Final Report: Green Canopy’s Successfully Winds Up Third Fund

Green Canopy is pleased to announce the successful wind-up of the Birch Fund. The Birch Fund is the firm’s third Real Estate Impact Fund. The Fund, managed by Green Canopy Capital, provided capital to acquire and construct certified green and energy efficient residential projects in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. The Birch Fund deployed $15.3M in capital from 60 impact investors from around the nation, The Fund returned an annualized IRR to investors of 10.7%, in line with investor expectations.

The Birch Fund enabled Green Canopy to build 102 deep green and healthy homes across Seattle and Portland. Of these homes, 10 were Net Zero Energy and 8 were Net Zero Energy Ready homes. “By opting to build deep green, sustainable homes that far surpass code requirements, Green Canopy has been able to mitigate 731 metric tons of greenhouse gases. That’s equivalent to us planting over 12,000 trees,” says Sam Lai, Co-Founder of Green Canopy.

Impact investments are made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return on invested capital. In 2011, Green Canopy began Green Canopy Capital, a wholly owned fund manager to scale the Firm’s impact through impact investments. Impact investors have fueled all four of Green Canopy Capital’s funds, ensuring ongoing alignment with Green Canopy’s mission and theory of change, while also providing a healthy financial return. 

“As our family foundation shifted focus from grant-based mitigation to investing in systems change, our relationship with Green Canopy Homes has evolved from an interesting new portfolio company to trusted impact partner. Across three generations of funds, as well as special projects, we are proud to (profitably!) support the development of all-electric, highly efficient homes in thriving, walkable communities.”  – Jim Norton, Rouse Family Foundation

As a portfolio company of the angel investment group E8, Green Canopy is delighted with the ongoing partnership in aligning investor capital to our fund offerings. E8 is an international, Seattle-based investor community whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a prosperous and cleaner world by investing in and fostering emerging cleantech enterprises.

“Green Canopy and their fund offerings have been a staple investment for many of our members since 2010, with Birch Fund being the most recent example. Thank you to the Green Canopy team for delivering on expectations and maintaining regular communication and transparency,” says Mike Rea, Executive Director of E8.

Green Canopy’s fourth fund, Cedar Fund, was deliberately structured as a resilient real estate fund capable of generating income regardless of the cycle. To date, the Cedar Fund has raised over $7M in investor capital from 30 impact investors from around the country. “As society continues waking up to realize the uncertain state of the world, more and more investors are also coming to the realization that in order to create a better world, they must invest in creating that better world. Impact investing provides a clear pathway to do so, ensuring not simply a focus on financial returns but also ensuring positive social and environmental outcomes,” says Susan Fairchild, Director of Investor Relations & Impact.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Susan Fairchild
susan@greencanopy.com