Introduction

Welcome to the Impact Mezzanine (IM) Fund, a visionary initiative by Impact Capital Partners (ICP), designed with a commitment to catalyzing positive change. The IM Fund embodies a dual mission to promote gender equality and enhance climate resilience in emerging markets. With its pilot phase underway in Uganda, the IM Fund is setting the stage for a broader mission to scale its impact across East Africa — specifically in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya — and thereafter, to extend its reach into other emerging markets across Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

This section delves into the heart of our fund, highlighting our innovative approach, key focus areas, impact outcomes, and the transformative value we offer to various stakeholders.

Executive Overview

At the heart of the IM Fund is our dedication to supporting women-led SMEs, offering a unique blend of Technical Assistance, mezzanine capital, and fundraising support. Our mission is to unlock the immense potential of these enterprises to combat poverty, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss, all exacerbated by climate change, while prioritizing gender equality as a core factor of our investment strategy. Central to this mission is our alignment with the 2X Challenge, ensuring that at least 80% of our investees are 2X compliant.

Global Development Challenge

The ambition of the IM Fund transcends regional challenges, aiming to address global gender disparities and climate vulnerabilities. By advocating for economic empowerment and resilience, the fund directly supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Climate Action (SDG 13), in diverse emerging markets. Moreover, the fund contributes to No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), promoting Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), reducing Inequalities (SDG 10), and ensuring Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12).

Value Proposition

For Women: Empowering women with increased economic and social resilience by providing essential resources and support to navigate and overcome financial, systemic, and societal barriers to success and impact.

For SMEs (Investees): Providing crucial working capital and tailored technical assistance to make SMEs financially more sustainable and investor-ready for larger fundraises, ensuring their long-term growth and impact.

For Investors: Offering a unique investment opportunity that combines fair financial returns with substantial social and environmental benefits, fostering a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

For Communities: Aiming to create inclusive sustainable growth by increasing the resilience of communities to climate change impacts and making incomes more resilient to climate vulnerabilities, thereby enhancing overall community well-being.

Strategic Vehicle Overview

Fund Structure: IM Fund is a tax-transparent Dutch BV designed for scalability and efficiency, targeting growth to USD 30m while balancing financial sustainability with our strong mission focus.

Blended Finance: Our approach encompasses both tailored Technical Assistance support ranging from initial needs assessment to investor readiness, and innovative financing strategies, offering a mix of debt and equity options, including mezzanine working capital.

80% 2X Challenge Compliance: A cornerstone of our fund is ensuring that at least 80% of our investees are 2X Compliant, underscoring our deep commitment to advancing gender equality through our investments. This commitment positions the IM Fund as a leader in gender-lens investing, setting a high standard for impact across emerging markets.

Focus Areas (Sectors)

1. Climate-Smart Agriculture: We invest in climate-smart agriculture to foster growth in SME supply chains, connecting more farmers and producers to sustainable practices and markets. This sector is critical as it directly impacts food security and rural livelihoods by increasing access to inputs that are climate resilient.
2. Circular Economy: Our investment in the circular economy is driven by the need for efficient resource use, decreased uncontrolled waste disposal, and enhanced waste management practices.
3. Clean Energy: The push towards clean energy is a fundamental aspect of our investment strategy, aimed at boosting clean energy production and ensuring more reliable access to energy.

Impact Outcomes

1. Climate-Smart Agriculture:
   • Number of Agriculture SMEs
   • Investment into Agriculture SMEs
   • Total Farmers Reached
   • Farmers by Gender
   • Value of Products Bought from Farmers
2. Circular Economy:
• Number of Circular Economy SMEs
• Investment into Circular Economy SMEs
• Waste management processes or services offered
• Waste Disposed Responsibly: Total, Recycled, Composted, Waste to Energy
• Tons of waste diverted from landfill
3. Clean Energy:
• Number of Clean Energy SMEs
• Investment into Clean Energy SMEs
• Capacity sold/installed: Total, Renewable, Households, SMEs, Communities, Social/Public facilities