More than Half of Fund’s Total Investments are in Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Companies
Citi announced its next round of investments through the Citi Impact Fund, a $200 million fund launched in 2020 to invest in companies that are addressing some of the biggest societal challenges. The new companies included in this round are Greenwood, MoCaFi, Moving Analytics, OhmConnect, and Sweeten.
“Our mission is to help homeowners ‘renovate fearlessly’ through a digital platform that makes home renovation simpler, while also increasing access for women and minorities in construction”
Since January 2020, the Citi Impact Fund has invested in 16 companies focused on a range of issues including workforce development, financial capability, physical and social infrastructure, sustainability, and access to capital and economic opportunity. More than half of the Fund’s total investments are in minority-owned and women-owned companies, including four earlier-stage seed investments in businesses led or owned by women and minorities.
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“Over the last 18 months, the hurdles facing our communities have only become more acute and more urgent – from an increase in economic inequality, to a lack of access to healthcare, to a rise in waste generation and workforce instability,” said Ed Skyler, Head of Global Public Affairs at Citi. “The companies we have invested in through the Citi Impact Fund are implementing innovative solutions to help tackle these pressing environmental, social and economic challenges. Equity investing is a powerful tool and we are proud to be able to use Citi’s balance sheet to make our communities stronger.”
“Our mission is to help homeowners ‘renovate fearlessly’ through a digital platform that makes home renovation simpler, while also increasing access for women and minorities in construction,” said Jean Brownhill, Founder & CEO at Sweeten, a digital platform that matches residential and commercial construction projects with vetted general contractors. “We’re happy to have Citi on board, not only as an investor, but also as a partner and collaborator on key marketing programs and new technologies that will help drive equity in our industry.”
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“Citigroup has maintained an impressive history of supporting inclusion initiatives in the Black community since my earlier days working there,” said Wole Coaxum, Founder, and CEO of MoCaFi. “More than 20 years later, it’s encouraging to witness that their commitment to economic inclusion and justice remain strong in meaningful ways. Whether it’s programmatic or technical support for these enterprises, Citigroup remains dedicated to one of the most important causes of this generation, and we are thrilled to be a part of their proud tradition.”
- Greenwood is a Black-founded, tech-enabled, financial banking platform built for African Americans, Latinos and allies of the culture. Historically, these communities are denied access to credit and other financial services at much higher rates than white customers. Greenwood’s mission is to bridge access and wealth gaps via initiatives and solutions that promote financial inclusion and wellness for all, inspired by the community and culture of Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. Along with partner banks, Greenwood is developing a suite of financial products that support sustainable entrepreneurship, empower wealth creation, and promote financial literacy.
- MoCaFi is a Black-owned fintech based in Greater New York that offers mobile banking, credit building and wealth empowerment tools to underserved communities. Their innovative banking platform addresses communities challenged by limited economic mobility and financial equity. Throughout the pandemic, MoCaFi has assisted individuals, families and businesses in need through partnerships with organizations and cities providing direct services. Their technology solutions target financially underserved consumers in the U.S. who spend billions of dollars in fees and interest on alternative financial services. MoCaFi’s financial products save users time, stress and unnecessary transaction fees while delivering essential banking services at a low cost.
- Moving Analytics is a telehealth company that has helped thousands of patients across multiple states access life-saving cardiac rehab after they have experienced a heart attack or cardiovascular complication. The company eliminates common barriers to access like need to travel, high co-pays and long waiting lists by offering care to patients through an innovative, app-based, virtual program. The program, built in conjunction with Stanford and validated over multiple clinical trials, combines behavior science, remote monitoring and personalized coaching. Moving Analytics helps patients avoid worsened health outcomes while significantly reducing readmissions rates and 300%+ improvements in cardiac rehab completion rates. The company has partnerships with Kaiser Permanente in California, CDPHP in New York, Highmark Health Plan, Allegheny Health Network and the Veteran Affairs Medical Center with plans to expand to more states in 2021.
- OhmConnect is an Oakland-based energy demand response company that enables hundreds of thousands of customers to reimagine how they use energy, to choose clean energy over dirty energy when required, and to be rewarded for timely, smarter, home energy use. OhmConnect pays its users – California residents – to reduce their energy consumption during peak times when the grid is at risk of using dirty power. They sell those aggregated energy savings in the energy market and then pass a portion of those earnings back to their users.
- Sweeten is a New York-based, Black female-founded digital platform that matches residential and commercial construction projects with vetted general contractors, while offering guidance and financial protection – at no cost to the client. Sweeten simultaneously delivers general contracting firms an efficient growth engine, by streamlining marketing, lead acquisition, and bidding, and by vetting all renovation projects for budget and readiness. The sophisticated digital platform empowers owners and contractors alike with transparency, data, and an expansive online library of renovation knowledge. Sweeten launched in 2011, with headquarters in New York, NY and has expanded into the top 10 American cities.
The Citi Impact Fund is a component of Global Public Affairs’ Community Investing and Development team, which aims to enhance positive social impact and financial innovations that benefit underserved communities around the world. Through equity investing, lending and grant making, Citi and the Citi Foundation are working in new ways to effect positive and meaningful change in the communities around the world including Action for Racial Equity, which committed more than $1 billion in strategic initiatives to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the U.S. Additionally, Citi has committed $1 trillion to sustainable finance by 2030, which includes $500 billion to support activities in support of the SDGs outside of environmental finance – including education, affordable housing, health care, economic inclusion, community finance, international development finance, racial and ethnic diversity and gender equality.
