We strive to bring you the latest stories about impact investment deals in Australia. But, we also want to give you the inside word, before the deals are done.
ImpactConnect is a live show-case, presenting the hottest impact enterprises that are all open for investment. They may be launching a fund, or raising a round for their social enterprise, but all the partner organisations have impact at their core.
The first session for 2022 will be held in conjunction with the Impact Summit. A high-energy event to prepare you for the broader Festival of Impact which will take over the final week in March.
It’s the biggest program to date for ImpactConnect. So big in fact that we had to split our coverage over two weeks!
The organisations below are the first batch.
So get to know them, and get excited for the Festival of Impact.
It’s an opportunity to stay switched-on to open deals and current opportunities.
Kilara Capital
Kilara Capital is at the forefront of climate investing and has launched Australia’s first impact growth equity investment vehicle, Kilara Growth Fund (KGF).
KGF is focused on investing in small to medium sized companies, which target climate outcomes and outsized commercial returns in four key sectors: Environmental Markets, Future Food, Energy Transformation and Circular Economy. These sectors address climate change and drive systemic outcomes in global production and consumption patterns.
“We want to enable investors to engage with established businesses, which are ready to scale their commercial and impact outcomes. We are excited about the companies we have already invested in, all of which are contributing to a more resilient and ecologically responsible economy.” Says Ben Krasnostein, CEO of Kilara Capital.
KGF has successfully reached First Close and financial close/exclusivity on four assets as at February 2022. In total the Fund is seeking to raise up to $50 million. The Fund aims to deliver outsized risk-adjusted returns for investors by actively managing exposure to sectors, customer-type and technology risk whilst taking a strategic approach to supporting portfolio companies.
Be Well
“Do you know the proportion of people who have issues with their mental health?
The answer is 2 in 3! (as shown by Be Well Co’s own research)
That’s around 17m Australians! These people are not supported by existing system, which was already struggling to cope, resulting in huge costs to our organisations and communities.” says Monique Newberry, co-founder of Be Well Co.
She will be sharing how their innovative solutions can scale to support the growing number of people who are struggling with low wellbeing and rising distress, before reaching crisis point.
Be Well Co exists to give people the skills to build their mental health and grow through life’s challenges.
It is innovating the way society tackles mental illness by developing and providing evidence-based solutions to help reduce distress and improve wellbeing, before more serious problems arise. It works with organisations and a network of professional trainers, to proactively scale its reach and build psychological health leading to benefits for individuals as well as for organisations who are combating low productivity, churn and difficulties in attracting and retaining talent.
Seer Data
Seer Data & Analytics is a civic tech company turning data into action for people creating a better world.
It brings together Open Data, data that’s been shared, Seer’s AI Smart Insights and machine learning models, and self-service data ingestion tools, all in one platform.
“We are bridging the data divide by democratising data access, data sharing and storytelling so that all people of all skillsets can engage in problem-solving to benefit society. We empower local communities with data-driven decision making, giving people more confidence, power and efficiency to make data-led decisions for improved outcomes.” says CEO, Kristi Mansfield.
“Calling out what needs to change, and then taking the actions to create the change, undergo the reform, and use technology to innovate is critically important to do right now in the world. Taking purposeful, constructive action to solve problems with technology in a responsible way is essential, and gives people more power in their decision making and actions to create a better world.”
Investible
The Investible Climate Tech Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund seeking to invest in high-growth technology-enabled companies with a positive climate impact ranging from Pre-seed to Series A.
“Climate change is the biggest issue facing humanity today and it tends to disproportionately impact those who can least afford it. We believe that backing startups focused on climate solutions is not only essential to solve climate change but also one of the greatest investment opportunities of our time.” says Tom Kline, Head of Climate Tech.
Investible has been at the forefront of helping founders bring innovative technology solutions to the world for the last decade. Leveraging the experience of its own successful founders along with a group of influential club members, Investible has established a strong early-stage venture capital platform with two diversified funds and a proven investment track record.
The third fund under management at Investible, the climate tech fund is targeting a $100m fund size, delivering a 25+% IRR net of fees by deploying capital across 60+ climate-focused companies in Australia and internationally.