Special for the Globe and Mail - Mathieu Senard, left, and Edouard Rollet, co-founders of Alter Eco Americas, based in San Francisco, Calif., pose with some of their fair-trade products, Monday, April 19, 2010.Dino Vournas/The Globe and Mail
The call for "a philosophical reinvention" of investing as this century sees a "dramatic retooling" of how society lives: That was the unorthodox pitch to potential investor made by Joel Solomon and Carol Newell of Vancouver-based Renewal Partners Co.
And it's worked. The Renewal2 fund closed a first round of $18-million a year ago -- raising the money through the worst of the economic downturn -- and the company is working toward a final close of the fund at the end of May, nearing a total of $30-million.
What it means for entrepreneurs is a different kind of green investor. Unlike most green funds, which generally put money into clean technology such as alternative energy sources, Renewal Partners focuses on organic food, green consumer products and green building products, areas where it says there is significant growth and a dearth of capital available to entrepreneurs.
Renewal2 has already made three investments, the latest of which closed this month, a $600,000 injection into Alter Eco Americas in San Francisco. The nine-person firm sells fair-trade food products in 2,000 stores in the United States and 30 so far in Canada, starting in British Columbia. Sales are expected to double to $3-million this year.
Paul Richardson, president of Renewal2, and Mathieu Senard, CEO of Alter Eco Americas, joined us for a discussion to take your questions on the fund and the companies that benefit from it. View an archive in the box below.