Social advocates adopt venture capitalist strategies

Venture capitalists usually have a simple goal — make money — but byproducts of their investments often include job creation and an improved climate for entrepreneurs.

This cause and effect hasn’t gone unnoticed by some social advocates, who increasingly deploy the tools of venture capital investing to boost economies of impoverished areas, or to seed startups viewed as contributing some other social good. The chance for profits doesn’t hurt, either.

“We refer to it as a ‘double bottom-line,”’ where investors seek both a good return and a social benefit, said Kerwin Tesdell, president of the New York-based Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, or CDVCA.

“It’s sort of venture capital with a conscience,” Tesdell said.

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