Second MM Catalyst Fund expands its investment approach to include co-investment opportunities with diverse fund managers
With access to capital remaining a major hurdle for women and underrepresented groups, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Mass Mutual) continues its impact investing with the announcement of a $100 million fund focusing on diversity and inclusion. This is the launch of a second MM Catalyst Fund (MMCF) that will focus on investing in Black-led startups as well as overlooked businesses across Massachusetts.
Mass Mutual is building on its first $50 million fund that was launched two years ago. The new $100 million fund will selectively invest alongside fund managers within MassMutual’s First Fund Initiative in Black, Latino and Indigenous-led businesses across the US and Canada.
The inaugural MM Catalyst Fund launched in 2021 invested in 16 businesses across Massachusetts that included Black-led growth companies and rural startups. Companies such as HourWork, a recruitment and retention platform for hourly workers in the quick-service restaurant industry, and Clean Crop Technologies, an agriculture technology startup that’s redefining food and agriculture performance, are two examples of underrepresented groups receiving timely access to capital from the Funds.
Liz Roberts, Head of Impact Investing at MassMutual, explains how the firm is expanding its involvement in diversity funding to give minorities greater access to capital with the hope that others will follow.
“Importantly, we hope that our continued commitment and investments in diverse and overlooked companies will inspire other firms and institutions to follow suit so we can collectively reduce structural barriers and advance racial equity,” said Roberts.
MassMutual’s total impact investment commitment has more than doubled to $300 million in just over two years via the MM Catalyst Fund and the First Fund Initiative. The former invests in diverse-owned startups, while the latter invests alongside Black, Latino, and Indigenous first-time fund managers for opportunities alongside these fund managers in diverse-led businesses across the US and Canada.
“This new fund will build and expand upon the MM Catalyst Fund’s success – including our innovative, consultative approach that helps address the gaps and barriers to funding,” said Jason Allen, Portfolio Manager of Impact Investments at MassMutual. “We look forward to investing in companies led by exceptional founders who are solving problems with compassion and conviction to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact while addressing inequality in capital markets.”
Mass Mutual’s multiple year impact investments in companies having diverse leadership adds to the growing list of corporations such as Amazon and others that are recognizing the important role that underrepresented groups have in the future of the U.S. economy.
