The San Francisco-based nonprofit Investors’ Circle (IC) is a relatively
exclusive club; it requires its members have at least $1 million ready to go
to work. Its 160 members, chosen on an invitation-only basis, have circulated
$44 million in investment capital among 100 socially-responsible companies. IC,
founded in 1991, holds two Social Venture Fairs each year, and 15 startups lucky
enough to survive the cut (thousands apply) are allowed to make presentations to
an audience they know have checkbooks ready.
According to Jeanne Trombly, IC’s manager of west coast operations, some members
have inherited wealth, others are cashed-out entrepreneurs or foundation fund
managers. “We have members who aren’t savvy in venture capital investing, but
they have the tools, the means and the money,” says Trombly, who adds that IC
holds regular investment seminars and other programs.
At IC’s Social Venture Fairs, the “hit rate” for new investments ranging from
$25,000 to $3 million is 44 percent, considered to be extremely high in the
world of investor capital. According to Bruce Holm, CFO of Agra Quest, an
agricultural biology company that made a pitch at a recent fair, “After the
presentation, we were swarmed by interested potential investors.
Mike Korchinsky, president of Wildlife Works, raised $150,000 to sell organic
cotton clothing to support its 20,000-acre wildlife sanctuary in Kenya.
Korchinsky has also invested himself, in a startup that sells shade-grown coffee
over the Internet. “The great majority of companies that present to us are
socially-responsible businesses, environmental remediation companies or women-
or minority-owned firms,” he says.
IC was spun off from The Social Venture Network (SVN) – which helps business
owners implement their socially responsible values – to put investors together
with investment opportunities. Founded in 1987, SVN offers templates so
businesses can judge their success in implementing the principles. “Businesses
are increasingly seeing the need to be concerned about the environment and
disparities of wealth,” says Kim Cranston, president. “It’s a real trend.”
To nurture that trend, SVN, which has 400 members, holds local gatherings in
which business owners talk about their concerns and learn from guest speakers.
“Everyone comes in with specific problems in mind, and they get input from the
other business leaders there,” says Cranston. SVN’s Urban Enterprise Initiative
also fosters inner-city investment through pilot programs in Philadelphia,
Yonkers, New York and the Washington, D.C. area.
Investors’ Circle: icircle@aol.com
Social Venture Network: http://www.svn.org
FROM E Magazine
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