Two early backers of Tesla have officially closed on a $400 million fund to invest in startups that have an environmental and social good component, sometimes called impact investing. DBL Partners, with investors Nancy Pfund and Ira Ehrenpreis, closed part of the funds last December.
DBL Partners stands for “Double Bottom Line” and it describes a style of investing: invest in companies that create monetary value and also value for society. The firm was originally spun-out of JPMorgan’s Bay Area Equity Fund I and founded by Pfund.
This is the third fund from DBL and it’s the largest. DBL’s second fund of $150 million is almost fully invested now with at least 23 companies.
