Atento Capital

Inclusive Investing™ is a market-backed discipline that allows us to cast a targeted, yet wide net when sourcing companies, while keeping outsized returns and impact front and center in our investment decisions. There’s a lot of talk about demographics and a lack of diversity in venture capital. Inclusive investing is a strategy that proactively addresses this problem. While we’re pioneering this strategy, the data supporting our thesis is on our side: diverse fund managers earn better returns, and companies with diverse leadership outperform their peers. Inclusive Investing™ goes beyond diversity - it’s a new investment discipline that can transform the way we source, invest in, and scale businesses, and in doing so, create new pathways to prosperity for individuals, businesses, and communities at scale. Inclusive Investing™ levels the playing field so the best businesses and most talented teams succeed. A Five-Pronged ApproachImplemented cohesively, these five areas of practice yield an Inclusive Investing™ discipline Zeal is spearheading in the venture world across private markets.Diverse Fund Managers: Fund managers and the broader team are diverse with complementary backgrounds and skill sets. Diverse Management Teams: Companies proactively source diverse management teams with complementary skill sets and backgrounds that help portfolio companies outperform. Geographic Inclusivity: Funds source from a wide range of geographies across the U.S., not just traditional geographic VC “hotbeds”. Investment Focus: Investment allocation is directed to sectors where fund managers expect continued innovation and opportunity for disruption. Impact Lens: Investments seek to achieve top tier financial and social returns that impact low-wealth communities and small businesses.

Zukunft gestalten. Mit Weitblick investieren. Regionen stärken. Wir entwickeln neue Geschäftsmodelle und investieren in Start-ups. Als Teil der Genossenschaftlichen FinanzGruppe bauen wir ein „Beyond Banking“-Ökosystem, das konsequent die Lebenswelten unserer Kunden und Mitglieder in den Mittelpunkt stellt und regionale Strukturen stärkt. Im Kern unserer Arbeit stehen deshalb die Fragen: In welchen Lebenswelten bewegen sich Menschen heute und in Zukunft? Wie können wir unternehmerische Lösungen wertvoll und nachhaltig schaffen? Wo stecken neue Geschäftsmodelle in einer immer komplexer werdenden Welt? INVEST IN PEOPLE Wir investieren in Ideen von morgen mit nachhaltigem Mehrwert und einem spürbaren Impact auf alltägliche Lebensbereiche der Menschen. Durch strategische Investments in zukunftsfähige Geschäftsmodelle, fördern wir erfolgversprechende Start-ups innerhalb und außerhalb der Finanzgruppe und erweitern damit das genossenschaftliche Ökosystem. Unser Ziel ist es, Start-ups mit großem Potential zu entdecken, zu unterstützen und mit ihnen partnerschaftliche Beziehungen aufzubauen. Wir wollen Start-ups dabei helfen, ihr volles Potential auszuschöpfen und gleichzeitig die genossenschaftlichen Werte fördern. THINK BEYOND BANKING Wir gehen neue Wege und entwickeln mit unseren Partnern Geschäftsmodelle und Unternehmen. Vom Trendscouting über die Validierung ökosystemisch relevanter Geschäftsmodelle bis hin zur Markteinführung: In unserem Venture Builder vereinen wir jahrzehntelange Erfahrung einer der größten Bankengruppen Europas mit der Expertise von erfahrenen Entrepreneur:innen, Entwickler:innen und Designer:innen.

Our work directs how capital is formed and distributed to expand opportunities for Black and historically excluded communities. We actively reimagine the innovation economy by developing the next generation of venture capital leaders in communities where entrepreneurs face barriers to accessing capital. Our vision is to build a global innovation economy where Black and historically excluded innovators can boldly create, fail, invest, and thrive. Our origins are rooted in the legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which forged opportunities for Black Americans in a time when our country would not. We are anchored in this intention, and similar to HBCUs, we purposefully extend our support to all overlooked communities, including but not limited to Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and undocumented immigrants. We know that innovation lives within us–and has been untapped, underinvested, and ignored for far too long.

We bridge the financial and cultural divides that have kept low- and moderate-income people of color on the sidelines of the modern economy. We make early-stage investments in tech-driven businesses that create new frameworks of ownership and opportunity within marginalized communities. We also help our founders get traction with institutional investors, who often don’t have the expertise or lived experience in these communities to appreciate the huge opportunities at hand. We know that investing in social impact does not require sacrificing on financial returns. WHY WE DO THIS WORK “IAF came out of a lifetime of straddling two worlds: the world of Section 8 housing, working-class parents, and public assistance where I grew up, and the world of Wall Street and big business that I came to inhabit. It’s about advancing opportunity for black and brown people through foundational change. It’s about building an economy, a world, where people of color are no longer outsiders - where they truly belong.” - Kesha Cash, Founder & General Partner This is morally imperative. Decades of structural racism and oppression have created a major wealth gap for communities of color - and that gap is growing. We are capable of creating a more just and equitable future for these communities, and so that is what we must do. This is smart investing. Traditional investors chronically undervalue or overlook business opportunities in low- and moderate-income communities. This is about all of us. Economic disenfranchisement impacts everyone, not just those of us at the margins. To thrive as a whole society, we must make real economic participation and agency possible for all people of color - entrepreneurs, consumers, workers, everyone. This is personal. Everyone on our team is a person of color, a woman, or both, and many of us come from the kinds of communities our portfolio companies serve. We know what we are capable of, and we live by this truth: “best-in-class” can’t exist without the whole class present. OUR APPROACH “We want to see institutional changes in how products and services are designed, who designs them, and who they are designed for. If we're building companies and products and solutions that affect a community, that community must be drawn into the decision-making process. Is this an unusual or radical proposition? I don't think so.” - Kaiton Williams, Investor & Cultural Technologist speaking before an audience of global corporate directors We invest primarily from Seed to Series B. We focus on companies that are growing quickly, with demonstrated traction in a $1B+ market, and make investments in the range of $250K to $3M. We also provide bridge funding between rounds when we believe that an influx of capital will help a company weather a storm, make key hires, or negotiate better terms. The inherent impact standard. We look for business models whose potential for success is directly linked to their potential for impact at scale. This means that the forces that drive business success must also contribute to increased ownership, opportunity, or other forms of empowerment. We call this connection "inherent impact," and it’s the standard for the depth and durability of the impact we want to have. Lived experience as a competitive advantage. Our entrepreneurs have direct knowledge of the communities, systems, and problems we want to address. This is not an emotional preference on our part. We've learned that founders with lived experience, rather than an outsider's assumptions, have a deeper sense of urgency and are best-equipped to design products with scale and staying power. Technological innovation with thoughtful constraints. Venture-backed startups often achieve their "hockey stick growth" at the expense of the companies themselves and to the communities they intend to serve. We want ethical, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes, so we look for products and services that are built and scaled with careful constraints and dedication to their workers and customers.

INCO Ventures manages or advises more than €500M of assets to invest in the most promising start-ups and companies that are shaping the new inclusive and sustainable economy, and advises funds on their investments or on impact measurement. Accelerating game-changers of social economy & sustainable development As we are facing widening inequalities and ecological collapse, we believe it is critical to build a more inclusive and more sustainable economy.​ Achieving this vision requires the creation and development of ventures that offer solutions to our current major social and environmental issues, while creating new markets and jobs for tomorrow. To fund these companies, INCO Ventures manages or advises more than €500M to meet their needs, wherever they are located. To its investors, INCO Ventures ensures a triple return on investment: economic, social and environmental, clearly measured using a unique impact assessment tool: INCO Ratings. INCO Ventures thus brings another vision of finance. A finance anchored in the real world, close to the companies that are making a difference, and creating value for all: citizens, employees, entrepreneurs and investors.

Accompagner les champions de l’impact qui changent la donne. Comment ? Long Terme: Grâce à notre structure evergreen, nous accompagnons nos entrepreneurs humainement et financièrement aussi longtemps que nécessaire et utile. Proximité: Forts de nos racines entrepreneuriales, nous agissons au plus près des entrepreneurs pour créer des synergies positives. Expertises: Nous levons des fonds uniquement auprès d’entrepreneurs, aujourd’hui près de 80 actionnaires, prêts à partager leurs expériences entrepreneuriales, sectorielles et métiers. Impact: Fidèles à notre ADN impact first depuis plus de 20 ans, nous sommes les partenaires de modèles pionniers, innovants et engagés. Thèse d’investissement Nous investissons en equity ou quasi equity de 250k€ à 2,5M€ en lead ou co-lead de tours de financement de Seed et Série A : Impact: Dans les champions de l’impact, menés par des entrepreneurs inspirés et inspirants, portant des solutions accessibles au plus grand nombre Ambition: Ayant un potentiel de croissance de l’impact et du business important et la volonté d’apporter des changements systémiques à leur secteur Go-To-Market: Dans des entreprises en phase d’accélération commerciale, avec des premiers retours d’usage et des métriques impact Collectif: Avec des entrepreneurs souhaitant s’entourer et valorisant notre accompagnement de long-terme