o15 combines capital with community to build a new model for supporting women and minority entrepreneurs
Finance veterans Colin Meadows, Kenneth Saffold, and Brian Morris, announced the official launch of o15 Capital Partners (“o15”), a mission-driven alternatives investment firm that will provide capital to companies led by and serving undercapitalized entrepreneurs and communities. o15 seeks to provide institutions the opportunity to invest in a more diverse economy through credit and equity investments in lower-middle-market businesses in the United States, with a particular emphasis on businesses led by women or minorities. Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ), a global investment management firm with $1.6 trillion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2022), is a strategic partner and will serve as an investor in the firm’s o15 Emerging America Credit Opportunities Fund LP (the “Fund”).
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The founders draw from more than 80 years of combined experience at financial firms such as Invesco, BlackRock, and CapitalOne, and bring extensive and complementary investment management experience to o15. Kenneth and Brian have worked together at predecessor firms since 2015 with a shared passion for social and economic justice. Since 2011, the firm’s founders have committed $1.9 billion in more than 50 transactions directly related to o15’s investment strategy. The team collectively draws upon a robust set of relationships to source proprietary deal flow, including established networks at their legacy employers, strong connectivity to diverse communities, financial sponsors, intermediaries, and management teams.
“The existing structure of capital markets continues to challenge historically disadvantaged communities, with more than a third of minority entrepreneurs citing the lack of access to capital as their primary business concern1,” said Colin Meadows, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of o15. “We founded o15 to address that challenge. The name o15 is derived from Special Field Order 15, which famously promised ’40 acres and a mule’ to former slaves during the Civil War. For us, it stands for this idea that to fully participate in capitalism you need capital, which was understood over 150 years ago and remains true today.”
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“Women- and minority-owned firms control only 1.4 % of the over $82 trillion managed by the US asset management industry2, combined with the historical underinvestment in diverse-led companies and communities, have created a supply-demand imbalance,” said Kenneth Saffold, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of o15. “o15 will invest exclusively in opportunities in the United States, with a particular focus on the Southeast given that this region has the largest share of Black and Hispanic-owned businesses, and creates a distinct advantage to working with businesses in this region3.”
“We’re pleased to be an anchor investor in o15’s first Fund, which will help meet the growing needs of entrepreneurs of color and women entrepreneurs,” said Marty Flanagan, President and CEO of Invesco. “This week is Juneteenth, which underscores the importance of our commitment to diversity and inclusion at every level of our global organization and within the communities in which we operate. Our support of o15 is part of our broad-based effort to continuously strengthen this commitment.”
o15 will empower entrepreneurs and communities of color through financial support and network building. The Fund will have the capability to invest across the capital structure and prioritize investments that have a disproportionate impact on minority communities, in the healthcare, education, business, and consumer services sectors where the team has prior investing experience. These companies will be led, owned, operated, or managed by women and/or members of historically undercapitalized ethnic minority groups, and/or providing a product or service that benefits those communities in particular.
“The diversity of the leadership team enables the firm to identify strong investment opportunities in undercapitalized markets that others may overlook,” added Brian Morris, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of o15. “o15 is well poised to capitalize on its sourcing, underwriting, diversity, geography, and will focus on delivering strong and consistent risk-adjusted returns and societal impact.”
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