Empower the Change Fund adds additional Limited Partners, growing fund focused on providing access to capital to minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs)
Advantage Capital, venture capital firm, small business lender and impact investor, announced today it has added three additional Limited Partners to a new growth capital fund dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap by investing in MBEs. In partnership with the NMSDC Business Consortium Fund (BCF), the impact-oriented fund will provide flexible risk capital to support minority businesses and help them scale.
“With this second close, we are thrilled to continue working toward our ambitious goals and intended outcomes,” said Sandra M. Moore, Chief Impact Officer and Managing Director, Advantage Capital. “Since we announced the fund in February, we have been laser focused on securing capital we can deploy to minority-owned businesses and communities.”
The fund currently has a robust pipeline of potential businesses it is looking to invest in. With new capital commitments from Deere & Company, Enterprise Bank, and UMB Bank, the fund anticipates it will begin to make its first investments later this month.
“Empower the Change is a key element of our strategy to get more capital to minority-owned businesses,” said Sahra Halpern, president of BCF. “Every corporation and financial institution we engage with shares our vision of increasing capital access for business owners of color, and I am excited about the work we will accomplish through this fund.”
Over its 30-year history, Advantage Capital has invested $260 million in more than 70 MBEs, whose founders often lack the personal and family wealth to start and grow a business.
“We have a long history of investing in opportunities that advance social and economic change,” said Wallas Wiggins, vice president of global supply chain management and logistics for John Deere. “The Empower the Change Fund exemplifies the type of investment we seek to help minority and undercapitalized suppliers grow and build sustainable businesses in their communities.”
Other limited partners in the Empower the Change Fund include Altria, Busey Bank, Carrollton Bank, First Bank of the Lake, Midwest Banking Center, Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), Southern Bancorp, Truist Bank and U.S. Bank.
Advantage Capital expects to announce it first investments from the fund shortly. For more information, visit www.advantagecap.com/empowerthechange.
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital provides financing to established and emerging companies located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $3 billion in companies from a diverse array of industry sectors and has helped support more than 50,000 jobs. Learn more at www.advantagecap.com, or via Twitter or LinkedIn.
About the Business Consortium Fund
The National Minority Supplier Development Council Business Consortium Fund, Inc. is a certified United States Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institution. BCF is America’s most comprehensive financing and consulting support organization exclusively serving NMSDC certified minority-owned businesses.
Advantage Capital is an Investment Adviser registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Such registration, however, does not imply a certain level of skill or training. This release has been prepared for informational purposes and to announce a prior event, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer of investment advisory services or as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities or investment product. All offers of investment interests in any fund or investment vehicle, including the Empower the Change Fund, managed directly or indirectly by Advantage Capital are and will be made only to qualified prospective investors pursuant to separate and definitive offering and subscription documents in accordance with applicable federal and state securities laws. Advantage Capital is an equal opportunity provider.
Although NMSDC Business Consortium Fund (BCF) and Advantage Capital have entered into a business partnership relating to the Empower the Change Fund, BCF is not a current client or investor in any private fund advised by Advantage Capital, and Sahra Halpern (BCF’s president) has not received any direct compensation, whether in cash or non-cash form, for the statements or opinions expressed in this release. There are no known material conflicts of interest on the part of BCF or any of its employees or affiliates making or expressing such statements or opinions resulting from BCF’s relationship with Advantage Capital or from Advantage Capital and BCF’s partnership relating to the Empower the Change Fund.
John Deere (“Deere”) is a current investor in the Empower the Change Fund that is managed by Advantage Capital. No one associated with Deere, or the organization itself, has received any direct or indirect compensation, whether in cash or non-cash form, for the statements or opinions expressed in this release. There are no known material conflicts of interest on the part of Deere or any of its employees or affiliates making or expressing such statements or opinions resulting from such party’s relationship with Advantage Capital or from any compensation arrangement, except that the benefits to Deere of investing in the Empower the Change Fund may be enhanced, and any risks associated with such investment may be reduced or mitigated by additional investment and participation of others in the Empower the Change Fund.
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Contacts
Advantage Capital
Joe Stosberg, Communications
jstosberg@advantagecap.com
