Capacity Development
A Limited Grant Program for New and Emerging Social Finance Intermediaries
To support the continuity and vibrancy of the social finance market, we offer a capacity development program. This program complements our investment strategy and deployment of repayable capital. It helps us meet the goals in our theory of change. We provide assistance as a way to:
- Enhance the capacity of an SFI to deliver on shared financial and impact goals
- Help new social finance products develop and come to market in response to market gaps we are prioritizing based on our ongoing investment deployment
In Brief
- Limited, targeted program of grant funding
- For new and emerging SFIs – typically, first- or second-time fund managers or product issuers with limited assets under management and associated operating budgets
- To develop their capacity, in terms of people, governance, policies and fundraising. For example, funds can be used for support costs such consultant support, legal counsel, staff costs and investor outreach
Capacity Development Portfolio to Date
Afro-Caribbean Business Network
Afro-Caribbean Business Network (ACBN) provides Black businesses across Canada with resources to start, grow and scale up.
We’re supporting ACBN to increase its capacity to prepare for and take on additional investment in its microloan program over the next couple of years.
Equity Cubed
Equity Cubed is an Indigenous-owned social purpose venture studio aiming to support under-represented founders to build businesses.
With our assistance, Equity Cubed is undertaking research and analysis on various potential impact venture studio models.
Propel Impact
Propel Impact supports impact-driven organizations.
We’re supporting Propel’s impact analyst internship program.
Misfit Ventures
Misfit Ventures aims to be Canada’s first LGBTQ+ VC fund.
Our grant is going towards operational and set-up costs.
Regenerative Capital Group
Regenerative Capital Group invests in and trains entrepreneurial leaders to acquire Canadian businesses as platforms for meaningful impact, growth, purpose and profit.
With our support, Regenerative Capital is creating an impact-linked compensation framework to use with CEOs.
Relentless Pursuit Management
Relentless Pursuit Management is a woman-led fund manager whose Relentless Health Pursuit Fund aims to invest in companies that are developing technologies to address gaps in preventative health and chronic disease management associated with aging. It has a strong track record of investing in leadership teams from equity-deserving groups.
Our assistance will help support the fund manager’s capacity while it fundraises and forms its next fund.
Thrive Impact Fund
Thrive Impact Fund is a woman-led fund providing loans to nonprofits, co-operatives and for-profit social enterprises in British Columbia that are generating positive social, environmental or cultural benefits.
Our support will be used to increase the fund’s ability to work with other investors so it can grow its reach and impact.
Interested in securing a capacity development grant?
Please fill in the application form below. Please note that to receive capacity development assistance you must be legally incorporated in Canada and have an organizational bank account. Have questions before applying? Please book a Tuesday Chat to discuss your idea with us.
Opportunities that are a Good Fit
- Opportunities with, in and for traditionally underserved communities where there would be market-wide benefit. Recognizing gaps in representation today, we prioritize opportunities that support equity-deserving groups.
- Opportunities that address geographic gaps in the presence and reach of SFIs across the country. We are currently prioritizing opportunities outside of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
- Opportunities that have a relatively clear and short timeline to launch in market. Typically, we expect most proponents to have already undertaken some developmental work to validate their goals, with some level of demonstrated need and demand. We are not typically a “design” stage funder. While we will make contributions to early-stage concepts in development, this will be rarer and will be where we see very strong alignment with our other priorities.
- Products/solutions designed to be capitalized primarily with repayable capital. While recognizing the need for catalytic or concessionary forms of capital in the early stages of design and launch, we will support solutions with clear commercial viability and scalability potential.
- Opportunities where limited funds can help advance tangible outcomes or build more permanent capacity. A typical capacity development grant is $25-40,000.
- Opportunities that make best use of our funds. We take a collaborative approach with an SFI we fund to explore the best ways to use our limited capacity development budget.
Opportunities that Aren’t a Good fit
- Those seeking support for an initiative not targeted to deepening the investment readiness of an SFIs. This is not intended to support the operational or investment needs of individual SPOs, but to help build the market of SFIs as lasting financial infrastructure to drive positive change.
- Those seeking long-term funding support. As a companion resource to our limited-life fund, our Technical Assistance resources are limited and are expected to decline over time. We’re not a good partner for long-term funding needs.
- Those needing large-scale support to accomplish their goals. Our resources are limited, and we try to be highly strategic in providing support. We are happy to collaborate with other funders to enable highly aligned projects, but SFIs are expected to arrange other funders themselves, and we would need to see that together with our support, sufficient budget has been secured to advance a project.