Soros Economic Development Fund

What Soros Economic Development Fund does

The Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) is the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, established in 1997 by George Soros and domiciled at 224 West 57th Street, New York. It deploys patient, risk-tolerant, and catalytic capital across 60+ countries—92% of it in fragile, frontier, and emerging markets—to advance Open Society's mission of sustaining vibrant and inclusive democracies. As of January 2024, SEDF had deployed more than $400 million of capital across 35+ investments, spanning blended finance platforms, venture and private equity funds, impact litigation vehicles, media financing, and direct portfolio companies.

SEDF operates multiple grades of investment capital—equity, debt, grants, and guarantees—and organizes activity around four priority themes: Climate and Inclusive Development, Independent Media, Justice and Human Rights, and Economic and Financial Inclusion (with Health Equity and Gender Equity as cross-cutting lines). Notable instruments include a $100 million GAVI procurement guarantee that helped distribute 100+ million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 92 lowest-income countries; investments in blended finance platforms such as Allied Climate Partners ($25M), Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, Acumen Hardest-to-Reach Initiative, and the Amazon Biodiversity Fund; thematic funds like Aristata I/II (impact litigation), Working Capital and Working Capital Fund III (supply-chain transparency using AI/mobile technology), MDIF and PLŪRĀLIS (independent media), and Delta40 and Persistent (Africa climate-tech); and direct holdings in Cadence Health, Hewatele, Symplifica, Remedy Alliance, and Univercells. SEDF sells nothing in a conventional sense; revenue and operating capital are sourced from Open Society's endowment and reinvested investment returns, allowing it to accept higher market and political risk than commercial investors in pursuit of systemic change. The fund is led by CEO Georgia Levenson Keohane with a lean team of 11–50 staff spanning impact, finance, policy/innovative finance, and legal functions.

Name

Soros Economic Development Fund

Legal name

Soros Economic Development Fund

Website

https://soroseconomicdevelopmentfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Soros Economic Development Fund is the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, deploying patient, risk-tolerant capital across 60+ countries into climate, independent media, human rights, and economic inclusion funds and enterprises.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investing

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (52599)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Impact / ESG Venture Capital (FSANAAAG), Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA), Social Impact & Inclusive Finance Funds (FSANAJAH), Renewable Energy & Energy Transition Funds (FSANAJAB), ESG Integration / Responsible Investment Funds (Broad ESG) (FSANAJAL)

Keywords

• Impact investing
• Venture capital
• Climate finance
• Blended finance
• Development capital

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Impact Investment Returns: SEDF generates returns through investments in impact-focused funds and enterprises across climate, media, human rights, and economic inclusion themes. Returns are reinvested to sustain the impact investment arm's ongoing operations and mission-aligned activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SEDF is an impact investment vehicle that deploys patient, risk-tolerant, and catalytic capital (equity, debt, grants, and guarantees) into impact funds and enterprises across fragile, frontier, and emerging markets. Its portfolio spans climate action, independent media, justice and human rights, economic and financial inclusion, health equity, and gender equity themes, with a focus on advancing open society and inclusive democracy. The fund operates as the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, with $400M+ deployed across 60+ countries as of January 2024.

Product overview

Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) is the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, managing a portfolio of 35+ investments globally. It deploys patient, risk-tolerant, catalytic capital across fragile, frontier, and emerging market countries. SEDF's investment products span multiple themes including Justice and Human Rights (Working Capital Fund III, Working Capital Fund, Aristata I & II, REDI, Illumen Capital, Cadence Health, Symplifica), Independent Media (PLŪRĀLIS, Emerging Media Opportunity Fund, Media Development Investment Fund), Climate and Inclusive Development (SP Ventures AgVentures III, Persistent Africa Climate Venture Fund, Delta40, Helios Clear Fund, EcoEnterprises Fund IV, Acumen H2R, AGIA, Amazon Biodiversity Fund, InsuResilience, Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund, PCP Yield Uganda Fund, Allied Climate Partners), Economic and Financial Inclusion (Kiva Refugee Investment Fund, Accion Venture Lab, Cepheus Growth Capital, Community Loan Fund, IPDEV II, Nomou Jordan Fund, Aspada, LeapFrog, Alitheia IDF, Women's World Banking, Global Access Health-Mologic, Univercells), Health Equity (Remedy Alliance, Hewatele, GAVI guarantee), and Gender Equity investments. The fund also includes guarantee instruments like the GAVI COVID-19 vaccine guarantee and direct portfolio companies focused on pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and harm reduction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Impact Investment Fund Management
• Working Capital Fund III
• Working Capital Fund
• Aristata I Impact Litigation Fund
• Aristata II Impact Litigation Fund
• Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI)
• Illumen Capital, LP
• PLŪRĀLIS B.V.
• Media Development Investment Fund
• Persistent Africa Climate Venture Fund
• Amazon Biodiversity Fund
• Allied Climate Partners
• Acumen Hardest-to-Reach Initiative (H2R)
• Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA)
• InsuResilience Investment Fund
• GAVI COVID-19 Vaccine Procurement Guarantee

Quantifiable outcome

• 140+ independent media outlets supported across 45+ countries, reaching 300+ million people annually
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Open Society FoundationsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEDF is the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations. The fund leverages the expertise and reach of OSF's programmatic grant-making, policy, and advocacy efforts, and multiple grades of investment capital.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Acumen: Acumen is a nonprofit impact investment fund that deploys patient capital into early-stage companies serving low-income communities in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America — directly comparable to SEDF's climate and financial inclusion themes, and a co-portfolio partner in vehicles like Acumen H2R and Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund.
• Omidyar Network: Omidyar Network is a philanthropy-founded impact investment firm that deploys both grants and investment capital across governance, education, and financial inclusion — closely matching SEDF's model of foundation-backed catalytic capital across democracy, rights, and inclusion themes.
• BlueOrchard Finance: BlueOrchard is a leading impact investment manager specializing in financial inclusion and climate adaptation — it manages the InsuResilience Investment Fund in which SEDF is a $10M investor, making it a direct peer in the impact fund management space.
• Bridges Fund Management: Bridges is a UK-based impact-focused private markets investor deploying across venture, growth, and private credit into climate and inclusive economies — directly comparable to SEDF's multi-asset, mission-driven investment approach.
• Calvert Impact Capital: Calvert Impact Capital is a nonprofit impact investment intermediary that raises and deploys capital into community development, climate, and inclusive enterprises — directly comparable to SEDF's mission-aligned fund-of-funds and direct investment model.
• Triodos Investment Management: Triodos IM is a European sustainable investment manager operating across private debt, venture, and impact funds in renewables, food, and inclusive finance — comparable to SEDF in deploying mission-aligned private capital into climate and inclusion themes.

Broad incumbents

• FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank): FMO is a major development finance institution that provides capital to private sector projects in developing and emerging markets — a broader incumbent in the same impact investment and emerging markets space that SEDF operates in.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund: The Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund deploys the foundation's endowment into mission-aligned investments in health, financial inclusion, and development — a comparable foundation-affiliated impact investment vehicle to SEDF, though at much larger scale.
• DEG (KfW Development Finance): DEG is a German development finance institution providing long-term financing to private enterprises in emerging markets — a broader incumbent peer in development-focused impact investment that overlaps with SEDF's emerging markets and financial inclusion themes.

Emerging players

• Bain Capital Double Impact: Bain Capital Double Impact is a for-profit impact investing arm that deploys venture and growth capital into companies addressing social and environmental challenges — an emerging player in the same mission-driven investment category as SEDF but with a commercial LPs structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/opensociety
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/OpenSociety
• Facebookfacebook.com/OpenSocietyFoundations
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-society-foundations
• Instagraminstagram.com/opensocietyfoundations
• TikToktiktok.com/@opensociety

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments10 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Soros Economic Development Fund