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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.

Access 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.

The 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.

Grant 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.

Examples Featured in the Episode

GoodMaps 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.

The 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.

Together, these examples show the range of the Access Ventures model: investing in scalable technology while also creating new financing structures for people and businesses underserved by conventional markets.

In This Episode

• What catalytic capital is and when it can be most useful
• How blended finance combines different forms of capital
• Why every social challenge should not be forced into the same financial instrument
• What Access Ventures means by a one-pocket mindset
• How GoodMaps uses technology to improve accessibility
• How the Growth Loan Fund expanded access to small-business capital
• Why impact measurement must move beyond dollars deployed
• How investors can support access, agency, and community resilience
• The questions impact investors should ask about risk, returns, and community influence

Key Takeaway

Capital is most powerful when it is used with intention, creativity, and patience. Financial resources can remove barriers and create opportunity, but lasting transformation happens when people gain greater access, greater agency, and a meaningful role in shaping their own economic future.

Learn More

• Access Ventures
• Access Ventures Portfolio
• Investing in Impact

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