A do-good investing firm founded by Warren Buffett's grandson and ex-Gates executive just raised its first funding around from the world's richest families
- Some of the world's wealthiest investors put up almost $15 million to back an investment firm focused on doing good and making money.
- i(x) was founded by Howard W. Buffett - Warren Buffett's grandson, who authored a book on social value investing - and by Trevor Neilson, who previously worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the Gates family office.
- The firm is investing in a variety of industries, from video games to biofuel, with a focus on creating impact without giving up financial returns.
Some of the world's wealthiest investors are buying into the idea that capitalism will change the world for good - and they don't have to lose money in the process.
i(x), an impact investing-focused firm launched in 2016 by Warren Buffett's grandson Howard Buffett and Trevor Neilson, has lined up almost $15 million of Series A financing from 35 family offices, Business Insider has learned. The funding round, which values i(x) at $71.5 million, will allow the company to seed new investment platforms and businesses, including food and agriculture, Neilson said.
"We think capitalism can be more effective than government or philanthropy" in addressing global problems, said Neilson, who previously worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Gates family office. "If we can get the family office world - which controls $4 trillion - pointed in the right direction, then institutional investors and eventually retail investors can follow suit. It's not an accident that we've chosen to focus on the wealthiest investors in the world."
Despite i(x)'s explicit focus on doing good, Neilson said the firm does not sacrifice returns in the process. The company is set up similar to Berkshire Hathaway, with capital that can create and invest in companies for the long term, rather than a private equity fund that's forced to sell companies at the end of the fund's life. The family offices can also invest alongside the firm in individual investments.
"If something doesn't meet our targeted returns, we won't invest, regardless of what the social impact is," Neilson said. "Somewhere along the way, this deeply flawed assumption took hold, which is that capitalism has to foresake altruism in order to profit. That's complete nonsense."
The company's investments to date include WasteFuel, which converts waste into airplane fuel; Carbon Engineering, carbon dioxide reduction technology; and an accelerator program for video game developers.
Climate change in particular hits home for Neilson, who had to evacuate his California house last year with his wife, two-year-old son, and dog.
"We're going to lose the war against climate change unless we activate trillions of dollars of private sector investment," he said.
Nicole PereiraAngelica Fuentes speaks at i(x)'s recent investor meetingi(x)'s investors met earlier this month at the New York Stock Exchange, where, among other agenda items, some investors gave talks on their efforts - Fuentes talked about gender investing in Latin America, for example.
"It's not accidental the shareholder meeting was at the New York Stock Exchange," Neilson said. "Shareholders love the vision of i(x) becoming the first publicly-traded finance company that combines top-tier returns with measurable social impact. If we create it, I think we'll have done something remarkable."
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