{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Investing in Impact | Impact Investing","title":"Beyond Traditional Investing: The Access Ventures Model","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":461,"description":"In this solo episode of Investing in Impact, Grant Trahant spotlights Access Ventures, an impact investor using catalytic capital, blended finance, and a one-pocket mindset to support economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental sustainability.\nAccess Ventures approaches investing by asking what prevents people from participating fully in the economy and where flexible capital can unlock opportunities that conventional markets overlook. Rather than forcing every challenge into the same investment structure, the organization uses different forms of capital based on what the problem requires.\nThe episode explores how catalytic capital can absorb early risk, fund experimentation, and help make opportunities investable for additional participants. It also examines blended finance, which combines tools such as grants, flexible investments, guarantees, and market-rate capital to address complex challenges.\nGrant also discusses Access Ventures’ one-pocket mindset, which encourages investors to evaluate their entire portfolio through both a financial and an impact lens instead of separating wealth creation from philanthropy.\nExamples Featured in the Episode\n\nGoodMaps is an indoor navigation company backed by Access Ventures. Its technology uses LiDAR scanning and camera-based positioning to provide spoken, visual, and haptic turn-by-turn directions inside complex buildings. The platform is designed to make airports, transit hubs, museums, and other public spaces easier to navigate, particularly for people with disabilities.\nThe Growth Loan Fund was designed by Access Ventures to serve small-business owners who could not qualify for capital through traditional underwriting. The fund offered non-collateralized loans of up to $35,000, demonstrating how a flexible financial product can address a specific gap in a local economy.\nTogether, these examples show the range of the Access Ventures model: investing in scalable technology while also creating new financing...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xH2V0wRai2vSs5BEN2Ofr_Xx5JRthVsX0ReYVPkrd1k/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xZmE5/Y2UyMDQzMGQwZGMx/YmI2ZjgyOTViYzcy/MTViMC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}