WNY Impact Investment Fund wraps another active year of dealmaking

The Western New York Impact Investment Fund didn’t slow down in 2023, backing four innovative companies that are poised to change things for the better in our hometown.

That pace stands in contrast to a national slowdown in startup funding activity and highlights the Fund’s deep commitment to the community. The Fund analyzes potential deals for their commercial promise and their social impact in Western New York – a model that has led to national recognition in publications such as Forbes (link) and The Foundation Review (link).

Doubling in size

The Fund entered 2023 ready to deploy money out of its Series 2 raise, which closed in 2022. We initially set out to raise between $8 to $10 million, approximately the same amount that we raised for our first series in 2017. We ultimately landed at $12.55 million.

“People invest in us because of our tenacity,” said Tom Quinn, CEO. “We believe in this city and the entrepreneurs who are building businesses here, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure they can compete with anybody in the world.”

New investors included the region’s top financial institutions, including M&T Bank, Bank of America, Five Star Bank and Evans Bank, along with other prominent foundations, companies, and private individuals from Western New York.

All of the firm’s initial funders invested in Series 2.

The successful raise validated the Fund’s sense of momentum and the innovative model of place-based social investing it debuted in 2017. We give equal weight to commercial promise and social impact in our due diligence and subsequent analysis of our portfolio. That means we live and breathe our impact investment ideals and hold ourselves accountable to those goals.

The new raise will allow the Fund to back innovative companies in Western New York for years to come.

Investments

The WNY Impact Investment Fund wrote checks to four locally-based companies this year. They include:

• CleanFiber: A $1 million debt investment that made the Fund the lead investor in CleanFiber’s $5 million round. CleanFiber’s factory in Blasdell was just a concept when the Fund first invested in 2018 – now it has more than 100 employees, with a recently completed $16 million expansion and active plans to build more factories.

• Arbol: A $100,000 investment that led the company’s pre-seed round and allowed it to expand to its first six paying customers in 2023.

• CaHILL Tech: A $250,000 injection of capital that will support CaHILL’s continued expansion in the construction industry, focusing specifically on creating a new pipeline of workers. This is a follow-on from a previous $250,000 investment in 2022.

• LenderLogix: A $500,000 investment in Larkinville-based mortgage technology firm LenderLogix, which is building out a product that will unearth homebuying opportunities for low-income individuals and investment opportunities in marginalized census tracts.

Social impact

Western New York Impact Investment Fund portfolio companies have created more than 500 jobs, with 73% of those employees coming from underprivileged populations.

Some social impact portfolio updates include:

• Lithium ion battery company Viridi has partnered with a newly-created nonprofit to pioneer a workforce development approach that sources employees from communities adjacent to its East Side factory while providing wraparound support. The employment model is leading to high retention rates among those employees.

• CaHILL is developing aQuire Academy, a technology tool at the top of the workforce funnel in the construction industry, in partnership with community-based organizations, institutional facilities and prison-to-work programs. The platform will provide employment opportunities to some of the most disadvantaged segments of the population.
  
  
• CleanFiber, also a significant employer located in a marginalized community, continues to add jobs and has recycled over 36K tons of materials over the last three years avoiding over 713K tons of CO2.

News and accomplishments

The WNY Impact Investment Fund continued to be recognized in 2023 for its important role in moving Western New York's economy forward.

Tom Quinn was among four Western New Yorkers named to City & State’s Economic Development Power 100 list for New York state (link)

The WNY Impact Investment Fund was featured in The Foundation Review (link)

An article featuring the Fund on finding the intersection between capital good and venture capitalism (link)

Tom Quinn was named to Buffalo Business First Power 250 list (link)

New, high-profile investors joined the WNY Impact Investment Fund (link)

Moving forward

The WNY Impact Investment Fund has now made 19 investments between its two funds, totaling about $10 million. But that’s just the beginning. With incredible investors, a promising portfolio and a recently-raised new Series 2 fund, the Fund is poised to expand its position as a changemaker in the Buffalo region. We’re actively scouting for new deals and expect to continue making news in 2024.

“We’re having success finding talented entrepreneurs whose businesses are changing things for the better in Western New York,” Quinn said. “These investments reflect our belief that this city is becoming a bigger, better and more inclusive place for the people who live and work here.”