Catalyzing Capital and Community for a Thriving Western North Carolina: Soft Launch of the Impact WNC Fund I
Shining Rock Ventures is proud to serve as co-founder of the Impact WNC General Partners LLC, which on October 11th celebrated the ‘soft launch’ on the road toward first close of its Impact Western North Carolina Fund I (the Fund).
The Fund intends to invest catalytic capital to previously underinvested ventures, predominantly in the region of WNC. Like much of Appalachia, the region has been underserved by the capital markets, both private and public. The region has a centuries-long history of resilience - most recently proven through the pandemic - though many businesses continue to struggle in the absence of foundational and/or growth capital to grow and thrive. This is especially true of venture founders from the region’s historically underinvested and multi-generational Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, as well as women business owners, and those from distressed, rural counties of the region.
Although necessarily industry agnostic, the management team of the Fund intends to seek out, cultivate, and invest in ventures that possess the following attributes:
Poised to scale, or at an inflection point on their evolution toward sustained revenue and growth.
Have a meaningful Western North Carolina operational or impact context.
Potential to build community wealth, as local investments help retain and multiply local value and benefit.
Enhance regional and community quality of life.
Growing meaningful, resilient, and fairly-paid employment opportunities.
Participate in the value-chain building that contributes to a long-term resilient and thriving region.
The Fund’s Mission connects clearly in its primary impact goals:
Investing in the growth and resilience of sustainable and equitable economic prosperity in the WNC region.
Connecting and catalyzing a capital ecosystem that currently operates in a fragmented manner and has opportunity to scale for the region’s benefit.
Show an appreciation for ventures whose mission and product have defined benefit related to environmental sustainability, social equity, and broader community outcomes as well as risk-weighted returns to investors.
This vision and goals of the Fund will be operationalized through a combination of:
Partnership development with regional Business Support Organizations (BSOs) and related communities.
A founder-friendly approach relative to investment instruments, timelines, exit strategies, and mentoring.
An active engagement strategy with LPs, institutional partners, and BSOs; with the intention of strengthening the region’s Capital Ecosystem and creation of a meaningful Network Effect among these groups and the greater community.
A commitment to return a portion of the upside from the Fund’s success to the community-based organizations that are essential to making success possible.
A commitment to inclusivity, representation and diversity in both the Investment Advisory Committee (“IAC”) of the Fund, as well as a Community Engagement and Advisory Committee (“CEAC”).
Using an individual investor-led with an institutional investor-leveraged approach to balancing hands-on and localized and expert portfolio support with the potential to scale portfolio growth and impact, the Fund is on track to achieve first close by end-2023 and initiate portfolio-building activities in Q1 of 2024. For more information as a prospective investor in the Fund, or as a prospective venture partner in the portfolio, please visit the Fund website here.