What is Thrive Impact Fund?
Thrive Impact Fund is a place-based fund that sees untapped potential in local communities and a desire for investors to see their money make both financial and impact returns.
Since 2014, Scale Collaborative has been building capacity in impact organizations through coaching and consulting, and programs such as Thriving Non-Profits, Business Legacies Initiative, and Connect Money Impact. As experienced social enterprise leaders, we understand the financial challenges faced by social enterprises looking to grow. Thrive Impact Fund was developed to address this challenge and realize investment opportunities that are currently overlooked and under-capitalized. Thrive Impact Fund launched in June 2021.
Purppl works with leaders to build the capability and capacity to implement sustainable business models and sustainable impact models through education, acceleration, and investing in people who build sustainable, long-term solutions to community, social, and environmental challenges. Purppl joined as a fund owner in January 2022.
Thrive Impact Fund focuses on providing flexible and patient loans, providing the right capital at the right time to help social enterprises grow.
A social enterprise seeks to have a positive social, cultural or environmental impact through its operations, and/or the sale of their products and services. Social enterprises can take many different legal structures, including for-profit social enterprises, non-profits, charities, and cooperatives.
Who is Thrive Impact Fund?
As a partnership between Scale Collaborative and Purppl, Thrive Impact Fund has access to extensive expertise in social enterprise development and backbone organizational support. Here is the team leading the development and operations of the Fund:
Kristi Rivait
Board Chair
Kristi Rivait is a social entrepreneur who brings 15+ years of executive-level experience, with a proven track record of successfully raising capital.
Kristi Fairholm Mader
Board Member, Managing Director
Kristi Fairholm Mader brings 20 years of executive leadership in the non-profit and social enterprise sector with a track record of growth and scaling successful models.
Andrew Greer
Board Member, Interior Lead
Andrew Greer brings 15 years of experience in social enterprise, early-stage venture, and business development. He is a collaborator and brings community projects to fruition.
Lee Herrin
Board Member, Administrative Lead
For over 20 years, Lee has worked in management and leadership roles in both the public sector and with non-profits. He is always focused on identifying opportunities for growth and greater impact.
Nicole Bradbury
Senior Advisor
Nicole brings over 30 years of investment industry experience, almost half of which was spent as an impact venture capital fund partner supporting early and growth stage sustainability businesses in North America.
Morgan Brannon
Portfolio Support
Morgan’s experience with her private sector and non-profit pursuits laid the foundation of her approach to sharing objective, optimistic guidance to initiate growth and move organizations forward.
What makes us unique?
Place Based*
We live in British Columbia and love this place. We see that the challenges our communities face are unique, and Thrive Impact Fund provides an opportunity for investors to make a difference across our province.
Impact First
Impact first means financial returns do not come at the expense of positive impacts and the overall goal and mission of the investee. In our increasingly stressed world, impact first investments are demonstrating better and more resilient financial returns. For Thrive Impact Fund, impact first is not just a desire to support positive change in the world, it is also a good investment policy.
Women Led
Flexible Financing
Revenue-based financing is one financial tool Thrive Impact Fund uses to provide capital to investees that shares the success with investors as they grow, through a share of earned revenues. It is not traditional debt nor equity, and it fills an important gap for social enterprises.
Evergreen
Regenerative
*We respectfully acknowledge that the offices of the Thrive Impact Fund are located on the unceded, ancestral and traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples. We recognize the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples who have historical relationships with the land that continue to this day.
What We Invest In
HOUSING SOLUTIONS
FOOD SECURITY
DIVERSE ENTREPENEURS
CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
Thrive Impact Fund loans are flexible, patient, and take a different approach to loan repayment guarantees other than restrictive collateral requirements. We aim to remove barriers to capital for non-profits, charities, and enterprises operated by people who traditionally are overlooked by conventional lenders.
We respectfully acknowledge that the offices of the Thrive Impact Fund are located on the unceded, ancestral and traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples. We recognize the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples who have historical relationships with the land that continue to this day.