Photo: Katie Lacobellis
Two Vancouver-based, nationally focused organizations — which together have catalyzed over $140 million in investments — have officially joined forces.
Spring, which provides capital in the hopes of building a more sustainable and healthy world, has linked up with Propel Impact, an organization that guides Canadian youth to find meaningful careers. Together, the pair hopes to make it easier for businesses, investors, and individuals to take part in the impact economy: a model that helps create social and environmental change while also generating financial gains.
Over the next fiscal year, Spring aims to catalyze $110 million in capital, serving more than 560 entrepreneurs and 600 investors. Using this new partnership with Spring, Propel will continue to deliver its experiential learning programs, but with additional resources, capacity, and mentorship to scale significantly. Propel aims to train a further 300 young professionals, support 50 more impact organizations, and invest in five new ventures in the next year.
“The future of business is impact,” Keith Ippel, co-CEO of Spring, says of the collaboration. “From climate change to the rise of ‘purpose’ generations Y and Z, organizations have a unique opportunity to respond to the world’s greatest challenges. Working together, Propel and Spring can go further, faster. Delivering greater support, more efficiently, to more impact organizations and investors to scale their work and accelerate the path to a sustainable, healthy, and equitable world.”
Spring describes itself as a “global community of innovators and investors.” That network operates three arms: Spring Activator, a founder and investor accelerator; Spring Collective, an impact angel investor network; and Spring Impact Capital, a venture capital fund. Collectively, the B-corp certified firm says, those branches have served 3,300 entrepreneurs and 1,100 investors, and have catalyzed over $51 million in capital. Previous Spring initiatives include the Women-Led Impact Investment challenge, the Nimbus Synergies Health Impact Investment challenge, and the Invest Together Climate Innovation program.
Go deeper: Staying up to speed with Spring
Propel Impact, meanwhile, focuses on youth. The organization guides young Canadians to explore careers in the impact economy through real-life investment experiences, consulting engagements, and internships. To date, Propel has trained over 450 youth, supported 230 organizations with projects, and invested $749,000 into 15 impact ventures that have raised $90 million in follow-on funding.
“Since launching Propel Impact five years ago, we’ve cultivated a diverse community of talent, fiercely committed to using their skills and careers to address our world’s greatest challenges,” the organization’s executive director, Cheralyn Chok, said in a press release. “Moving forward, we’re excited about the potential this integration unlocks for young leaders and impact organizations alike.”
The collaboration has the potential to pay off both in social transformation and in capital growth. True to its mandate to support social and environmental goals while also increasing profits, the global impact economy is on the rise. In 2021, the worldwide impact investing market was valued at $2.5 trillion, and is projected to reach $6 trillion by 2031.
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