Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 12.51.45 PM.png

This last year has challenged every facet of us, and been a prime example of how resilience in the absence of growth is still stagnation. In our pursuit of transformative justice, we commit to changing ourselves, diminishing old wounds, and creating new space for connection.

We put capital to work. Candide Group, an SEC-registered investment adviser, is thrilled to announce that by year-end 2021, we directed 50 investments into 31 companies and funds totaling $42,629,040. The majority of these investees are organizations led by women or people of color, with over half of our clients’ capital ($23M) this year directed to companies and funds specifically headed by Black and Indigenous leaders.

We built our team. Candide Group has experienced steady and intentional growth. In 2021, we added to our team Jared Mitchell, Operations and Client Services Associate, Starkey Baker, Digital Communications Associate, and our newest member, Leticia Corona as a Portfolio Manager with the Olamina Fund.

We listened. As we seek to deepen accountability to the communities we serve, we have been working together with partners to understand what we’ve done well, and critically where we can improve for 2022 and beyond. As part of this, in 2021 our Director of Impact went on a listening tour, surveying 33 ecosystem partners to better understand Candide’s role, influence, and opportunities for growth to better support our collective work.

We won our case and kept fighting. Candide Group has been successfully fighting litigation from CoreCivic, one of the largest private prison companies. When we correctly reported that CoreCivic had been benefiting from family separations, the company filed a strategic lawsuit in an attempt to silence us. Not only have we won this suit (though the company has appealed), in 2021 we continued our broad advocacy work; with more than two dozen articles on the intersection of money and justice on Forbes.com, a collaboration with TEDxOakland, and movement-aligned partnerships with vital networks like the New Economy Coalition, in service of paving a more just and livable future.

Deals Closed in 2021

**Candide Group is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned below. The companies highlighted in this newsletter shall not be deemed an endorsement, nor should it be an indication of Candide Group's interest to invest in the company now or in the future.

digital communications associate _1_.png

View our Full Portfolio

We welcomed nine new companies and funds to our client advisory portfolio in 2021:

Aclima is a purpose-driven technology company dedicated to catalyzing bold climate action that protects public health, reduces emissions, and advances environmental justice.
Apis & Heritage I LP By combining the speed and scale of Private Equity with the preservation and wealth creation power of Employee Ownership, specifically a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) — Apis & Heritage Capital Partners (A&H) is attacking the Racial Wealth Gap and helping to restore dignity and status to the American Worker.
ChiFresh Kitchen tackles unemployment and food disparity on South and West Side Chicago communities.
Collab Fund I LLC Atlanta-based investment fund leveraging financial, human, and social capital to help Black founders build sustainable, innovation-centered businesses.
Cooperative Energy Futures is a MN member-owned energy services cooperative that builds community wealth through energy efficiency and clean energy solutions that are accessible to everyone.
Koret Israel Economic Development Funds Small business loans for Arab-owned firms that are often excluded from the traditional banking systems in Israel.
People's Land Fund Watsonville LLC is a project to acquire a large-scale organic property in the Central Valley and transition ownership from industrial owners to first-generation immigrant family farmers.
Kapor Capital III LP is the venture capital arm of the Kapor Center for Social Impact. It is an equity fund that invests in early-stage tech-enabled startups.
Zero Grocery is the first plastic-free grocery delivery service. Partnering with local producers when possible, Zero helps cut plastic waste by incorporating reusable food containers into the delivery model.

**Candide Group is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned above. The companies highlighted in this newsletter shall not be deemed an endorsement, nor should it be an indication of Candide Group's interest to invest in the company now or in the future.

We also supported new investments in support of 12 managers and companies where our clients had existing investments:

Bitwise Industries creates a bridge between humans from marginalized communities and stories of systemic poverty to skills and resources necessary to access opportunities in the tech industry.
Complete Solar offers a wide range of solar products and financing programs to help consumers reduce their electricity bills.
Everytable through their revolutionary restaurant model, Everytable offers healthy, made-from-scratch meals that everyone can afford.
Firebrand Artisans is committed to serving the community both as an employer and as a local artisan bakery. Firebrand is committed to hiring formerly incarcerated and homeless people. The investment was designed to include workers in profit sharing alongside investors, and to transfer partial ownership of the company into a Purpose Trust to ensure long-term mission preservation.
HCAP Partners is a provider of growth capital to lower-middle market companies throughout California and the Western United States.
Lendstreet is a lending platform for debt restructuring and refinancing.
Mayvenn enables Stylists to sell products directly to their clients without the upfront costs and burdens of holding inventory.
Navajo Power was founded to maximize the economic benefits of clean energy for tribal and impacted communities.
PosiGen provides renewable energy systems and energy efficiency retrofits to low-to-moderate income homeowners.
Sparkfund powers organizations by providing access to the latest energy technology.
Translator is a technology-enabled 360° Platform For Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion.
Trove Recommerce works with brands such as Patagonia, REI and Eileen Fisher to develop channels that take control of the resale marketplace, which deepens customer engagement, increases profit and helps the planet by advancing the circular economy.

We provided loans to nine projects and organizations in the Deep South, Indian Country, and the Rural US through Olamina Fund:

Appalachian Community Capital provides reliable and sufficient capital for its membership of CDFIs and mission-driven lenders to support economic growth, increased entrepreneurship, higher quality jobs, and increased local wealth in the Appalachian.
Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) is a 31-year-old 501 C-3 not-for-profit that provides financial, policy, research, and technical assistance to small businesses throughout North Carolina. They focus on underserved communities with an emphasis on businesses owned by people of color, women, veterans, rural residents, and low-income individuals.
Historic Clayborn Temple in Memphis has been a key power-building base for the African American community for seventy years. The team’s dream is for the community to own the property, specifically the descendants of the Sanitation Workers' Strike of 1968, and to advance the cultural and economic production of African American artists and entrepreneurs.
Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC) is one of Atlanta’s oldest surviving community development corporations and the only non-profit organization specifically dedicated to preserving the availability of affordable housing in the Old Fourth Ward district. For nearly four decades, HDDC has been a catalyst for equitable urban revitalization in Atlanta.
Kibilio Collective is rooted in Black and Queer land sovereignty. It is an intergenerational, intentional community dedicated to embodied healing, and reparative, ecological, and reproductive justice.
NALCAB (and NALCAB Catalyst Fund I) The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders is a national membership organization and certified CDFI that advances economic mobility in Latinx communities.
Native Community Capital is a Native CDFI that serves tribes on a regional basis to advance tribal self-determination by unlocking capital resources necessary to build tribal economies.
NDN Fund is the impact investing and lending arm of the NDN Collective, providing financing for large-scale Indigenous regenerative community and national development projects that dramatically scale up investment and shift all decision-making power to Indigenous peoples.
Partnership for Southern Equity advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of metropolitan Atlanta and the American South.

We were honored to deepen our work with mission-aligned partners, new and old.

Our Plans for 2022

As we begin 2022, we have a lot to be excited about. Here’s a preview of what we’re planning:

We will expand on the work of the Climate Justice Investor Collective and work to launch a new climate justice debt fund
We will close out the first phase of Olamina’s loans and gear up work on our next phase
We will have new positions including a position with the Climate Justice Fund, a position on the Investment Team, and a position on the Portfolio Operations team
We will have a clear strategic plan from our JEDI initiative and organizational work
We will continue to seek out and flow capital toward the companies and funds helping build the equitable world we all deserve

View our list of past specific recommendations for the last 12 months. For more information about Candide, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A .

Disclosure: The information contained in this document is intended for educational and information purposes only and should not be considered investment tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security. Please consult with your tax and legal advisors regarding your particular circumstances.Certain statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts, and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results and are based primarily upon a hypothetical set of assumptions applied to certain historical financial information. Certain information has been provided by third-party sources, and, although believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified, and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed.Any opinions, projections, forecasts, and forward-looking statements presented herein are valid as of the date of this document and are subject to change.The investment discussed herein have been included based on the following methodology: all investments Candide Group has facilitated on behalf of our clients since the publishing of our last all-network newsletter, and investments with recent public news events. For a complete list of all investments, please click the “list of past specific recommendations for the last 12 months” link above. The views and opinions are those of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change at any time. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. Candide Group is under no obligation to update this information after the date of this publication.Past performance is not indicative of future results; no representation is being made that any investment will or is likely to achieve profits or losses like those achieved in the past, or that significant losses will be avoided. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of any financial product carefully before investing. Investing involves various risks, including loss of principal. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. For more information about Candide, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A.