Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital has closed its first fund, raising just over $200 million for its Latin America Fund I (“the Fund”). The Fund focuses on mobilizing private, primarily institutional, capital for Latin America, and counts over 25 investors as Limited Partners – including AXA, HSBC, CNP Assurances, BNP Paribas Cardif, SG Insurance, and MACSF, alongside several family offices, including those of private equity and social impact pioneers, Sir Ronald Cohen and Ray Chambers.
In addition, investors in the management company include former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman; businessman and philanthropist, Alejandro Santo Domingo; businessman and former US Ambassador to Brazil, Clifford Sobel; and philanthropist, Jamie Cooper.
The company benefits from an international and interdisciplinary advisory network including renowned economist, Olivier Blanchard, and physician and anthropologist, Dr. Paul Farmer.
“We are honored to steward each, and every dollar entrusted to us by such an incredible group. I know that each member of our Blue like an Orange ecosystem is joining us on this journey to prove – as these extraordinary times highlight – the important role that finance can, and must, play as a force for good in the world,” said Bertrand Badré, Founding Partner and CEO of Blue like an Orange.
The Fund has a co-financing agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank’s private sector lending arm, IDB Invest, with Blue like an Orange and IDB Invest working jointly to originate, structure and execute transactions – allowing both groups to leverage each other and deploy even more capital to the region.
In addition, and importantly as the current pandemic is making clear, the close relationship to IDB Invest enhances connectivity to governments across Latin America, and allows Blue like an Orange to benefit from the Inter-American Development Bank’s deep understanding of the macro-economic and political situations across the region.
“IDB Invest is pleased to continue working with Blue like an Orange,” said James P. Scriven, CEO of IDB Invest. “In these extraordinary times, we are committed to supporting our clients across Latin America and the Caribbean, putting our money to work and encouraging more private capital like that from Blue like an Orange to flow to the region. It is mobilization like this that will take our development impact and make it exponential at this critical moment.”
The Fund, which has already invested over $80 million, provides private credit primarily in the following thematic areas – Access to Finance, Infrastructure and Technology Enabled Services, Agriculture, and Social Infrastructure – such as Healthcare and Education.
To date, IDB Invest has deployed over $40 million in funding to certain transactions alongside Blue like an Orange, and both groups expect to jointly commit over $50 million more for the co-financing of new mezzanine transactions within the next several months – reflecting the strong demand for this sort of capital in the region.
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