We meet entrepreneurs where they are
Since 2017, BII has deployed $18 million across New England through flexible debt and equity financing to businesses, cooperatives, and real estate projects.
Directly from Our Portfolio
Sign-Speak
Sign-Speak is an innovative technology company seeking to bridge the communication divide for the 48 million Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) individuals in the United States. Its technology tracks American Sign Language (ASL) users as they sign with a camera on a computing device and transcribes and translates in real-time to facilitate conversation with someone who only speaks English. This technology can also translate and transcribe back into ASL. The Sign-Speak founding team includes a deaf software engineer and has developed solutions for websites, in-person contact, and automated environments.
Boston While Black
Boston While Black is a membership network for Black professionals, entrepreneurs and students – native or new to Boston – who are seeking connection and community. It is designed to provide a vital infrastructure for belonging; make space for Black experiences, community and culture; and help members “find their tribe,” grow their networks and enjoy the city. Started during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has grown to include young professionals, community activists, business leaders, creatives, politicians and some of Boston’s largest employers. Boston While Black hosts a digital community; small, intimate events; and a wide range of curated programming, including speakers,…
Sunwealth
Sunwealth is a clean energy investment firm dedicated to finance high-performing commercial solar projects through the sale of investment products to accredited investors. Their goal is to accelerate capital into communities underserved by traditional solar financing. BII has made several investments in Sunwealth over the years out of the LLC, Fund I and Fund II.
CareAcademy
CareAcademy provides professional and family caregivers with high-quality online training classes to help deliver the best care to older adults with the support, guidance and compassion needed to improve their quality of life. The platform makes it easier for caregivers to upskill and continue their education to better serve clients and advance their careers. Co-founders Helen Adeosun and Dr. Madhuri Reddy are committed to serving caregivers who, like themselves, are often women of color and immigrants.
Thrive!
Thrive! is a SaaS platform that uses a proprietary algorithm to assess government performance on reducing racial disparities. They sell into municipalities and conduct an initial equity audit, using an algorithm that tracks spending on certain interventions by agency. Then they provide recommendations, based on their findings, that will improve the lives of BIPOC people.
ChopValue Boston
ChopValue Boston is a manufacturer of custom furnishings and architectural features made from recycled chopsticks. ChopValue’s business model exemplifies the concept of the circular economy: chopstick waste is recycled, converted to a useful good at a local microfactory, then purchased by regional customers. CEO Elaine Chow focuses on hiring young adults facing barriers to employment, including returning citizens.
TrillFit
Winner of Best of Boston, 2021, 2020, 2018 is a purpose-driven wellness business that is changing the face of boutique fitness. With the objective of seeing underrepresented communities become the face of health they are intentionally catering to the soon-to-be “new majority” by training and contracting with instructors that are also reflective of inner-city communities.
Democracy Brewing
When BII invested in Democracy Brewing, they were a small worker-owned start up brewery with a tasting in South Boston. Today they continue their worker owned model and have a tap room and restaurant in Downtown Boston.
Waku
Waku is a gut healthy drink that is inspired on an ancestral recipe, “horchata lojana”, created in the Andes Mountains. Waku’s raw ingredients are sourced from indigenous farmers, bottled in New Hampshire and distributed in the Northeast Region of the United States.
Eco Auto
Husband and wife, Al and Michelle Salas, founded Eco Auto in 2022 to address the growing demand for consumers wanting to enter the Electric Vehicle market, but who were deterred by the high barriers to ownership. Eco Auto is committed to lowering the high costs associated with purchasing and owning Electric Vehicles (EV) and plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), by carrying a diverse inventory of certified pre-owned vehicles, affordably installing at home charging stations, and helping new buyers navigate current local and federal rebates and incentives available to electric vehicles drivers. Fund II made an investment in EcoAuto in 2024…
Wash Cycle Laundry
WashyCycle is a commercial laundry company with locations in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC, committed to creating living-wage jobs and second chances for people overcoming histories of incarceration,homelessness, substance use, long-term unemployment, use of public benefits, and more.
florrent
florrent is a deep-tech company innovating to design and build the next generation of high energy density ultracapacitors that will stabilize electrical grids and address critical bottlenecks for the adoption of renewable energies, electric vehicles and net-zero buildings. Its ultracapacitors are manufactured in Western Massachusetts from abundant and regenerative biomass, grown domestically in the U.S. by Black and Indigenous farmers.
WeSpire
WeSpire was a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) platform that utilizes behavioral science as well as social and game mechanics to design, run, and measure customized programs and actions for employee engagement spanning across sustainability, civic-service, wellness, and human resource functions. WeSpire’s platform measures business and environmental impact metrics and analytics in real time, and generates reports, allowing employees and managers to see the impacts of their actions. WeSpire joined Bonterra in 2023, expanding Bonterra’s suite of solutions of employee engagement.
MathTalk
MathTalk is a community-focused education technology public benefit corporation based in Cambridge, Mass. Using playful installations, technology and books, MathTalk promotes early math and language development among children. It uses the latest scientific research on cognitive development and is rooted in the cultures of local communities of color.
Meetcaregivers, Inc.
Meetcaregivers connects families seeking at home care providers with pre-screed and qualified caregivers using technology enabled services to make the process safe and easy for families and clinicians. Meetcaregivers’ technology uses a match feature algorithm to ensure the right fit for client and clinicians. BII has made an investment in Meetcaregivers out of both Fund I and Fund II.
Nuevo Dia ADHC
Nuevo Día is a Latino- and woman-owned facility that seeks to help low-income seniors and disabled people in Boston remain as independent and as healthy as possible in a culturally competent environment. The vision of this organization is to be the leading Adult Day Health program serving the Latino community in Greater Boston.
Quality Interactions
Quality Interactions is an e-learning platform that provides cultural competency training for healthcare professionals to decrease health disparities. It helps healthcare providers improve the quality of patient care by helping them to recognize and address unconscious bias. Their platform enables providers to communicate effectively with patients of all cultural backgrounds, including people of color, immigrants, people whose first language is not English, and LGBTQI+ patients, as well as those who are uninsured.
Done Good
DoneGood aspired to be the “Amazon of the new social impact economy” harnessing purchasing as a force for change, helping ethical consumers and companies find each other. DoneGood was a certified B Corp incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab. In 2017, BII Fund made a convertible debt investment to support the platform in its efforts to redirect consumer dollars toward businesses owned by people of color and women.
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