Wednesday
October 2
2024

Press Release: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Commits to Catalyzing $200 Million for Social Entrepreneurs to End Global Poverty

Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship announces its new Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action, pledging to raise and deploy $20 million by 2030 to support social entrepreneurs worldwide. Unveiled on stage at the CGI 2024 Annual Meeting, this initiative aims to catalyze an additional $200 million in funding for social enterprises addressing poverty and climate resilience.

“Social enterprises are key to solving the most urgent global challenges by prioritizing people and the planet over profit,” said Brigit Helms, Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. “This commitment will help scale mission-driven organizations during their most critical early growth stages, enabling them to make lasting, transformative change.”

According to the World Economic Forum, social enterprises—businesses that reinvest revenue into their social or environmental missions—represent approximately 3% of businesses globally, generating over $2 trillion in annual revenue and creating more than 200 million jobs. Yet, despite their impressive contributions,  a $1.1 trillion funding gap limits their potential, and only 5% survive beyond a decade. Women-led ventures are particularly underfunded, receiving just 2% of available capital compared to their male-led counterparts.

To bridge these funding gaps, Miller Center launched Miller Center Capital, its innovative impact investing arm to finance graduates of its flagship accelerator. As a first-mover, Miller Center Capital invests in these social enterprises often deemed high-risk by the market, crowding in additional capital and de-risking future investments to expand the pool of investable ventures. So far, every dollar invested has unlocked 10 dollars of additional funding from other impact investors.

The investment fund forms an integral part of Miller Center’s continuum of support for social enterprises, from the accelerator program to ongoing programmatic offerings and financial leverage.

With this CGI Commitment, Miller Center publicly commits to our bold ambition to directly invest and mobilize catalytic capital, prioritizing women- and locally-led social enterprises, to build a more equitable and sustainable future.

Read the full Miller Center Commitment to Action on the Clinton Global Initiative website.

Photo courtesy of name_ gravity.

Source: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Investing, Social Enterprise
Tags
accelerators, climate change, impact investing, innovation, poverty alleviation, women entrepreneurs