Archive: 2024

October 30, 2024

Cyberattacks disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. Is this an opportunity for impact investors?

By Kelsey Jarrett and Elizabeth Roberts When we think about cyberattacks, we tend to think about big targets and big ransoms. With costly incidents on the rise, private equity and venture investments have followed. Yet the impact of cybercrime isn’t just on large institutions. Over the past few years, a […]

October 7, 2024

Four Key Takeaways from SJF Ventures’ Climate Week NYC Panel on Climate Adaptation and Resilience

By Joey Barrick As the frequency and severity of climate-related events increase, investors, insurers, and entrepreneurs are turning their attention to climate adaptation and resilience. But how do we actually prepare for and recover from the current impacts of climate change, and what steps can accelerate innovation for a more […]

August 15, 2024

A market map of tech solutions for climate adaptation and resilience

By Joey Barrick Annual record-setting in the climate crisis is becoming the new normal. This year is on pace to be the hottest ever recorded. Last year saw a record number of weather events that caused more than a billion dollars in damages. Investing in climate mitigation strategies is essential […]

July 17, 2024

Capturing Customer Voice to Drive Impact Performance

At SJF Ventures, we look to conduct impact-oriented value creation projects with portfolio companies, helping to ensure additionality in our investments. This work can begin as early as pre-investment diligence, when we identify potential impact initiatives that we can drive during the holding period. These initiatives have ranged from job […]

May 29, 2024

How SJF Changed Our Impact Reporting to More Effectively Engage with Portfolio Companies

Earlier this year, SJF Ventures completed its 2023 Impact Survey — a comprehensive review of each of our portfolio companies that assesses the social and environmental impacts of their operations. Our goal as an impact investment firm is to accelerate the positive benefits these companies bring to society, “bending the […]

May 22, 2024

Easy Metrics Receives Substantial Investment

Congratulations to Easy Metrics on a $31 million investment by Nexa Equity. Easy Metrics empowers leaders to drive operational speed and efficiency, cut waste, prioritize investments, and adopt labor and automation strategies that ultimately fuel the growth of their businesses. Easy Metrics is based in Bellevue, Washington, and serves more […]

March 25, 2024

Iron Sheepdog Raises $10M in Series B Funding from Strategic Partners

The funding, led by SJF Ventures, will fuel the company’s expansion of its technology platform, broker network and innovations in the short haul industry. “By giving brokers a technology platform that incentivizes haulers, helps reduce administrative burden and alleviates cash flow challenges, they can provide better service and grow their […]

February 1, 2024

In a Tumultuous Market, These Trends Will Shape Workforce Startups in 2024

By Arrun Kapoor Over the last 12–18 months, we’ve seen some dramatic shifts in the economic and technology environments surrounding education and workforce development. The post-pandemic era of flush corporate budgets has been replaced with more conservative purchasing and decision making. To make things more challenging, advances in generative AI […]