Mercy Corps Ventures

A farmer holding coffee bean plants. — Vega, a company we invested in, is disrupting the coffee value chain by paying small farmers a guaranteed premium price for their beans and hiring them to participate in roasting, packaging, and administration.

Entrepreneurs around the world are deploying disruptive business models and transformative technologies to solve the biggest challenges of our time. These startups have the potential to reach 3.3 billion climate-vulnerable people, 1.4 billion unbanked people, and 162 million small businesses with innovative climate-focused and digital finance products that could drive their resilience. However, entrepreneurs are often undercapitalised and don’t have access to the resources they need for their ventures to survive and scale.

Mercy Corps Ventures invests in and catalyses venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of global development agency, Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 54 early-stage ventures to scale and raised over $515 million in follow-on capital. 44% of our portfolio has at least 1 female co-founder and centres around climate adaptation and resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyse the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments.

54

early-stage ventures supported to scale
£396M

raised in follow-on capital
44%

of our portfolio has at least 1 female co-founder

Resilient Future Thesis

Globally, we're undergoing dramatic advancements in tech and increasingly severe disruption. At this inflection point, we see the opportunity to scale companies creating a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient world. We invest in adaptive agriculture and food systems, frontier fintech, and climate-smart systems.

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Our portfolio

Explore our Annual Impact Report

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Powered by Mercy Corps

Outside of Mercy Corps Ventures, we support entrepreneurs within Mercy Corps to develop and grow social enterprise-inspired models for impact.

Gaza Sky Geeks

Confined to an area the size of Manhattan Island in New York, youth in the Gaza Strip need an outlet for their ambition and creativity. Founded in 2011, Gaza Sky Geeks provides a vibrant co-working space, coding academy, and software development services to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship.

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Scaling success

A true measure of our work is scaling an idaea, solution, or programme to become self-sustaining. Having been incubated, tested, and refined within Mercy Corps, these entities now stand on their own, bringing new possibilities to communities in powerful ways.

Community Investment Trust

CIT brings opportunities for low-income and economically marginalised residents across the U.S. to invest in local commercial real estate, close the wealth gap, and build financial security and stronger communities.

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Micromentor

MicroMentor has built the world’s largest community of entrepreneurs and business mentors, fostering powerful connections, problem-solving, and business success through its free global mentorship platform and mobile app.