IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Closed Loop Partners LLC
Climate Change
Entrepreneurship and Job Creation
Natural Resources and ConservationFirm Overview
Closed Loop Partners is at the forefront of building the circular economy. The company is comprised of three key business segments. Closed Loop Capital Management manages venture capital, growth equity, buyout and catalytic private credit investment strategies on behalf of global corporations, financial institutions, and family offices. The Center for the Circular Economy unites competitors and partners to tackle complex material challenges and implement systemic change to advance circularity. Circular Services employs innovative technology within reuse, recycling, remanufacturing and re-commerce solutions to improve regional economic and environmental outcomes, and build resilient systems that keep food & organics, textiles, electronics, packaging and more, in circulation and out of landfill or the natural environment.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Closed Loop Partners invests in the transition away from a linear take-make-waste economic model to a circular economy, an economic system that is not dependent on the extraction of natural resources or disposal into landfill and that, through enhanced profitability and resilience, perpetuates net-positive environmental and net-positive social outcomes.
Closed Loop Partners (CLP) invests in the transition from a linear, take-make-waste economic model, to a circular economy. Through enhanced profitability and resilience, a circular economic model perpetuates net-positive environmental and net-positive social outcomes. CLP focuses on natural resource efficiency and supply chain optimization, managing funds across its investment platform that capture opportunity, and accelerate solutions, at every stage. CLP combines investment and operating experience, circularity expertise, and a strategic network to scale businesses that contribute positively to a circular economy, reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions via materials innovation, advanced recycling technologies, supply chain optimization and landfill diversion.
(1) Platform. CLP's platform is comprised of early-stage venture, lower middle market buyout and catalytic funds, as well as the Center for the Circular Economy, which works with mutli-national corporations on a project basis to advance supply chains towards circularity, and Circular Services, which is the largest privately held recycling &reuse company in North America. (2) Ecosystem & Strategic Network. CLP has built a global ecosystem that connects entrepreneurs, industry experts, global consumer goods companies, retailers, financial institutions and municipalities, as well as institutional investors, multi-family offices and individual investors. The ecosystem is further enhanced by subject matter experts, academic institutions, industry groups, co-investors, and impact partners. (3) Operating Experience. In addition to experienced investment professionals, CLP's teams include former entrepreneurs, CEOs & environmental engineers. CLP strives to help grow sustainable businesses that will continue to contribute positively to a circular economy long after a fund's hold period.
Investment Example
Closed Loop Leadership Fund invested in Sage Sustainable Electronics to advance electronics reuse and recovery. Sage has been at the forefront of circular businesses by keeping IT devices in circulation at their highest and best use. In 2023, Sage successfully refurbished over 50% of total processed devices to a second life, preventing the need for new devices and mitigating approximately 100 million pounds of CO2e annually (according to the EPA’s Electronic Environmental Benefits Calculator & other industry sources). An often overlooked source of climate risk is the emissions associated with creating new products, as approximately 80% of the environmental damage occurs throughout the device creation process. By refurbishing devices, Sage is able to avoid significant greenhouse gas emissions, keeping used materials in circulation and reducing the need for new extraction and manufacturing.
Leadership and Team
 |
Ron Gonen – CEO & Founder More Info
Ron is the Founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm comprised of venture capital, growth equity, private equity, catalytic capital and an innovation center focused on building the circular economy. Investors include many of the world’s largest retailers and consumer goods companies as well as family offices interested in investments that provide strong financial returns and tangible social impact. Prior to Closed Loop Partners, Ron was the Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation, Recycling and Sustainability in New York City in the Bloomberg Administration. |
 |
Tazia Smith – Managing Partner & COO More Info
Tazia Smith, CFA© is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) & Head of Capital Partnerships at Closed Loop Partners, responsible for capital formation, investor relations and stakeholder management across the firm. Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Tazia was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, where she was a relationship manager for institutional family offices. Tazia helped establish Deutsche Bank’s Key Client Partners business, which provided private market opportunities, structured lending and trading capabilities to qualified private clients. Before she joined Deutsche Bank in 2011, Tazia spent 7 years at Goldman Sachs providing institutional cross-asset sales coverage for private clients, and she began her career in Citigroup’s private bank. |
 |
Jessica Long – Managing Partner & CSO More Info
Jessica leads strategic initiatives across Closed Loop Partners, working across all investment platforms and in close collaboration with the Center for the Circular Economy. She works with CLP’s corporate investors, portfolio companies and other partners to help achieve their circular economy goals. Jessica brings over two decades of experience, helping organizations increase competitiveness and drive profitable growth while creating positive economic, environmental and societal impact. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
|
Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
|
Deal sourcing goes through initial diligence screening, where the "does this business model/project/investment advance circularity" question is analyzed, evaluated, rated and documented. At the DD stage, the following components are incorporated into underwriting: mapping to impact thesis of the investment strategy & quantitative impact projections and ESG risk assessment. Impact underwriting process anchors on the investment strategy's Theory of Change, that is mapped to impact standards and frameworks including UNDP SDGs and GIIN's 5Dimensions of Impact (formerly IMP).
Diversity, safety, material flow, and other indicators which include recycling and/or end-of-life management pathways, are evaluated.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
888 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019 USA
Apply for the IA 50 2022
The application period to become an ImpactAssets 50 2022 Fund Manager will open in September 2021!
To stay informed on the application process, sign up here.