January 29, 2020 (Washington, DC) — Village Capital today announced an expanded partnership with MetLife Foundation in which it will manage the Foundation’s six-year program-related investments (PRI) fund. The fund will focus on direct investments in financial health–focused early-stage ventures in developed and developing economies.
With MetLife Foundation’s support, Village Capital will lead the initial investment period, including screening, evaluating, and investing directly in early-stage ventures that are helping low- and middle-income consumers and small businesses improve their financial health. After the initial investment period, Village Capital will provide ongoing management and support to the portfolio for the remainder of the fund.
The fund will be the first in Village Capital’s recently-announced “Family of Funds” strategy — a series of funds focused on investing in seed-stage, impact-driven startups through a variety of mechanisms, including revenue share, convertible debt, and others.
“We’re excited that our long-time partner, MetLife Foundation, is our first fund in our ‘Family of Funds’ strategy,” said Allie Burns, CEO of Village Capital. “We have a vision to support 50,000 entrepreneurs by 2030, and we know we can’t do that alone. It can be expensive and challenging to invest in early-stage startups. We’re excited to enhance MetLife Foundation’s institutional capacity to support high-potential impactful companies at such an early and critical stage.”
For more information, reach out to Rustin Finkler at Village Capital (rustin.finkler@vilcap.com) or Meredith Hyland at MetLife (meredith.hyland@metlife.com).
About Village Capital
Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 110 program graduates.
About MetLife Foundation
At MetLife Foundation, we believe financial health belongs to everyone. We bring together bold solutions, deep financial expertise and meaningful grants to build financial health for people and communities that are underserved and aspire for more. We partner with organizations around the world to create financial health solutions and build stronger communities, engaging MetLife employee volunteers to help drive impact. MetLife Foundation was created in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its founding through the end of 2019, MetLife Foundation provided more than $860 million in grants and $85 million in program-related investments to make a positive impact in the communities where MetLife operates. To date, our financial health work has reached 9.9 million low-income individuals in 42 countries. To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit metlife.org.
