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
Synergy Contracting, Inc
Synergy Contracting (Synergy) is a fully bonded, unionized, Latina, women-owned construction company specializing in Environmental Remediation, Demolition, and Cleaning Construction Services, headquartered in Boston, MA. In addition to the services provided, they offer accelerator programs to build knowledge and education in the construction space.
Cooperative Fund of the Northeast
The Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) is a community development loan fund that facilitates socially responsible investing in cooperatives, community-oriented nonprofits, and worker-owned businesses in New England and New York. CFNE provides financial products, business assistance, and investment opportunities that promote socially conscious enterprise. Boston Impact Initiative is an investor in CFNE’s Social Investment Fund, as well as a frequent co-investor in direct lending to cooperatives.
Kingstown Green Co-op
Kingstown Green Inc. is a small worker-owned manufacturing co-op located in Hartford, CT, that produces eco-friendly, handcrafted caskets that are solid wood and biodegradable. Kingstown Green is a member of the Green Burial Council, a non-profit organization approved by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the green sector of the funeral industry. The caskets have received the highest rating given by the Green Burial Council.
Ayni Institute
Ayni Institute is a training and research institute for movements and organizations in social change that are seeking to bring about a more reciprocal world. They are dedicated to developing frameworks, material, and content that can help social change organizations and leaders develop strategy and become resilient leaders. They also work to protect and expand the knowledge of indigenous wisdom, reciprocity, and memory, particularly from Latin America, through trainings and other cultural preservation projects. The word Ayni means “reciprocity” in Aymara, an indigenous language from the Andean region of South America.
The Lazu Group
At the time of BII’s original investment, The LAZU Group was a technology-enabled DEI services firm that offers strategies for product development, marketing, talent recruitment and retention, and community engagement. They used a motivational-based approach designed with the principles of community organizing, traditional DEI, and mental health, to help people create better personal and professional connections, ultimately resulting in happier individuals and healthier organizations. The Lazu Group closed its line of credit with BII in 2025. The Lazu Group is an exited portfolio company from Fund I.
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.
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.
Beantown Builders
Beantown Builders is a Brockton-based, Black-owned general contracting firm that specializes in residential remodeling projects in the Greater Boston area. The company works with first-time homebuyers who take 203K loans to remodel the homes, which are often distressed properties. Their work makes home ownership and home improvement accessible to more families.
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.
East Boston Neighborhood Trust
East Boston Neighborhood Trust is a real estate project in East Boston, Mass. that created a Mixed-Income Neighborhood Trust (MINT) to acquire and manage 114 units of affordable and workforce housing for persons with below median income at a time when housing stabilization is desperately needed in the City’s most at risk districts for displacement.
MA Community Purchasing Alliance
Community Purchasing Alliance (MA CPA) is a purchasing cooperative that leverages the buying power of institutions to negotiate and drive down costs of vendors and service providers, while steering spending to diverse vendors using sustainable practices for their members. Their members consists of faith based institutions, schools, affordable housing, and other nonprofits.
All In Energy
All In Energy is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that seeks to accelerate an inclusive, clean energy economy for underserved communities in Massachusetts. They are also increasing energy sector job opportunities for diverse talent through their internship program with local universities and community colleges.
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.
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…
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.
And Still We Rise
ASWR provides liberation focused therapy services to individuals and communities who, historically, are overlooked or marginalized by the mental health field — women, BIPoC, queer, and trans folks. ASWR also provides consulting services to public and private organizations seeking to further their inclusion and belonging efforts, provide support to marginalized members, and/or reckon with events of racism, bias, or violence. ASWR’s stated aim is to dismantle oppressive systems, liberate marginalized people and provide culturally affirming psychotherapy, consultation, and life-coaching services.
Valley Home Insulation
Valley Home Insulation offers residential insulation and weatherization services in Lawrence and the surrounding Merrimack Valley. Following the 2018 gas explosions, Columbia Gas offered 100% reimbursement for insulation and weatherization services on all homes it serves in the Merrimack Valley through the end of 2020. VHI leverages cultural competency and community presence to provide these services to low- and moderate-income residents of this region.
Eduporium
Eduporium is an all-inclusive shopping solution to 21st century schools. They are a distribution source and solution provider for Ed-Tech companies to get vetted instructional tools and IT services into schools with the objective of narrowing the digital divide. Eduporium provides a technology solution for STEM/STEAM, Makerspace needs. Additionally, they provide the support educators need to be successful in the adoption of these new technologies.
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.
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,…
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.
El Planeta
El Planeta is an integrated Latinx news company producing content and events relevant to the Latinx community in Massachusetts and beyond. It reaches more than 200,000 people per week through print, television and digital media. It became a crucial community resource during the COVID-19 pandemic, forging new partnerships and growing its readership to 500,000. With more than 10 countries represented on its staff, El Planeta is an essential link between organizations, companies and government, and the Latinx community, and a key source of news coverage of underrepresented communities.
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.
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.
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.
EmVision Productions
EmVision Productions creates video content that helps clients communicate their organization’s social impact. Co-founder Tariana V. Little holds a DrPH from Harvard, focusing on communications and innovation and this expertise informs their Social Impact Storytelling™ framework. Their clients include nonprofits, social enterprises, government agencies, and corporations.
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.
Join Us in Building a
Just and Sustainable Economy
Invest in BII Fund II and support the growth of enterprises, building a more equitable future.