Positive change alongside financial returns
Assets Under Management
We deploy venture capital and private equity with the equal intent of financial returns for our partners and positive social or environmental impact.
Our investment strategy is cultivated by years of experience and guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Rhiza team has been investing in seed and early stage companies since 2015, with two venture portfolios fully allocated. Sunshine Coast Venture Partners and Coast Venture Root Two are fully allocated and actively pursuing exit opportunities.
Our flagship fund, Coast Venture Root Three, is currently accepting investments while concurrently building a portfolio of high-growth, high-impact companies.
Ecosystem Development
We work with regional partners to develop place-based, rural development funds that facilitate a just transition to the low carbon economy. By focusing on regions that are overlooked by traditional venture capital we are able to create a unique combination of economic development and inclusive impact.
We curate strategic blended finance models to grow local social ventures alongside high-potential tech companies, with particular emphasis on supporting indigenous entrepreneurs. In the Okanagan region of British Columbia we’ve partnered with Purrpl and Community Futures to create LIIME, a Community Investment Corporation that will address fund social entrepreneurship and ventures in health, education, food & water security, renewable energy, housing, accessible transportation. On Vancouver Island we’re supporting the Scale Collaborative and in the Yukon we’re supporting Yukonstruct Society and Yukon college — both burgeoning impact funds (along with Rhiza) are inaugural participants in the McConnell Foundation’s Solutions Finance Accelerator.
Positive Impact Financial Instruments
We catalyze and build upon our relationship with credit unions across Canada to deploy new, innovative financial instruments for positive impact.
Guaranteed investment products and positive screened loans introduce credit unions to new markets, and effectively deliver funding capital to social purpose, impact companies across the country. We develop products and strategies that satisfy the conservative requirements of credit institutions while also amplifying the community economic development that already exists in credit union mandates.
