The Catalytic Capital Consortium has introduced a grantmaking program housed at the New Venture Fund that is inviting proposals for research to strengthen the evidence base for catalytic capital. Launched in 2019, the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) is an investment, learning, and market development initiative created and led by the MacArthur Foundation and its strategic partners, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Omidyar Network. Together, these partners are jointly funding the new C3 grantmaking program hosted at the New Venture Fund.
C3 grantmaking aims to equip the investor community with the knowledge and tools needed to increase the deployment and effectiveness of catalytic capital investments. A first round of funding will focus on building knowledge about why and where catalytic capital is needed, what form it takes, who it supports, how it has been deployed, and what outcomes have resulted. This work will draw upon experience from around the world.
Catalytic capital—investment capital that is patient, risk-tolerant, concessionary, and flexible—unlocks impact and additional investment that would not otherwise be possible. Countries, communities, and leaders around the world are facing three imperatives: recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic; rebuilding broken economies; and addressing deep disparities in race, class, gender, and health. Catalytic capital will be essential to all three challenges. Investors who deploy catalytic capital intentionally bridge gaps that conventional investors are unable or unwilling to fill. In doing so, they have the potential to empower historically marginalized communities, fuel high-impact innovations, and expand the reach of our financial system.
C3 grantmaking aims to generate informative, actionable resources that help investors increase their engagement with catalytic capital, unlocking impact and investment toward a just, equitable, and resilient world. View additional details on the New Venture Fund website.