Insights

By Kelsey Jarrett And we’re back again. It’s time to talk about annual reporting. Every year, SJF Ventures conducts a comprehensive impact survey to assess the social and environmental impacts of our portfolio companies. The survey comprises a set of standard questions about employee experience and job quality, as well as […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Menopause has long been overlooked and misunderstood. It is a condition that is, at worst, the butt of jokes and, at best, discussed in whispers. In recent months, however, that narrative has shifted. The New York Times (here,  here and here), Bloomberg, and Axios have all called attention to menopause, […]

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DURHAM, N.C., May 16, 2022 / PRNewswire / — SJF Ventures and 38 other climate venture funds write letter to congress and administration: Dear President Biden, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, As leaders of venture capital funds investing in entrepreneurial companies leading the clean energy transition, we are writing to urge you […]

December 20, 2021 / Dave Kirkpatrick LinkedIn / – We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Community Energy Solar (CES) by AES to accelerate the deployment of utility scale solar and storage. SJF led the Series A financing for CES in 2010, in partnership with our co-investor NGP ETP. […]

October 15, 2021 / Arrun Kapoor LinkedIn / – It was great to see Fiverr’s acquisition of CreativeLive last week. The acquisition will bring an upskilling product under the umbrella of a thriving gig placement platform, consolidating two of the primary components of employment into one offering. At SJF, we […]

SJF Ventures hosted its second Future Impact series event on solar energy’s transition to the primary source of global energy this century.  On September 30, 2021, SJF Ventures hosted a conversation on the future impact of the “Solar Century.” Facilitated by Dave Kirkpatrick and Jacqueline Goodman at SJF, this discussion […]

SJF Ventures portfolio company Waycare Technologies has been acquired by Rekor Systems, a Govtech company focused on intelligent infrastructure and smart cities. Waycare is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based connected mobility platform for transportation agencies that provides actionable insights and predictive analytics to improve traffic and safety management operations. Waycare’s technology […]

Feb. 4, 2021 / PRNewswire / — SJF Ventures has launched SJF Ventures V, L.P., a $175 million impact investment fund. SJF backs visionary entrepreneurial teams working in clean energy and climate, circular economy and logistics, mobility and govtech, health, education, future of work, and sustainable food. The firm has offices in Durham, New […]

September 21, 2020 / LinkedIn / – At SJF Ventures, we have a history of investing in the clean energy transition which is only becoming more important as we grapple with the magnitude of the climate crisis. We are thrilled to announce leading the Series A round at Terabase Energy as the next […]

SJF Ventures is proud to release its 2020 Impact Report, which details the fund’s impact strategy, gives an overview of SJF’s investment and impact themes per sector, and provides a deep dive into the various dimensions of impact for each portfolio company. Download SJF’s 2020 Impact Report here. Please note […]

Stephanie Nieman recently authored an article, Technology innovations tackling the youth, young adult mental health crisis, that was first published in MobiHealthNews.  The piece gives a breakdown of the growing list of digital mental health tools available to these populations, and the various ways to deploy them. July 10, 2020 / MobiHealthNews / – […]

We, like you, have been dealing with shock, sadness, frustration, and anger in the wake of the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  As with the cases of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others, we know the unfortunate truth that for every George Floyd, there are an unknown number […]

SJF Ventures is offering Cleantech Open Office Hours from 10 am – 6 pm ET on Thursday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 13 to support growth-stage companies with the potential to rapidly scale in an economic recovery. During the office hours, cleantech entrepreneurs will present their investment opportunity or discuss […]