20

Investing in Social Impact

Mobilising capital to reach underserved populations

Find investors aligned with your values

Find investors aligned with your values

Interview with Ebun Feludu, CEO, JAM The Coconut Food Company

JAM The Coconut Food Company is an integrated coconut processing company that serves the agricultural, cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets in Nigeria. It sources from small-scale coconut farmers, who receive technical support and market access. The company further uses micro-entrepreneurs to distribute its products. Ninety percent of its executive team and eighty percent of its workforce are women.


Can you tell us about your fundraising journey? What kind of investments did you receive, and what challenges did you overcome?

As entrepreneurs we are constantly raising funds. I often say that a business is like a hungry baby, when it wants to eat, it wants to eat NOW. I remember several times when I needed funds for equipment or raw material to scale and I simply couldn’t source the funds. I started my business with personal funds, then took loans from family and friends, as well as banks, and also got grants. One of the times we were desperate for funds someone offered me the equivalent of $2,000 for 40 percent equity. It was a really low moment in my fundraising journey. The offer was not an option for me, but it broke me a little to see how funders are so quick to take advantage of a bootstrapping entrepreneur. More recently, through the Impact Amplifier Accelerator and IIF Deal Summit, we are now in conversation with an impact funder that we are truly excited about.

In a previous edition of CLUED-iN, we covered the gender finance gap. How did being a woman make a difference when you approached investors?

I honestly haven’t given much thought to my own gender when approaching investors.  However because we are a social impact company with a focus on women, some investors have considered us less attractive to invest in. I recall being rejected for an Accelerator one year for this very reason. However when the organizers tracked the progress we had made in just one year, they approached me to reapply for the programme and I got in. Also I do believe the world is becoming a lot more parity conscious and there are many funding opportunities that are either strictly for women, or committed to investing equally in both men and women.

Ebun Feludu and workers, JAM The Coconut
Ebun Feludu and workers at a JAM The Coconut factory. © JAM The Coconut

How important is your social value for investors? Did your gender responsiveness make a difference?

I have always been committed to building women as I build my business. I referenced above that some investors have seen our women focus as a disadvantage, but I knew we would one day find the investment partner that would align with our values. Thankfully this is where we are now through the Impact Amplifier Programme. 

How do you measure your impact and demonstrate it to investors?

Our first measure of impact is the number of women we are able to train and employ. Secondly, the percentage of value addition we are able to add to every part of the coconuts we process. As we expand, we are committed to establishing our coconut plantation and engaging smallholder farmers as our partners. This is also critical to the impact we are keen to make and demonstrate to investors.

How did investment readiness training support you in attracting investment, and what are your main take-aways from the Impact Amplifier programme?

The quality of the training and support was truly exceptional. Also, the assignments forced us to prepare detailed financial projections for the next four years. The documents we prepared during the training helped me to be constantly pitch ready. 

Do you feel that investor interest in Inclusive Business has changed over the past few years? If so, how?

Investors are savvy – they follow consumer trends, and consumers all over the world are more inclined to support inclusive sustainable businesses. It is therefore really in the best interest of the investor to support businesses that consumers support.

What advice would you have for entrepreneurs who are having trouble explaining their value to investors because they have unique inclusive business models?

Impact investors want to see impact. Many times entrepreneurs (and I am guilty of this also) bury their heads in the ground doing the hard work without working on their brand story. I would say to entrepreneurs, lift your head up every now and again. Tell your story through the eyes of the consumer and the stakeholders that are impacted through your work. There is a sweet spot in the universe for every entrepreneur. That sweet spot is your unique intersection of investors that align with your vision, yourself, and your customers. Keep doing the work and telling your story until these elements converge at that sweet spot.

Ebun Feludu

Ebun Feludu runs JAM The Coconut Food Company, a family legacy business that produces premium food and beauty solutions from the world's most famous super food: the coconut. She enjoyed a thriving career in media before beginning her foray into agriculture and agro processing in 2014. She remains a co-host on TW Conversations, a popular programme on national television. In addition, she is the chairperson of the ALL Ladies League Nigeria under the auspices of the Women Economic Forum, President of the Nigeria-India Bilateral Business Council, and founder of Igrow Agri Invest.

Entrevista

Linking entrepreneurs to a diverse group of investors to deliver impact

Arun Venkatesan discusses how incubation support and linking entrepreneurs to investors through platforms such as iPitch helps scale social impact.
Susann Tischendorf
Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about funding for Inclusive Business by reading this twentieth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer based in Brussels. Through...

Christopher Malapitan

editorial

NEW (Y)EARS, NEW EYES – in search of the Social Unicorn

In his editorial, Royston Braganza introduces the concept of the social unicorn and emphasizes the importance of looking beyond valuation to assess transformation – social, environmental and economic. How do we value the Inclusive Business based on the overall and transformational impact it generates?

Royston Braganza

feature story

Investing in social impact

The capacity for business to serve as a force for good depends on mobilising capital towards environmental and social impact and measuring that impact. Over the last five years there has been a notable increase in both impact investing and ESG investing. At the same time, companies are facing questions from consumers about their supply chains and their social and environmental impact. International coalitions are also pushing for a harmonized approach. In this issue of CLUED-iN, we examine the intersection between investment and social impact, with a focus on funding that supports inclusive businesses targeting underserved populations around the world.

Alexandra Harris

Linking entrepreneurs to a diverse group of investors to deliver impact

Arun Venkatesan discusses how incubation support and linking entrepreneurs to investors through platforms such as iPitch helps scale social impact.

Bridging the gap between smallholder farmers and financing to support sustainable agriculture

Smallholder farmers often struggle to borrow at affordable rates. David Chen discusses how AgriG8’s credit assurance platform is designed to unlock capital and incentivize farmers to use sustainable practices.

Demonstrating social impact to finance and scale inclusive business solutions

In a conversation with CLUED-iN, Jayanth Bhuvaraghan and Jasjit Singh discuss how innovative outcome-based financing solutions can help inclusive businesses grow and scale their impact.

Find investors aligned with your values

JAM The Coconut is a women-centered company based in Nigeria. In her interview, founder Ebun Feludu shares stories drawn from her own fundraising journey.

Impact valuation places stakeholders at the heart of sustainable business

In her interview, Sonja Haut discusses the highlights of the Co-creating Impact Summit recently hosted by Novartis. She also details how the company is placing stakeholders at the center of its impact valuation metrics.