“Indigenous business owners have been largely shut out from mainstream sources of debt and equity, a consequence of systemic extraction and financial trauma,” reports Jessica Pothering, senior editor with ImpactAlpha, diving into the value of catalytic capital for Native entrepreneurs. “Traditional capital structures are often not well suited, and can even be harmful, to the needs of small and growing Indigenous-owned businesses or to the unique environments in which they operate.”
The story features a new report from First Peoples Worldwide entitled Indigenizing Catalytic Capital, which highlights the outsized impact potential of catalytic capital. FPW is one of C3’s Strengthening the Evidence Base grantees
“The invisibility of Native economies means that, for the most part, non-Native members of the public aren’t aware of the economic dynamism in Indian Country, and investors and philanthropy aren’t seeing the opportunities that exist to support Native enterprises,” according to the report. Adds Kate Finn, executive director of FPW: “A lot of Native entrepreneurs don’t hype their social thesis, even though it runs right alongside their financial thesis. There is a huge opportunity there for impact investors.”