While local leaders are best positioned to drive community-driven solutions, they still consistently butt up against barriers to accessing capital to grow their business. It is often confusing for business owners to know where to start or who they can turn to. This situation often forces entrepreneurs to rely on extractive capital or on the onerous requirements of debt like putting up collateral or personal guarantees. Having less existing wealth means one receives less favorable terms of financing, putting at risk the disproportionately smaller amount of wealth one does have.
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations aims to interrupt this vicious cycle. We envision an economic system that respects and uplifts all peoples’ right to achieve the dreams they have for themselves, their communities, and generations to come by changing the way community-centric businesses secure capital.
Turning Traditional Venture Capital on Its Head
Momentus Capital’s approach is fundamentally different. Starting with a listen-first approach, our focus is on social impact and on growing companies that center the owner and employees.
We are uniquely positioned to grow mission-aligned companies by acting as a single source with the ability to provide them with a continuum of financial, knowledge, and social capital.
In addition to this holistic approach, where we truly differentiate ourselves from traditional venture capital groups through our core philosophy. It is our intention that any impact investment we make is designed to be regenerative or non-dilutive. Our end goal is focused on helping companies grow while also ensuring that the entrepreneurs, employees, and community members retain their equity.
Investments that Support Community-Focused Companies
Our impact investments team also takes a unique approach that begins by getting to know the company from the inside. This helps us understand what impact the company wants to have on its community; what unique solutions it is seeking to deliver that support equitable outcomes for health and wealth building; and what challenges the company has faced in raising capital as a result of being led by an entrepreneur of color or of serving a disinvested community.
Armed with that knowledge we can develop a flexible and patient approach that is first and foremost designed to help businesses achieve their growth visions sustainably.
We do this by offering these primary investment vehicles.
Our Sector & Geographic Focus
We put these tools to work by engaging with entrepreneurs focused on supporting their local communities. This includes companies that:
- Create economic opportunities to support intergenerational wealth-building
- Improve access to affordable, healthy food
- Improve access to health care
- Grow employee-ownership structures such as cooperatives
We’re further helping to fuel economic growth and opportunity by fostering deep connections in our communities. Currently, the Momentus Capital impact investments program target geographies include Atlanta, Ga.; California; Detroit, Michigan; the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region; Miami, Florida; New York Tri-State area; and the Texas Triangle (Austin, Dallas, and Houston). If you are outside of one of these areas, we still encourage you to reach out to discuss your capital needs.
Demonstrated Success
We’ve already demonstrated the positive impact that our approach is creating with and for community-minded companies.
Take, for example, Abner Mason the president and CEO of SameSky Health. Mason launched SameSky in 2013 to expand access to health care and help people better navigate the complex health care system.
To grow his company, Mason needed investors but has long been frustrated by those who either would not invest in him.
Where others saw risk, we saw an opportunity. Through our impact investing program, we provided SameSky Health with a $5 million venture debt bridge loan to support the growth of the company as they progress to raise Series C funding. Read more about our partnership with SameSky in this Q&A with Abner Mason.
We also worked with Obran Health, a unique company that operates worker-owned health care companies designed to give decision-making processes and capital back to caregivers, operators, and health care workers. A lot of Orban’s affiliates are managed by worker-owners, and so this was an excellent opportunity to make an investment that supported wealth building in a way that would stay with the employees in their communities.
When Obran Health sought to acquire Physicians Choice Home Health, a home health care provider in Los Angeles, we provided a $1 million preferred equity investment. This allowed Obran to avoid the traditional route of syndicated loans and debt which would have hampered their long-term growth.
