Blue Haven Initiative (BHI) is an

impact investment Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an a ...

organization based in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and is one of the largest

investment funds An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

in the world dedicated solely to impact investing. Blue Haven's

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

fund invests in early-stage, innovative businesses that improve standards of living, create economic opportunity and deliver products and services cleanly and efficiently to underserved communities in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Structure

Public markets

Blue Haven invests in both

public equities A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (li ...

and

fixed income Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the pr ...

investments. The firm seeks to increase the impact of these asset classes through a combination of quantitative scoring and a qualitative assessment of the use of proceeds for underlying issuers.

Direct investments

Blue Haven's

fund enables early-stage, innovative businesses that improve standards of living, create economic opportunity and deliver products and services cleanly and efficiently to underserved communities in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. It sources direct investments that are off the radar for most U.S.-based venture capital investors by finding and engaging

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and growing its financial commitment over time. A key area of focus is sub-Saharan Africa, a region that it believes provides opportunities for impact and financial returns. Notable investments include: * CrossBoundary * Umati * PEGAfrica * Karibu Homes

Key people

Blue Haven was founded by

Liesel Pritzker Simmons Liesel Pritzker Simmons (born Liesel Anne Pritzker), stage name Liesel Matthews, is an American heiress and former child actress. She starred as Sara Crewe in ''A Little Princess'', a 1995 film adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett classic, a ...

and her husband Ian Simmons in 2012.

References

External links