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Social Enterprise Community to Convene at SOCAP 2010 OCT 4-6 in San Francisco After Milestone Year

$120 billion in untapped financial opportunities exceed expectations of sector’s potential

Social Enterprise Community to Convene at SOCAP 2010 OCT 4-6 in San Francisco After Milestone Year

$120 billion in untapped financial opportunities exceed expectations of sector’s potential

Published 09-13-10

Submitted by Social Capital Markets

***Preview the conference at an online media event with organizers on Thursday, September 16 at 10am PST/1pm ET*** (instructions for access below)

The third annual Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP10) will convene the social enterprise community after a milestone year that includes evidence of an additional $120 billion in untapped resources for socially-minded companies, a proliferation of investment funds of $100 million each and a new index to help investors better target their financing. SOCAP10, to be held October 4-6 at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center follows upon two highly successful SOCAP conferences in 2008 and 2009, and will feature the leaders of this year's innovations as well as established veterans, and convene more than 1000 investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and foundations.

(An online media briefing to preview the conference will be held on Thursday September 16 at 10am PST/1pm ET. Go to http://video.socialcapitalmarkets.net to join us at the briefing.)

"In what's been a questionable economic year for most, the impact investing community has achieved critical benchmarks that address the concerns of some if its harshest skeptics and demonstrate that impact investing is well on its way to becoming a robust and mature sector," said SOCAP10 Founder Kevin Jones. "SOCAP10 will provide the community an opportunity to celebrate and share the lessons of this year’s successes for replication and provide a workspace for addressing the challenges that remain."

The relatively new concept of "impact investing", mixing social impact with financial return, has increasingly taken hold in entrepreneurial circles, gaining momentum thanks to growing support from veteran investors, foundations, and more important, an economic environment that has investors aggressively seeking new alternatives for their capital. Some of the more important developments include:

  • A recent study by Hope Consulting called "Money for Good" identified more than $120 billion in untapped resources - investors who would put their money toward new enterprises that promise a social and financial return, if the right investment product were available.

  • New investment products are proliferating, with four funds at or near the $100 million mark: Ignia, Leapfrog, Blue Orchard and Microvest.

  • A prominent microfinance institution in India called SKS Microfinance raised about $358 million in an IPO, a sign of investor appetite in the socially responsible investment arena.

  • A new tool for investors wanting to figure out where to target their money, called Index50, will soon be launched.

The groups involved in the sector's largest developments this year will join SOCAP10 in San Francisco in October.

SOCAP 10's agenda is divided into 7 vertical tracks to help attendees focus on the areas that have the greatest importance for their work. The 7 tracks are: Impact Investing, Tactical Philanthropy, Mobile Technology, Food Systems, Innovation in International Development, New Money, and Metrics and Systems Thinking. A first of its kind, Sean Stannard-Stockton will curate Tactical Philanthropy (after his blog of the same name), and explore the role of philanthropic capital in both for-profit and nonprofit social enterprises and markets. The sessions are meant to help resolve a key external stakeholder issue, that being the illusionary gap between acts of philanthropy and market rate social impact investments.

Other SOCAP10 highlights include:

  • Opening keynote by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund.

  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will discuss its new program related investing initiative.

  • Plenary speeches by Ron Cordes, The Cordes Foundation; Kushal Chakrabarti, Vittana; Jay Coen Gilbert, B Lab; William Foote, Root Capital; and Woody Tasch, Slow Money.

  • New this year, workshops and panels organized into 7 tracks: mobile technologies; innovation in international development; tactical philanthropy; impact investing; new money/slow; money/food systems; and metrics and systems thinking.

  • The Good Pitch: a one-day live event bringing together documentary films and organizations with social change and innovation at their heart, organized in conjunction with Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.

For more information see http://www.socialcapitalmarkets.net/ or follow on Twitter: @socap10, #socap10.

About The Social Capital Markets Conference

The Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) highlights the growing field of social capital: people investing to create social change. SOCAP's goal is to make connections, to generate partnerships and to increase the acceleration of capital to
social good. SOCAP brings together a unique mix of the world's top social innovators - investors, entrepreneurs, donors and other thought-leaders - who are catalysts of change across the globe. Last year's 2009 conference gathered more than 1,000
leading global investors and entrepreneurs from 32 countries, providing a unique forum to collaborate and set in motion new market-based solutions for the 21st century.

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Social Capital Markets

Social Capital Markets

SOCAP is a multi-platform organization dedicated to the flow of capital towards social good. Our event series connects innovators worldwide - investors, foundations, institutions and social entrepreneurs - to build a market at the intersection of money and meaning. SOCAP has received global recognition as a leader in the social capital space.

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