IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Zeal Capital Partners
Microfinance, low-income financial services & micro-insurance
Global Health
Job creation and workforce developmentFirm Overview
Zeal Capital Partners is a venture capital fund seeking to generate top-tier financial and impact returns by partnering with exceptional management teams with diverse backgrounds and skill sets who are building tech-enabled, early stage businesses. The target businesses are high-growth companies focused on narrowing the Wealth and Skills gaps through the development of innovative technologies, tech-enabled services, and platforms. Our aim is to unlock resources and access to opportunities that we believe can turbocharge economic mobility.
Years of Operation: 3 – 4 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Zeal Capital Partners is a Washington, D.C. based investment franchise that invests in high growth early stage companies led by diverse management teams reimagining the building blocks of wealth that turbocharge economic mobility.
Zeal focuses on Inclusive Investing™, 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. Inclusive Investing™ goes beyond diversity. It’s a new investment discipline that can transform the way we source, invest in, and scale businesses, thus creating new pathways to prosperity for individuals, businesses, and communities at scale. We’ve constructed a five pronged approach that starts internally with Diverse Fund Managers as we endeavor to seek out Diverse Management Teams. Our Investment Focus drives fund allocation to sectors where we expect continued innovation and opportunity for disruption. Geographical Inclusivity is critical to our thesis, as we source across the entire US and not just tech hotbeds. Lastly, we look for an Impact Lens to achieve top tier financial and social returns while impacting low-wealth communities and small businesses.
At Zeal, we bring more than just capital - we invest our time, extensive network, and expertise to help our founders scale their businesses. From our investment team to our Executives In Residence, operating partners, advisory board and strategic investors, we provide comprehensive support to all portfolio companies. Moreover, 83% of our core team consists of people who identify within groups that have been historically underrepresented in venture capital. We are a category-specific fund, executing our market backed investment mandate Inclusive Investing™. We believe this investment discipline will become the “gold standard”, and further democratize access to capital, and resources for entrepreneurs.. We leverage local assets in Washington, DC, given we often underwrite in highly regulated categories - federal agencies, academia, think tanks, capital hill, impact investors, and technology companies
Investment Example
In 2022, We invested in Daivergent is a seed stage company, focused on supporting the over 70 million neurodivergent population (source: Autism Speaks). Their goal is to source, train, and place neurodivergent talent with companies and ensure those companies retain that talent. They do this by utilizing a multi-pronged approach to empower neurodivergent workers. Data demonstrates that 50-75% of autistic adults in the U.S. are unemployed or underemployed and nearly 50% of 25 year olds with autism have never held a paying job. Daivergent is tackling an important problem that has disproportionate adverse impacts on an overlooked population. The impact here is evident, as is the market size; with an average job training reimbursement rate of ~$7000, the size of this market is ~$500 billion.
Leadership and Team
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Nasir Qadree – Founder and Managing Partner More Info
Mr. Nasir C. Qadree is Founder and Managing Partner of Zeal Capital Partners where he defines the firm’s focus, leads investment activities, and manages post value creation strategies for its portfolio companies. Prior to Zeal, Qadree served as Associate Director for AT&T’s $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund, where he oversaw direct investments in education and employment technology companies and led the tech giant’s investment readiness program. Prior to AT&T, he led Village Capital’s US Economic Opportunity portfolio and served as its Global Head of Education. While there, Qadree evaluated early stage businesses in education, health, and financial services and developed investment theses across the three sectors. |
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Andy Will – Principal More Info
Experienced Investor with strong track record in venture capital, private equity and public markets investing. Skilled in Leadership, Trading, Valuation, and Financial Analysis. Former collegiate athlete and life-long learner. |
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Tom Muscarella – Chief Financial Officer More Info
Tom serves as Zeal’s Chief Financial Officer responsible for providing financial reports and analysis of the Management company and GP, and liaison with our fund administrators, Carta, with respect to communicating financial information to LPs. In his role as CFO, he manages the books and records, operations, and provides support to the broader team as needed. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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With every investment we make the impact, either inherent or potential, of a company is core to our decision making process. So much so that it is explicitly written in our thesis statement that we invest in companies setting out to “[impact] low-wealth communities and small businesses.” Not only must impact be a core focus of the company mission, but we also examine founder motives to ensure altruistic intentions.
At Zeal we believe that diversity in management yields inclusive, effective, and forward thinking companies. Zeal requires all founding teams to sign a diversity pledge to ensure continued equitable hiring practices as well as an inclusive company culture. Likewise, we do not engage with any companies involved in predatory or harmful practices that may prove detrimental to the very communities that we have set out to support.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
1301 K Street, Washington, DC 20005, USA
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