Program Related Investments

Overview

Private foundations are generally perceived as grant making organizations. However, private foundations have also long been able to take advantage of the tools of commercial banking and investing in service of mission. A number of foundations, including Skoll, have begun to take a greater interest in such commercially-based approaches because they allow philanthropic capital to be used in innovative and highly leveraged ways.  These loans, guaranties, equity investments, social deposits, and other credit accommodations, are referred to as Program Related Investments (PRIs). Simply stated, PRIs provide recyclable capital at below market rates to further a charitable purpose. Foundations have used PRIs to address gaps in capital availability in a variety of ways.  Use of PRIs allows the Skoll Foundation to provide organizations with substantial temporary investments when their business plans show that doing so will accelerate and significantly increase their programmatic impact or scale.

Currently, the Skoll Foundation’s PRI portfolio contains a mixture of loans, equity investments, and credit accommodations:

• a $2.5 million loan to Root Capital dedicated to its revolving loan pool used for sustainable crop finance in or near environmentally sensitive regions.
  
  
• an $2.6 million equity investment in and a $900,000 loan to Acumen Capital Markets L.P., a pilot investment fund created by Acumen Fund to make financial investments in businesses serving the poorest of the poor in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  
• a deposit of up to $3.5 million to support the purchase by Riders for Health of a fleet of appropriate vehicles to be used to deliver health care services throughout The Gambia.
  
  
• a $1 million loan to Opportunity Fund, a regional CDFI in the San Francisco Bay Area, to be used in its community development efforts.
  
  
• a $1 million equity investment in ShoreCap International, a fund investing in microfinance institutions and other banks targeting their lending at underserved individual entrepreneurs and small business owners in Africa and Asia.
  
  
• a $2.5 million equity investment in the GroFin East Africa Fund, a fund focusing on lending to small and medium sized enterprises in four East African nations.
  
  
• a $2 million equity investment commitment to ShoreCap II Ltd., the successor fund to ShoreCap International with a highly similar investment focus.
  
  
• a $2.5 million equity investment commitment to the Middle East Venture Capital Fund, a venture capital  fund dedicated to investing in early stage, high growth information and communications technology ventures in the Palestinian Territories.
  
  
• a C$2.5 million loan to the CAPE Fund, a Canadian investment fund dedicated to investing in and building the capacity of First Nation Canadian enterprises. 

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Program Related Investments