Mutual life insurance company Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) launched a second MM Catalyst Fund (MMCF) of $100m.
The fund will continue investing in Black-led startups as well as overlooked businesses across Massachusetts, building on the first $50m fund the firm launched just over two years ago.
Additionally, this second fund will selectively invest alongside fund managers within MassMutual’s First Fund Initiative in Black, Latino and Indigenous-led businesses across the US and Canada.
Since 2021, the MM Catalyst Fund has invested in 16 businesses across Massachusetts, driving growth in Black-led companies as well as startups in rural areas of the Commonwealth – including investments in HourWork, a recruitment and retention platform for hourly workers in the quick-service restaurant industry, and Clean Crop Technologies, a western Massachusetts-based agriculture technology startup that’s redefining food and agriculture performance with its fully electric innovations, from field to fridge.
Through both the MM Catalyst Fund and the First Fund Initiative, MassMutual’s total impact investment commitment has more than doubled to $300m in just over two years. MassMutual’s First Fund Initiative invests in Black, Latino, and Indigenous first-time fund managers. With the second MM Catalyst Fund, MassMutual will now consider investment opportunities alongside these fund managers in diverse-led businesses across the US and Canada.
FinSMEs
14/04/2023