Catalytic Capital
Fuel for Social and Environmental Progress
Investments that strengthen communities, expand economic opportunity, and support innovation that advances the well-being of people and the planet.
Building a more just, equitable, and resilient world
Millions of households, enterprises, and funds struggle to access the capital they need to build a better future for themselves and the wider world. Catalytic capital is a vital form of impact investment that addresses these critical capital gaps–offering financing that accepts disproportionate risk and/or concessionary returns relative to a conventional investment in order to generate positive impact and enable third-party investment that otherwise would not be possible. It is essential to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Research & Learning
Search for catalytic capital data and analysis that can help inform and accelerate the deployment of vital investments across sectors and regions.
News & Stories
Read more about transformative organizations and investments. Visit the Catalytic Capital Beat at ImpactAlpha for additional insights from the field.
Partners & Projects
Meet C3 investees, grantees and partners. Learn about their projects to design, deploy, and analyze catalytic capital solutions that support social and environmental progress.
Growing India’s Handmade Sector: A Q&A with 200M Artisans
C3 sat down with Priya Krishnamoorthy, founder and CEO of 200 Million Artisans, to talk about how catalytic capital is helping grow the handmade sector in India. She notes that lessons learned in India represent a model for organizations and initiatives in other countries with a large craft sector.
200 Million Artisans is one of C3’s Strengthening the Evidence Base grantees. Its project documented the current role of catalytic capital in India’s artisan sector with a specific focus on how it applies to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
Catalytic Capital: An Essential Impact Driver
In a commentary for Mission Investors Exchange, C3’s Urmi Sengupta takes a look at successful strategies to deploy catalytic capital in support of climate justice, place-based investing and entrepreneurship/small business development. She discusses, in particular, the increasing role of philanthropic investors in impact-first transactions.
“While many kinds of investors can participate in catalytic capital transactions, foundations and family offices are especially well-positioned to play an outsized role,” she writes. “This comes from their high degree of flexibility relative to many other types of investors, as well as their desire, if not mandate, to take an ‘impact first’ approach.”
Banner Photo: Rangsutra Crafts, India/courtesy of 200 Million Artisans.
Bottom Photo Montage: Courtesty of C3 grantees (L to R): Ashesi University, Pacific Community Ventures and 200 Million Artisans.