Current Borrowers
Diverse community-focused leaders and CDC Small Business Finance align to create social impact.

Impact Investments

Is Your Business Staged for Growth and Impact? We Can Help.

Community-focused companies looking to grow and scale often face barriers to securing the equity investments they need. This is especially true for companies that serve traditionally disinvested communities. As a result, options tend to be limited to taking on debt or turning to extractive capital that benefits the investor more than the business.

We are changing that paradigm through an investment strategy focused on providing the capital needed to grow at a pace that aligns with the strategy of that company. Our goal is to not only support the company itself but also drive meaningful and measurable outcomes in the communities in which they operate.

Together with our sister organization Capital Impact Partners, we have over 80+ years of experience delivering a suite of lending products, impact investments, and programs to serve a diverse set of businesses and communities. This allows us to work with your company at different stages including bringing in our investments team to work with you during those critical growth points.

Graphic showing the how CDC Small Business makes investments that are aligned with their Continuum of Capital and training programs.

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With a focus on social impact through scaling community-focused companies, our strategy is to ensure the organizational leaders maintain control of their vision and have the flexibility they need to achieve success. Unlike venture capital approaches that seek to extract returns, our investment approach aims to grow the company, create impact, and ensure wealth remains within the community.

Graphic illustrating CDC Small Business investments approach to providing owner control of their businesses

A Suite of Investment Instruments

Our Investments group utilizes a flexible investment approach that uses the following range of investment instruments to support growth-stage companies:

  1. Profit Share Preferred Equity:  Non-dilutive preferred equity whereby profitable businesses pay a % of profits and dividend
  2. Revenue Share Mezzanine Debt:  Unsecured mezzanine debt whereby business pay a % of revenues and interest

Types of Businesses We Partner With

Our Investments group works to create transformation within underestimated communities long overlooked by traditional capital providers by investing in and growing social enterprises. We provide impact investments to a broad range of companies who are focused on driving solutions that support at least one of the following outcomes in their communities:

  • Operating or employing within a low-to-moderate-income area
  • Led, managed or owned by an entrepreneur that lives or works in or supports underserved people and communities
  • Is employee-owned (coop, ESOP, EOT, etc)
  • Drives healthcare access to underserved communities
  • Drives healthy food access to underserved communities Increasing

Investment Range

  • $1 – 15 million

Stage Target

  • Growth-stage operating businesses with at least $4 million in revenues

Impact Investments

  • Help investees scale, create jobs, and address social determinants of health
  • Bring institutional capital to disinvested businesses and communities
  • Address systemic issues of inequality and close the wealth gap
  • Increase healthy and affordable food access for people living within food deserts or who are food insecure

Impact Investing Success Stories

Investment $5 million junior venture debt investment $1 million preferred equity investment
Company Overview Cultural experience company, led by Abner Mason, focused on partnering with health plans to guide their Medicaid and Medicare Advantage members through personalized wellness journeys that encourage dignity, autonomy, and companionship. Obran Cooperative is a worker-owned conglomerate that seeks to enhance lives, improve social determinants of health, and build wealth through employee ownership. Obran Health, a subsidiary of Obran Cooperative, is building the first worker-owned, home-based healthcare system, and does this by acquiring and transforming businesses in the home-based and ambulatory settings
Investment Goal
  • Grow new CultureGuide solution which uses technology to provide health plan members with data-driven, personalized health journeys.
  • Support SameSky Health to show product growth and bridge to a full equity raise anticipated at approximately $35 million.
  • Finance Obran Health’s acquisition of Physicians Choice Home Health, a home healthcare provider in Los Angeles. This investment supports the company’s transition into worker-ownership and helps to expand its footprint in Los Angeles and surrounding counties.
Investment Impact
  • Allows founder to retain more of his ownership of the business vs. traditional venture capital model.
  • Amplify company’s efforts around health equity and access to traditionally underserved communities.
  • Increase federal awareness and support of the use of text messaging to engage Medicaid and Medicare members.
  • Provide better employment conditions, wages, autonomy, and greater career growth for home healthcare employees, who are predominantly female with strong representation by women working in disinvested communities.
  • Increase access to quality home health care in Southern California, including in disinvested communities.
Meet our Investees Q&A With SameSky Health CEO Abner Mason Read more about Obran’s transformative approach to support coops and health equity

Meet Our Impact Investments Team
Ready to Answer Your Questions

Our diverse and dedicated team brings decades of experience helping to grow mission-aligned companies with expertise in managing a variety of investment instruments.



Yrenilsa Lopez, CFA

Managing Director

Experience: 14 years of experience in impact and sustainable investing, expertise in private equity and mezzanine instruments across sectors

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University; MPA from Cornell University; CFA Charterholder

Elisabeth Chasia

Investment Director

Experience: 12-year track record in the impact sector with a focus on mezzanine debt and small businesses in disinvested environments

Education: BA from Cornell University; Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University; MBA from Columbia University

Swetha Krishnakumar

Investment Director

Experience: 10-year track record in impact investing with a focus on preferred equity and mezzanine debt across multiple sectors

Education: BA from the Georgia Institute of Technology; MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Wendy Xiong, CFA

Investment Associate

Experience: 8-year track record in asset management with a focus on equity, fixed-income investment, and fund management

Education: BA from Wuhan University; Master’s degree in Finance from EDHEC (France) Business School

Sahil Patel

Investment Analyst

Experience: 3 years of experience in business valuation and M&A advisory, with a background in social entrepreneurship

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance & Accounting from the University of Illinois

Noah Asghedom, CFA

Investment Analyst

Experience: 7 years of experience in consulting and investments, focusing on strategy, investment and portfolio management

Education: Bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Accounting from Penn State University; CFA Charterholder

Yi Wei

Vice President, Capital Initiatives and Partnerships

Experience: 14-year track record of helping social enterprises scale with a focus on investor relations and fund structures

Education: BA from Harvard University; MBA from the University of Chicago

Bill Coyle

Capital Deployment Analyst

Experience: 3 years of Big Four experience, two and half years of investment experience, fundraising, and financial analysis

Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College; MBA from Georgetown University

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