IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
SJF Ventures
Climate Change
Education
Health and WellbeingFirm Overview
SJF Ventures is a venture capital fund focused on delivering superior financial returns through investments in high growth, positive impact companies. SJF has a 25-year successful record of assisting visionary and talented management teams in building industry leading businesses. SJF invests in companies helping to create a cleaner, more resilient environment and equitable opportunities. SJF Ventures I, II, III, IV, and V have invested in 86 portfolio companies employing more than 18,000 individuals.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
SJF Ventures invests in high growth companies in the following six impact areas: Energy, Carbon, and Climate Resilience; Supply Chain and Circular Economy; Sustainable Products and Systems; Education and Employment; Health and Wellness; and Government and Civil Society.
SJF’s persistent, multi-fund effort to refine its approach to impact investing has led to an evolved, repeatable strategy generating both strong investment returns and large-scale positive impacts. The SJF method focuses on expansion-stage investments, achievable exit requirements, expansive deal flow, rigorous investment processes, integrated impact assessment, continuous value add, and multi-dimensional risk management. The funds’ investments are driving sizable positive impacts through models focused on mitigating climate change, advancing education access and outcomes, conserving natural resources, improving health, growing sustainable food, enabling governments to serve constituents more effectively, and creating greater economic access.
SJF differentiates itself through leadership within the impact investing ecosystem. Founded 25 years ago, SJF is one of the longest standing impact funds in the U.S. With this history comes a track record of 86 investments in high growth, positive impact companies. SJF has had significant time to develop, grow, and evolve a strong investment practice across multiple sectors, both environmentally and socially focused, led by an experienced team. SJF’s Investment Committee has worked together for over 10 years, with each member bringing extensive investment, impact, and sector expertise. Beyond investing in impactful business models, SJF accelerates impact through deep engagement with each company, enabling the fund to serve as a leader through its impact management and acceleration approach. Further, SJF co-founded Impact Capital Managers, a membership association of 120+ funds representing more than $50 billion in impact-focused capital. SJF remains involved with ICM through participation on multiple committees.
Investment Example
In 2024, SJF led a $10 million Series B financing round in Iron Sheepdog, a supply chain company based in Williamsburg, Va. Iron Sheepdog is a technology platform focused on short haul trucking. The company’s software enables efficient management of dump trucks and other short haul fleets through dispatching, GPS tracking, real-time communication, digital ticketing, data analytics, reporting, hauler payments, and automated invoicing. The company also operates a virtual exchange marketplace for the movement of construction materials, which maximizes truck utilization by matching backhauls and eliminating empty miles. The cumulative impacts of these supply chain improvements include: fewer wasted miles in short haul trucking; empowerment of small businesses in the industry to scale and prosper, many of which are disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs); greater transparency; and increased safety. For a view of SJF's full portfolio: https://sjfventures.com/our-portfolio/
Leadership and Team
 |
Dan Geballe – Managing Director More Info
Dan Geballe is a Managing Director in the California office of SJF Ventures. Dan has worked on SJF’s investments in Carrum Health, Easy Metrics (Board Director), Jopwell, LeadGenius, Nextracker (acquired by FLEX), Portfolium (acquired by Instructure), SeamlessDocs (acquired by Kofile), ShipMonk, Voltaiq, Waycare Technologies (acquired by Rekor Systems), and Yieldbot. Prior to SJF, Dan worked for DBL Investors as a summer associate, Corporation for Enterprise Development, and Fisher Investments. |
 |
David Griest – Managing Director More Info
David Griest is a Managing Director at SJF Ventures and based in Seattle. He joined SJF in 2004 and has led investments in supply chain, circular economy, food/tech, and tech-enabled services. David has served as a Board Director or Observer for SJF portfolio companies Aseptia (sustainable food processing technology), BioSurplus (pre-owned laboratory equipment), HYLA (mobile device trade-in and reuse solutions), Intechra (electronics reuse and recycling), Mercado (first mile import supply chain), Novinium (power cable rejuvenation and reuse), Optoro (customer returns optimization platform), Perishable Shipping Solutions (cold chain ecommerce fulfillment), Rustic Crust (all-natural and organic pizza products), Salvage Direct (online salvage vehicle auction), ShipMonk (ecommerce fulfillment & inventory management), and Telkore (wireless infrastructure services). |
 |
Arrun Kapoor – Managing Director More Info
Arrun Kapoor is the Managing Director for SJF Ventures’ New York City office. He has been involved as a Board Director or Observer of Jopwell, Voxy, Portfolium, Civitas Learning, RaiseMe, Think Through Learning, FieldView Solutions, ServiceChannel, Truist, and Ayla Networks. He leads the NYC EdLinks program, is a member of the Investment Board of the Social Venture Fund for The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School, and was on the Advisory Board for the University of Texas System, Institute for Transformational Learning. Arrun was most recently with Bain & Company in London and Delhi, where he launched the firm’s internal green practice initiatives. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
|
Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
|
SJF proactively targets investments in the following impact areas: Energy, Carbon, and Climate Resilience; Supply Chain and Circular Economy; Sustainable Products and Systems; Education and Employment; Health and Wellness; and Government and Civil Society. SJF seeks to invest in companies where business growth for the company's product or service inherently drives social or environmental impact, thus the financial and impact outcomes are highly integrated. Our particular objectives in each investment sector are outlined here: https://sjfventures.com/impact/ Pre-investment, SJF evaluates each prospect company by identifying the impact objectives its business model is addressing, the intentionality of the business, the additionality of the business, potential risks to impact, planned metrics to collect for impact measurement and management, and opportunities for impact acceleration.
As part of the due diligence and investment decision process, the SJF investment lead or leads will research and distribute a 15-30+ page document thoroughly exploring all aspects of the business for the Investment Committee and broader team's review. This will include coverage of both product/service impact and intra-firm ESG practices. Discussions with management teams also cover SJF’s positive impact goals and projections, the company’s mission and goals, and the company’s workforce practices, especially in relation to wages, benefits, policies, and broad-based employee ownership and stock option plans. SJF best aligns with companies where positive social and environmental outcomes are embedded in the business model, and where rapid expansion of the company scales the impacts in a way that creates a win-win for society, the planet, and investors.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
200 N. Mangum Street, Suite 203, Durham, NC 27701 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.