power of philanthropic capital to crowd-in private investment by providing risk reduction and helps close the funding gap to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Using collectives to achieve impact leverage
Using collectives to achieve impact leverage
At ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ, our clients are coming together to pool efforts, skills and resources to fund key social and environmental initiatives. The first ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Accelerate Collective cohort invested in the SDG Outcomes initiative to design, support and deliver impactful projects in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Using an innovative blended finance structure, philanthropic donations from over 30 ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ clients provided 20% catalytic capital to unlock additional impact-driven investment.
Now we’re launching the second ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Accelerate Collective cohort to help catalyze investment into innovative new solutions to tackle some of today’s most pressing challenges. Philanthropists will provide catalytic capital that will crowd in commercial capital with a leverage ratio of 2.5x, playing a pivotal role in driving impact investing at scale. ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation will identify, seed and support 15-20 innovative impact enterprises using the full spectrum of patient capital – equity, debt, convertibles. As with the first cohort, a two-year learning journey, leadership experiences and an insights trip will allow ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Collective members to advance their knowledge, share solutions and witness results firsthand.
Investing in health, education and environment
Investing in health, education and environment
What kind of impact enterprises will the ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation target with Collective funds? Those that improve learning for the world’s most vulnerable children. Enterprises with solutions to increase access to health services across the continuum of care – from community, to clinics, to hospitals – that will save children’s lives. And social enterprises that aim to stop environmental degradation through nature-based solutions that can be unlocked through private capital.
Take Jacaranda Maternity, for example. This social enterprise offers affordable, high-quality maternal care to lower neonatal and maternal mortality rates in Kenya. With carefully selected staff backed by efficient processes, protocols, dashboards, quality control and asset-light facilities, Jacaranda Maternity offers an affordable solution to address the risks of childbirth. To date, they have helped to deliver over 6,000 babies without any maternal deaths and with only 4 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, while profitably managing their hospitals.
Building a bridge to mainstream investors
Building a bridge to mainstream investors
Philanthropic support can play a pivotal role in helping companies, like Jacaranda Maternity, reach investment readiness. The pooling of resources is particularly effective as the cost to identify promising early-stage companies with viable impact and revenue models is high.
After providing an impact loan, which is currently being served, ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ Optimus Foundation is now investing USD 700k through a convertible note as a bridge prior to Jacaranda Maternity's planned series B fundraise in 2024.The series B would fund the expansion from three to 15 maternity hospitals.
Why not join together?
Why not join together?
When philanthropists come together to support innovative solutions backed by evidence, they can have exponential impact. Together, we have a real chance to impact some of the world’s most pressing social, environmental and economic problems. If you haven’t yet worked together with other philanthropists, you might consider collective philanthropy to amplify your impact. And by using the tool of blended finance, you can make your contribution truly catalytic.
