No, and that is very much by design. Rather than raising a traditional venture capital fund—which typically chases "unicorns" and creates pressure for hyper-growth at all costs—we work with innovators at the intersection of for profit and nonprofit capital to build a unique investment instrument purpose-built to tackle the funding gap for under-represented founders.

Instead of managing traditional equity investments, we partner with nonprofit organizations to unlock philanthropic capital—specifically the billions sitting idle in Donor Advised Funds—and deploy it as loans. This structure allows us to invest in a wider variety of businesses and support founders who prioritize near-term profitability over hyper-revenue growth.  It also allows us to provide loan terms that are founder friendly, while generating a return on capital.

We define "under-represented” founder broadly.  Our mission is to ensure investment capital flows to founders of all backgrounds based on the quality of their ideas and irregardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or level of education. We specifically look for founders who are often overlooked by traditional investors.

We believe investing in these founders is an undervalued investment opportunity. These founders are often solving problems others miss and creating solutions others have not envisioned.

We offer two ways to get involved. Both accelerate the growth of businesses in this sector, but differ in how investment returns are handled.

• Impact Fund supports lending to companies run by under-represented founders and returns interest annually back to the investor’s Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) or foundation. At the end of the three year term, principal can be returned back to the DAF or re-invested, at the investor’s discretion.

• Evergreen Fund supports lending to the same companies but does not return interest back to the investor’s DAF.  Instead, as principal and interest are paid on the loans, this capital is returned to the Evergreen Fund and used for future loans.  This “recycled capital” model allows us to deploy that same capital into new businesses year after year.

Impact Fund:

• Focus: The Impact Fund’s only activity is lending to under-represented founders

• Nonprofit Partner:  We run the Impact Fund in conjunction with Inspire Access, a 501(c)(3) focused on closing the racial and gender wealth gap

• Investment Returns: Investors receive 3% per year in interest payments back to their DAF or foundation. 

• Term of Investment: The investment is structured as a 3-year commitment.  At the end of the three years the investor has the option to pull the principal back to their DAF or foundation to use for other philanthropic purposes.

• Minimum Investment Amount:  $25,000

• Fees:  Our nonprofit partner, Inspire Access, charges a 1% transaction fee on the initial investment and a 1% fee on the investment returns (ie the annual interest payments).  This fee is used to cover their costs of administering the flow of funds.  This is in line with what most DAFs charge.

Evergreen Fund:

• Focus: The Evergreen Fund’s primary focus is lending to under-represented founders.  In addition, the Evergreen Fund provides support services to these founders in the form of scholarships that connect the founders with experts in various fields (e.g. legal, finance, marketing, logistics, leadership, etc.) that they otherwise would not be able to afford.

• Nonprofit Partner: We run the Evergreen Fund in conjunction with Legacy Global Foundation, a donor advised fund at the forefront of putting philanthropic capital to work to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

• Investment Returns: All investment returns accrue back to the Evergreen Fund; they will not be returned to the investor’s DAF. As principal and interest is repaid by the borrowing companies those dollars are sent back to the Evergreen Fund and recycled to fund additional loans in perpetuity, allowing the impact of your donation to multiply year after year.

• Term of Investment: Investments in the Evergreen Fund are treated as a one-time donation that create a perpetual investment in funding businesses run by often overlooked founders.

• Minimum Investment Amount:  None.

• Fees:  Our nonprofit partner, Legacy Global Foundation, charges a 1% annual fee.  This covers their costs of administering  the funds on an ongoing basis.

No, Daintree Capital is a for-profit company, a decision we made on principle. We partner with nonprofit organizations like Inspire Access and Legacy Global Foundation to help close the racial and gender wealth gap, but we are structured as a for-profit because we do not believe investing in these founders is—or should be—considered charity. 

While data shows that businesses run by diverse management teams consistently outperform their peers, most investors are unwilling to underwrite small loans because, quite frankly, they require a lot of work for not much return. We believe that effort is worthwhile because these small loans allow businesses to hit the key traction milestones that eventually open the door to more traditional sources of capital. 

Yes. In fact, we built our model specifically to tap into the $250B+ sitting idle in DAFs across the US. While many people believe DAFs can only grant to nonprofits, regulations actually allow these funds to invest in for-profit companies as long as the investment goes through a reputable nonprofit organization with a proven charitable track record. Both of our nonprofit partners, Inspire Access and Legacy Global Foundation, have strong reputations for achieving philanthropic goals through innovative partnerships with nonprofit and for profit companies alike.

Daintree invests in US-based companies that have between $100K - $3M in annual revenue and strong unit economics. We are industry agnostic, but look for companies that prioritize near-term profitability over hyper-revenue growth. We seek out smart founders with resilience, grit and openness to feedback. 

Because our loans are short-term (12 months), we focus less on long term market trends or strategic goals of the company and more on a company’s short-term financial health. Our due diligence leans heavily on a review of a company’s income statement (to understand cost structure and month-to-month variability), balance sheet (to understand cash to debt ratio), and unit economics (to understand profitability at the product/service level).  We also rely heavily on reference checks, speaking with advisors, mentors and other investors in the company to gain insight into how the founder manages adversity, course corrects and handles feedback. 

There is no minimum for the Evergreen Fund since that investment is treated as a one-time donation.  The Impact Fund has a $25K minimum investment as it requires administrative oversight to manage the distribution of annual interest payments.

No. Daintree does not take a management fee, as we want 100% of the contributed funds to be put to work. Daintree runs a very lean operation with only two employees and heavy reliance on automation in our loan administration.  We cover our operating costs using the "spread"—the difference between our cost of capital and the fees paid by borrowers.

Since our inception in 2020, Daintree has underwritten over 170 loans across 90 different companies. We have put almost $8M to work in small businesses run by often overlooked founders, one check at a time.  We compare the financial health of the company at the beginning and end of the loan period and are proud to report that, on average, the companies receiving our loans double their revenue in the following 12 months.  We also track broader impact metrics, such as hiring and subsequent capital raises, to ensure we are truly helping these businesses scale.

Beyond the principle that these businesses are viable engines of wealth—not charity cases—there is a practical reason. Founders face a bias in the market. When a future investor sees a loan from a nonprofit on a company's books, they often assume "soft" due diligence or that the company is only surviving because of charity. When they see a loan from a for profit-company like Daintree Capital, it signals that the business passed a rigorous financial stress test and provides greater validation in the eyes of the market.