Category: BII in the Media

Boston Impact Initiative chief executive officer Betty Francisco says financing entrepreneurs who are women and people of color is essential to building the national and international economy. “As a Latina and Asian person by background, I often saw the barriers that our small, minority-owned businesses have in terms of raising capital, having access to resources or the networks needed to grow your business,” she says. “I had grown my own network and I wanted to use it for good.”

A Boston impact investment fund is launching a second fund aimed at closing the widening racial wealth gap. The Boston Impact Initiative (BII) seeks to build financial, social and political power for entrepreneurs of color. On Wednesday, it launched its second integrated capital fund, this one worth $20 million.

Boston Impact Initiative (BII) anunció hoy en un comunicado que la organización lanzó su segundo fondo de capital integrado, conocido como “BII Fund II”, un fondo de $20 millones que invertirá en empresas de propiedad o control comunitario y de propietarios de color, bienes raíces comerciales y residenciales para evitar el desplazamiento en Massachusetts y el noreste.

Boston Impact, la entidad financiera sin fines de lucro que invierte con el principal objetivo de buscar equilibrio racial en la repartición […]

BII’s first fund placed some $7 million with about 50 businesses. Francisco recently launched the second fund, aiming to raise $20 million to support entrepreneurs of color and community-governed real estate; so far, BII has raised about $3 million. Both of these funds are debt funds in which investors receive promissory notes rather than stock, and BII invests both debt and equity into the startups that benefit. Investments in the new fund can range from $1,000 to $25,000 for people with ordinary means, and from $10,000 to $3 million for accredited investors and philanthropies.

Roundhead Brewing, a BII portfolio company and Boston’s first Latino-owned brewery, was featured on WCVB’s Chronicle. Fun flies through the air at Flight Club in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood. Guests can choose from six unique social dart games to play with friends, and no one has to worry about keeping score, because the high-tech board does it for you.

The BII pilot fund, which only focused on Boston-based and Eastern Massachusetts businesses, is expanding, now on its third and largest financing round yet. Francisco said the next available round of funding, amounting to $20 million, will be available with a focus on immigrant populations outside of Boston growing and starting businesses. In Worcester, the fund is looking to build relationships with Latino-owned businesses.

The minimum for these lower- and middle-income residents, or “non-accredited investors,” is $1,000. That’s a lot of money for the average person, but it’s far smaller than typical venture capital fund minimums, which range from $500,000 to $5 million or more.

El Planeta, a BII portfolio company, profiled BII as it nears its 10th anniversary celebration, with input from the Latino owners of Synergy Contracting and Roundhead Brewing.

Western Mass. media covered the opening of a new BII satellite office in Springfield, hosted by the Latino Economic Development Corporation. CHICOPEE, […]

The owners of Roundhead Brewing talk about opening their brewery, building community and making beer with a Peruvian flair. Only a handful […]

This article by The Good Men Project highlights BII’s Fund II and its impact on women and POC entrepreneurs with insights from […]