About Us
Every $1 we invest impacts the lives of 80 individuals living at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Read our Fact Sheet for a Summary of Beyond Capital Fund.
Who We Are
Our Vision
Our vision is to sustainably increase the quality of life and standard of living for consumers in low-income communities.
Our Mission
We are a non-profit evergreen impact investment fund that supports early-stage social enterprises throughout India, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda. We are dedicated to:
(1) filling the capital gap as the first professional investment capital invested into a social enterprise,
(2) providing management advisory, pro bono resources, and mentoring to ensure the enterprise’s success, and
(3) being a long-term partner to help the enterprise maintain fidelity to its social mission.
Our Model
We are a registered U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. We are also a tax-exempt Association in Basel, Switzerland. As an evergreen vehicle, we re-invest all returns from our investments. Thus, the donor capital we receive is invested for impact multiple times over. We also provide extensive “beyond capital” pro-bono support to the companies we invest in, and build community around our work.
Our Track Record
In the 12 years since our founding, Beyond Capital has realized a positive portfolio return based on three exits. Our portfolio companies have raised 80x the capital invested by Beyond Capital in rounds after our participation, at favorable valuations, and achieved strong annual revenue growth. We reach more than 56 million people living under the poverty line, including 42 million women.
Our Value Add
Beyond Capital invests in social enterprises perceived by those outside the market to carry higher risk than these companies actually bear and that find they cannot raise funding from the local ecosystem because there is not sufficient capital available (as such, these social enterprises face the so-called “capital gap”). A 2014 study by Bridges Ventures and the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association indicated that lack of access to seed finance ($10,000 - $100,000) to develop business models to a stage where they are ready to take on investment and scale their operations is common for impact-driven social enterprises in Africa.
We invest in critical early stages.
Our seed-stage portfolio companies are post-revenue, have a defined business model, and are likely raising their first professional capital round in conjunction with seeking grants or repayable loan funding.
We aim to fill the capital gap that exists for early-stage social enterprises, which have a perceived higher risk profile. Our goal is to invest capital that will help social enterprises scale their impact and attract future funding.
We provide expert advisory services.
We have a history of providing assistance and advisory to our portfolio companies. In addition to providing seed capital and mobilizing follow-on funding, we connect social entrepreneurs with pro bono support from private sector partners and individual mentors.
Since inception, we have deployed over $2,300,000 in bona fide pro bono services. Because of our private sector partnerships, the impact of the capital we invest is increased.
We invest patient capital.
Because we are structured as a non-profit, our investment activities are not pressured by a fund horizon.
We intend to be a long-term investor and valuable partner to our portfolio companies, providing the support needed to help ensure all our investees are successful. We can then pursue exit options at the appropriate strategic time for both ourselves and the entrepreneurs we support.
We have a decade of experience.
Beyond Capital was founded in 2009. We have significant experience investing in underserved markets.
We have successfully built an innovative and cost-effective model to solve one of the industry's greatest problems - lack of seed capital. Our lean structure enables us to fully commit all donations directly to our investments in scalable social impact.
Value Add Collaborators
