Encourage Capital

What Encourage Capital does

Encourage Capital, LLC is a New York-based private impact investment manager formed in December 2014 through the combination of Wolfensohn Fund Management (an emerging-markets private equity firm with a $250 million fund focused on inclusive financial services) and EKO Asset Management Partners (an environmental-markets specialist). The firm deploys institutional and philanthropic capital across six thematic Solutions Strategies: Financial Inclusion, Clean Energy Finance, Environmental Markets (carbon offsets), Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Seafood, and Water. Its investment products include the Wolfensohn Capital Partners fund ($250M emerging-markets PE vehicle with a track record of exits in DCB Bank, Meritum Bank, Ujjivan, Repco Home Finance, BTG Pactual, Moscow Exchange, Banco Daycoval, and Fabindia), the EKO Green Carbon Fund (US land-based carbon sequestration for the California cap-and-trade market), Encourage Solar Finance (a $40M first-close fund investing in Indian financial institutions serving MSME rooftop solar), and Pescador Holdings (a sustainable-seafood JV with Zoma Capital).

The firm's business model is that of a traditional fund manager: it raises capital from institutional investors, foundations (notably Bloomberg Philanthropies, Rockefeller Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and Capricorn Investment Group) and qualified HNW individuals through confidential private placement memorandums, charges management fees on committed/deployed capital, and earns carried interest on profitable exits. Distribution is direct enterprise field-sales to mission-aligned LPs, supported by an extensive thought-leadership content engine (publications, media coverage in FT/Bloomberg/Barron's, conference speaking). The firm employs 11–50 people across offices in New York (headquarters at 156 Fifth Avenue plus a contact office at 287 Park Avenue South), San Francisco, and Mumbai, and is led by Managing Partner Adam Wolfensohn and Co-Managing Partner Jason Scott alongside partners Ricardo Bayon, Jonathan Morris, Ameya Bijoor, Cesare Calari, and Tarun Arora, with senior advisors drawn from the World Bank/IFC and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Name

Encourage Capital

Legal name

Encourage Capital, LLC

Website

https://encouragecapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Encourage Capital is a New York-based private impact investment manager deploying institutional and philanthropic capital across financial inclusion, clean energy, environmental markets, sustainable infrastructure, seafood, and water via multiple funds, including Wolfensohn Capital Partners and Encourage Solar Finance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investment Management

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Resource Efficiency Funds (Water, Waste, Recycling, Efficiency) (FSANAEAE), Sustainable Infrastructure & Resilient Cities Funds (FSANAJAC)

Keywords

• Impact investing
• Private equity funds
• Environmental markets
• Financial inclusion
• Clean energy finance

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Equity Fund Management: Encourage Capital generates revenue through management fees and carried interest from managed investment funds including Wolfensohn Capital Partners ($250M), Encourage Solar Finance, and EKO Green Carbon Fund. The firm deploys private capital into impact investments and generates returns for institutional investors and foundations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Encourage Capital is an impact investment firm that manages specialized investment funds and develops thematic Solutions Investment strategies to deploy private capital into systemic environmental and social solutions. The firm operates core funds including Wolfensohn Capital Partners ($250 million emerging markets private equity fund), EKO Green Carbon Fund (carbon offset development), and Encourage Solar Finance (rooftop solar financing in India), organized around six solutions strategies: Clean Energy Finance, Financial Inclusion, Environmental Markets, Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Seafood, and Water.

Product overview

Encourage Capital is an impact investment firm that operates as a unified investment management platform offering multiple specialized investment funds and thematic investment strategies. The core products include Wolfensohn Capital Partners ($250M emerging markets PE fund), EKO Green Carbon Fund (carbon offset investments), and Encourage Solar Finance (India rooftop solar finance). These are organized under six Solutions Investment strategies: Clean Energy Finance, Financial Inclusion, Environmental Markets, Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Seafood, and Water. The products work together as integrated investment solutions addressing critical social and environmental challenges while generating competitive financial returns for investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wolfensohn Capital Partners A $250 million private equity fund focused on emerging markets, investing in banking institutions, stock exchanges, asset managers, microfinance, and other businesses providing inclusive financial services throughout the developing world. Target investors are qualified institutional investors and foundations.
• EKO Green Carbon Fund A demonstration fund investing in the development of carbon offsets, primarily from land-based carbon sequestration projects including forestry, agricultural change and land-use change projects in the United States. Invested in Improved Forest Management projects generating carbon offset credits for the California Air Resource Board cap-and-trade program.
• Encourage Solar Finance A private equity fund that invests in specialized financial institutions in India that can develop and scale commercial rooftop solar finance solutions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, targeting a 15 GW market opportunity representing a $9 billion lending opportunity.
• Financial Inclusion Strategy Investment strategy investing in companies that generate commercial financial returns while fostering development of an equitable and inclusive financial system, targeting underserved micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and low/moderate income households in emerging markets.
• Clean Energy Finance Strategy Investment strategy focused on financing clean energy solutions, specifically rooftop solar deployment for MSMEs in India, addressing a $9 billion lending opportunity for 15 GW of solar capacity.
• Environmental Markets Strategy Investment strategy focused on ecosystem-based approaches to address climate change, including carbon offset projects, REDD projects, and forest conservation for the California carbon market.
• Sustainable Infrastructure Strategy Investment strategy developing innovative infrastructure solutions to make cities more sustainable and resilient, including green stormwater infrastructure, green space development, and coastal resiliency projects.
• Sustainable Seafood Strategy Investment strategy investing in companies and projects promoting sustainable seafood production, strengthening global food security, and supporting coastal communities and ecosystems.
• Water Strategy Investment strategy focused on conserving water and managing risk through investments in irrigation infrastructure upgrades, sustainable land management, and pay-for-performance structures protecting watersheds, with focus on the Colorado River Basin.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,500,000+ California Carbon Offsets expected from White Mountain Apache Tribe IFM project
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• GE Global Development & Strategic InitiativesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWolfensohn Capital Partners entered into a Joint Development Agreement with GE for wind project development in Poland and Romania in 2011.
• Culp and Kelly LLCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulp and Kelly LLC partnered with Encourage Capital and the Walton Foundation to produce the Liquid Assets report on investing for impact in the Colorado River Basin and subsequent implementation work.
• Trout UnlimitedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrout Unlimited collaborated with Encourage Capital and Culp & Kelly LLC to implement recommendations from the Liquid Assets report for water conservation on the ground.
• ecoPartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerecoPartners partnered with Encourage Capital to increase the scope of eligible landowners for carbon projects, specifically expanding the Forest Carbon Works Program to bring carbon payments to small family forests.
• The Nature ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Nature Conservancy partnered with Encourage Capital to release 'Towards a Blue Revolution', a report on catalyzing private investment in sustainable aquaculture production systems (May 2019).

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Acumen: Acumen is a nonprofit impact investor deploying patient capital into early-stage companies serving low-income communities in emerging markets. Like Encourage Capital, it blends financial returns with measurable social outcomes, with overlapping focus on financial inclusion and clean energy access.
• Generation Investment Management: Generation IM is a sustainable investment manager founded on long-term, sustainability-focused equity and credit strategies. Jason Scott, Encourage Capital's Co-Managing Partner, was a founding director at Generation IM, providing direct lineage and a comparable impact-investing philosophy.
• Closed Loop Partners: Closed Loop Partners builds investment vehicles and operating companies focused on circular economy, sustainable infrastructure, and waste reduction. Like Encourage Capital, it pairs private capital with thematic environmental impact strategies.
• Obvious Ventures: Obvious Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in companies solving systemic environmental, social, and economic problems — a VC-stage analog to Encourage Capital's growth-stage impact investing across clean energy, food, and oceans.

Broad incumbents

• TPG Rise: TPG Rise is the dedicated impact investing platform of TPG, managing multi-billion-dollar climate, social, and emerging-markets funds. It competes with Encourage Capital for institutional impact mandates but at materially larger AUM scale.
• KKR Global Impact: KKR's Global Impact strategy invests in companies delivering commercial solutions to environmental or social challenges across climate, sustainable infrastructure, and financial inclusion — directly overlapping Encourage's six Solutions Strategies, though at much larger scale.
• Bain Capital Double Impact: Bain Capital Double Impact pursues investments that deliver both financial returns and measurable social/environmental impact across themes including clean energy and financial inclusion. A broader incumbent with overlapping themes but a more diversified PE portfolio approach.

Emerging players

• Capricorn Investment Group: Capricorn Investment Group, which took a stake in Encourage Capital in 2016, is a mission-aligned investment firm focused on companies and funds driving positive environmental and social impact. A close strategic and financial peer across multiple impact themes.

Regional players

• Lok Capital: Lok Capital is an India-focused impact investment firm investing in financial inclusion, healthcare, and agriculture. Direct overlap with Encourage's Financial Inclusion and India rooftop solar strategies; primarily competes regionally in India where Encourage's Mumbai office is based.
• DB Climate Impact Fund: DB Climate Impact Fund, managed by DWS, invests in growth-stage companies in emerging markets addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation. Comparable thesis to Encourage Capital's emerging-markets clean energy and sustainable infrastructure strategies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/encouragecap
• Facebookfacebook.com/encouragecapital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/encourage-capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments8 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Encourage Capital