CIGP Closes a $3.2 Million Guarantee to Reinvestment Fund for
Everytable’s Social Equity Franchise Program to Advance Minority Business Ownership and Wealth Creation
These investments over eight years will support business ownership and wealth creation in historically divested communities while increasing access to affordable, nutritious food.
April 14, 2023 – The Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP) closed an eight-year guarantee of up to $3.2 million for Reinvestment Fund in support of Everytable’s Social Equity Franchise Program (The Program), managed by impact investing firm Mission Driven Finance. The Program supports business ownership and wealth creation in marginalized communities while increasing access to affordable, nutritious food.
Reinvestment Fund is leading an initial $8 million syndicate of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) lenders in a debt financing for Everytable. Everytable, a public benefit corporation, has a core mission of ensuring everyone everywhere has access to nutritious, fresh food at affordable prices. One approach to pursuing this mission while advancing its social equity objectives is the Everytable Social Equity Franchise Program (SEFP). SEFP involves training and mentorship for entrepreneurs from BIPOC and other underserved communities seeking to own and operate an Everytable franchise. SEFP also helps entrepreneurs secure 100% financing through the Everytable Social Equity Franchise Fund. Mission Driven Finance serves as the Fund Manager.
“Reinvestment Fund is proud to offer additional financing support,” said Christina Szczepanski, Reinvestment Fund’s Managing Director of Lending and Investments. “We echo Everytable’s commitment to creating access to nutritious food for all and are excited for this partnership that furthers our vision of social and racial equity in the food system.”
Everytable is committed to providing affordable, fresh, nutritious food in all communities by preparing meals at a central kitchen and distributing them through retail stores, subscription deliveries, contracts with institutions (e.g., hospitals, corporate offices), and SmartFridge vending machines. Currently, there are 52 retail locations in Southern California, eight retail locations in New York City, and one retail location in the Bay Area. To expand access, Everytable plans to open nearly 300 franchises across metropolitan markets in the next four years.
To further its social benefits, Everytable is committed to creating opportunities for these franchises to be owned and operated by entrepreneurs as a way to build wealth for individuals, communities, and families. To do this, Everytable will provide one year of training through Everytable University. Entrepreneurs will work full-time as store managers at a current Everytable location while receiving leadership and entrepreneurial education, mentoring, and coaching regarding relevant business topics. Upon completion, Everytable will match an entrepreneur with a franchise location and provide funding opportunities for entrepreneurs with limited access to personal wealth or capital through the Social Equity Franchise Fund.
“We simply can’t fulfill our mission to make nutritious meals affordable and accessible without passionate people supporting our growth and running our stores,” said Sam Polk, CEO of Everytable. “This investment will allow us to expand our Social Equity Franchise program and ensure that exceptional leaders graduating from our Everytable University have the capital to become owners and positively fuel our expansion.”
“We’re thrilled to be supporting Everytable’s mission with this Fund. Supporting franchisees who wouldn’t normally get a chance at business ownership is directly aligned with our thesis of closing capital gaps in order to close opportunity gaps,” said Mission Driven Finance CEO David Lynn.
The Social Equity Franchise Fund will provide franchise financing loans covering 100% of franchise start-up costs to qualified Everytable University graduates. Secured against the franchise, loans require no financial equity from entrepreneurs and have five-year terms. This program is available to successful graduates of Everytable University and allows franchisees to focus on successfully building their business while opening doors to additional entrepreneurial activities that could create intergenerational, familial wealth.
CIGP guarantees a portion of the Reinvestment Fund-led debt facility into the Social Equity Franchise Fund. The Fund is expected to fully deploy loans to entrepreneurs by the end of 2025.
About CIGP
The Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP) is a financing tool launched in December 2019 by impact investing organizations to create a pooled commitment of financial guarantees for intermediaries in affordable housing, small business and climate finance. CIGP accelerates community investments by more fully leveraging philanthropic balance sheets for mission. The initial guarantors that helped make CIGP possible are The Kresge Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Common Spirit Health, Gary Community Investments, Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Phillips Foundation, Seattle Foundation, Virginia Community Capital, and Weingart Foundation. Since launch, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation and the Sierra Club Foundation have also joined as guarantors. Learn more about CIGP by watching this short video produced by The Kresge Foundation.
About LOCUS Impact Investing
LOCUS serves as program manager for the Community Investment Guarantee Pool. LOCUS is a national non-profit consulting organization and registered investment advisor that works with foundations and mission-driven investors wherever they are on their local impact investing journey to help them create lasting, meaningful change in their communities. LOCUS partners with mission-driven institutions to unlock more of their assets and deploy dollars to catalyze equitable economic development and make community-informed investments guided by innovative, effective and equitable practices. LOCUS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the non-profit, VCC Social Enterprises. For more information about LOCUS visit: https://locusimpactinvesting.org/.
About Everytable
Founded in 2016, Everytable is a mission-driven food company based in Los Angeles that fights for food justice and equality by providing healthy and nutritious food that is both accessible and affordable for everyone. Everytable is a multi-channel, fresh-prepared food business blending stores, subscriptions, delivery and SmartFridges supplied by a central kitchen, with meals priced according to the neighborhood. Everytable serves Southern California, the SF Bay Area, and New York, with more stores and regional meal delivery soon to come.
In 2021 Everytable launched a trailblazing Social Equity Franchise program that sets social entrepreneurs from marginalized communities on an expedited pathway to potentially owning and operating an Everytable store. Everytable further seeks to support local communities with its Pay It Forward program which allows guests to purchase meals for those in need. In 2022, Inc.’s Best in Business list recognized Everytable for positively impacting food insecurity across communities, along with other accolades such as being named one of Fast Company’s top 10 most innovative dining companies. To date, Everytable has sold more than 15 million meals! For more information, please visit www.everytable.com or follow @foreverytable on Instagram.
About Mission Driven Finance
Mission Driven Finance is an impact investment firm dedicated to building a financial system that ensures good businesses have access to sufficient, affordable capital. Built from the ground up with a single purpose—to make it easy to invest in your community—all of their funds and structured products are designed to close financial gaps that will close opportunity gaps. They work with local and national investors to help them create the impact they want and work with businesses and community partners to help them get the capital they need. Mission Driven Finance was launched in 2016 in San Diego, CA, and is a Certified B Corporation. In 2022, Mission Driven Finance was selected for ImpactAssets’ IA 50 Fund Manager list, a category for experienced impact fund managers with a minimum three-year track record. Learn more about Mission Driven Finance at missiondrivenfinance.com.
About Reinvestment Fund
Reinvestment Fund is a mission-driven financial institution committed to making communities work for all people. We bring financial and analytical tools to partnerships that work to ensure that everyone has access to essential opportunities: affordable places to live, access to nutritious food and health care, schools where their children can flourish, and strong, local businesses that support jobs. We use data to understand markets, communities, and impediments to opportunity—and how investment and policy decisions can have the most powerful impact. Since our inception in 1985, Reinvestment Fund has provided over $2.4 billion in financing to strengthen neighborhoods, scale social enterprises, and build resilient communities. Learn more at www.reinvestment.com
###