Database: Financing Alternative Ownership Enterprises

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How to use the database 

The database is hosted on Airtable which includes sorting, filtering and grouping functions as well as the possibility to download the information as a .csv file. Here are some useful tips for getting the most out of the resource. 

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1. Filter by “Structure”

The Structure column refers to vehicle structure. Most investors will want to focus on entities tagged as “Fund” and “Fund of funds,” which include closed-end and evergreen structures. Additional types of structures include: 

• “Bank” or ”Credit union:" typical providers of senior debt for EO transactions
• ”Conglomerate:" EO company that grows through acquisition, some of which raise outside capital to fuel their growth in addition to their own cash reserves.
• ”Independent sponsor:" raise capital on a deal-by-deal basis
  
  

2. Filter by “Investment approach"

This column captures the type(s) of AOE models a fund invests in, as well as its degree of explicit impact focus. These categories are important, as the investment approaches vary widely, even within EO. We have categorized existing funds into eight different types of investment approaches, which can help identify which type of fund might best align with an investor’s financial and impact priorities.

EO exclusive: invest only in Employee Ownership. They mainly fund conversion deals, but can provide other forms of financing (for startups or for ongoing needs) as well.

• “EO: ESOP conversion:" focus exclusively on ESOPs.
• “EO: Worker Cooperatives:" focus exclusively on Worker Cooperatives (start-ups, conversions, or other capital needs).
• “EO: EOT conversion:" focus exclusively on EOTs
• “EO: Multiple models:" invest across EO models, which increases complexity for the fund but also allows them to use the model most aligned with the needs of the business.
• “EO: Partial broad-based employee equity:" approximate partial Employee Ownership by sharing a portion of the business’ financial success to a broad base of employees through mechanisms such as profit sharing, broad based equity grants, or phantom stock grants, at no upfront cost for employees.

Non-EO exclusive: Many funds are not designed to invest solely in Employee Ownership, but see EO as an important dimension of their strategy.

• “All cooperatives, incl. Worker coops:" finance many types of cooperatives, in addition to Worker Cooperatives, such as Producer,Consumer and Multi-stakeholder Cooperatives.
• “Other impact strategy, incl. EO:" have a variety of impact strategies, ranging from financing underrepresented business owners to supporting economic development, building climate resilience in a particular region, and advancing shared ownership beyond just enterprises (e.g. real estate and other asset classes).

“Non-impact strategy, with some EO financing:" focused on providing market-rate returns to investors, which occasionally includes EO transactions as part of this strategy due to their beneficial taxation.

As an alternative to using the “Investment approach” as a filter, database users can select the types of entities they are interested in financing in the “Recipient of investment” column to access funds that are most relevant for them e.g. Worker cooperatives, EOTs, AOE funds, etc.

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3. Additional Filters

The database can be further refined using other fields. A few columns are particularly useful for finding what is relevant to you:

• Alternative ownership (AOE) model(s) financed shows which ownership models a vehicle invests in — ESOPs, worker cooperatives, EOTs, broad-based employee equity, other cooperatives, and steward ownership. The employee-ownership models share an "EO:" prefix, so you can filter to all employee-ownership financiers at once, or narrow to a single model.
• Other investment(s) shows what a vehicle finances beyond AOEs. A blank indicates a vehicle dedicated to alternative ownership enterprises; entries such as community real estate, social enterprises, or nonprofits indicate a broader mandate.
• Geographic focus, Fundraising status, Target return, and Structure help refine further — by where a vehicle invests, whether it is currently raising, the return it targets, and the type of vehicle it is.

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Important disclaimers

The information contained is based on desk research, with efforts made to validate data with investment teams where possible. Some data is not available or shared publicly. In addition, there are likely to be errors and omissions.

The information provided in this database is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Spot an error, or want to suggest a fund? Email info@transformfinance.org so we can keep improving the resource.

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