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
88 Acres
88 Acres is an artisan food company that produces healthy snacks free of the top eight food allergens. Their Dorchester-based manufacturing center generates good jobs for the local community–the enterprise created 53 new jobs in 2019 alone! They also prioritize ingredient sourcing from New England-based farmers.
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.
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…
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.
Caribbean Integration Community Development (CICD)
Caribbean Integration Community Development (CICD) is a non-profit housing and community development organization that creates and maintains affordable housing in areas of Boston with large numbers of people of Caribbean descent. The organization’s first affordable housing development is Cote Village in Mattapan, which will be permanently affordable and meet LEED Silver Sustainability Standards.
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.
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.
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.
Casabe Fruit Store and Delicatessen
At the time of the original investment, Casabe was an alternative to the traditional bodegas of Lawrence, offering fresh and durable offerings, with conventional and organic options that would accept payments from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cards. In 2023 Casabe opened a second location at Lawrence General Hospital, which has now become their primary location.
Solomon Group
Is a strategic communications and consulting firm working with public and private initiatives that uses data to market clean energy programs to disadvantaged communities. Given their experience in the space, Solomon Group can provide data-driven insights on sub-segments of the population, with particular emphasis on historically disadvantaged communities.
Five Start Plating
Five Start Plating (FSP) provides metal finishing services (anodizing, hard coat, chromate conversion, zinc plating and powder coating) to commercial sheet metal fabricators and machine shops serving a variety of industries including medical, industrial, telecommunications, electronics, defense /aerospace and food services. It is located in Lawrence, and provides competitive job opportunities to the local community.
Somerville Community Corporation
Somerville Community Corporation offers services and leads community organizing that support low- and moderate- income residents to increase economic sustainability and civic participation. SCC partners with local developers, foundations, lenders, the City of Somerville, and community organizations, serving as a nexus for multi-stakeholder relationships.
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.
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.
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.
Hillside Harvest
Hillside Harvest is a Caribbean-American natural condiment brand that sells at regional grocery stores, local farmers markets, direct-to-consumer on their website, and even at Fenway Park! Hillside Harvest has developed three hot sauce flavors and two Jamaican jerk marinades. Founder Kamaal Jarrett’s vision was to create a brand that would bring the Caribbean flavors of his heritage out of the specialty international markets and into mainstream supermarket aisles.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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