The Haas Impact Fund invests in exciting early-stage impact-oriented startups. Student Venture Partners lead sourcing, diligence, and portfolio stewardship of early-stage social enterprises.
During the spring semester course, student Venture Partners source promising early-stage impact startups in different impact areas such as Climate, Health, Financial Access, and Renewable Energy.
In April at the annual Invest for Impact Pitch Competition, student Venture Partners pitch recommendations to a panel of judges for up to $75,000 equity investment from the Haas Impact Fund along with potential additional funding from a select group of funds.
Invest for Impact
The Berkeley Haas School of Business proudly hosted the fifth annual Invest for Impact Pitch Competition, a cornerstone event for the Sustainable & Impact Finance (SAIF) program at Haas. This year’s competition, held on April 26, 2024, marked a significant evolution in both scope and impact, bringing together a diverse array of MBA students, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.
During the semester-long Haas Impact Fund course, MBA students embarked on an intensive journey to source and perform due diligence on startups that promise high financial returns coupled with meaningful social and environmental impacts. This year, the competition focused on a broad range of sectors, including food and its supply chain, health implementation, skilling and education, waste & circular economy, and various aspects of climate tech.
The companies pitched to the Haas Impact Fund in 2024 included:
MedHaul (MedHaul): Enhancing access to healthcare by providing reliable transportation for vulnerable patients.
Splight (Splight): Innovating the energy sector with intelligent energy solutions.
Hertha Metals (Hertha Metals): Significantly reducing emissions in steelmaking with advanced technology.
Nanochon (Nanochon): Offering low-cost, minimally-invasive solutions for joint injuries.
Redwood Neuro (Redwood Neuro): Developing scalable diagnostics for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Orlar (Orlar): Revolutionizing agriculture through sustainable farming techniques.
HyLight (HyLight): Advancing transportation with eco-friendly aerospace solutions.
Inevitable (Inevitable): Pioneering innovations in infrastructure development.
Kunduz (Kunduz): Disrupting education through personalized tutoring services.
Urban Machine (Urban Machine): Creating sustainable urban environments through innovative construction technologies.
This year’s winners, MedHaul, Splight and Hertha Metals, showcased solutions that were not only innovative but also scalable, addressing critical needs in the healthcare accessibility, energy efficiency and clean energy sectors.
“The Haas Impact Fund was an awesome opportunity to see companies solving problems across healthcare. In my full-time role, I invest in companies with a comparatively narrow investment thesis, so HIF allowed me to broaden my horizons and get experience diligencing new business models. I also loved the opportunity to build community with alumni working in impact investing and with like minded students in the full time program.” – Rosana Rabines, EWMBA 2025
The panel of judges ask questions to the students pitching
The 2024 competition expanded its influence with a panel of esteemed industry judges who evaluated the pitches. The judges included David Hartwig, co-founder and partner at Sapphire Ventures, Sara Weinheimer, impact finance investor & advisor, Shilpi Kumar, partner at Third Sphere, and Teresa Tate, chair of U.S. Emerging Growth & Venture Capital Group at Reed Smith. They brought a wealth of experience from various sectors, contributing to an enriched learning environment for the participants. Also joining as both a judge and a keynote speaker was Mark Goldstein, managing partner of Builders VC.
“HIF was an incredible learning experience. My takeaways and true level of understanding could only have been gained through this experiential class format. The teaching team of Adair and Jeep is supportive, constructive, and direct. They pull in outstanding mentors, who are even willing to talk you through a stressful founder interaction while they’re on vacation (IFC’s Selcuk Tanatar)! My understanding of Venture Capital and the positive impact it can have went from 0 to 60 in one semester, and I’m truly grateful for all I’ve learned.” – Brianna Beighle, MBA 2024
The event concluded with a networking session, providing students, alumni, and professionals a platform to discuss future collaborations and reflect on the innovative ideas presented. Next year’s competition will continue to offer an investment stake of $75,000, with a view to attracting more global startups and further fostering the spirit of sustainable and impact investing at Berkeley Haas.
One winning team, pitching on behalf of startup MedHaul, included Lauren Zinser, MBA 24, Amy Cui, MBA 25, Crystal Gaeta, MBA 24, and Rosana Rabines, EWMBA 25.Another winning team, pitching on behalf of startup Splight, with Haas Impact Fund faculty and support staff. Photo features Kyle Allen MBA 25, Jeep Kline, Professional Faculty of the Haas Impact Fund Course, Jule Hulsman, MBA 25, Loraine Binion, Treasurer of the UC Foundation, and Mohammed Shomrat, EWMBA 25. (Team members not pictured Svetlana Tokareva and Shuyu Mao, EWMBA 26).The final winning team, pitching on behalf of startup Hertha Metals, including Korawat Techaphulphol, MBA 24, Hillary Hoffstein, MBA 24, Jeep Kline, Professional Faculty of the Haas Impact Fund Course, Junhua Wei, EWMBA 25, and Tatsuya Toyoda. (Team member not pictured Lucian Sweitzer, EWMBA 24).
An MBA student team won first-prize funding for a startup that’s helping to make supply chains more efficient for small Brazilian farmers at last Friday’s Invest for Impact Pitch Competition.
The winning team, pitching on behalf of startup Clicampo-Arado, included Arsal Khanani, EWMBA 24, Byungwoo Han, MBA 23, Gui Klingelfus, MBA 23, Mateus Loesch, MBA 23, and Vivian Hare, EWMBA 23.
Clicampo, now rebranded as Arado, secured a $75,000 investment, awarded by a panel of industry judges, including Michelle Kiang, managing partner and co-founder at Impact Science Ventures; Matt Caspari, managing partner at Alumni Ventures, and Joshua Posamentier, managing partner at Congruent Ventures.
The students who pitched are enrolled in the Haas Impact Fund course and program, part of the Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative at Haas, which gives MBA students hands-on impact investing experience. The fund’s MBA student partners invest in early-stage impact startups throughout the spring semester, leading sourcing and conducting due diligence.
Our third Invest for Impact Pitch Competition for SAIF’s Haas Impact Fund was held on April 29th, 2022. The inaugural in person competition consisted of 5 teams of MBA students who pitched companies for an equity investment of $50,000 to a panel of industry judges.
Throughout the semester, the MBA students sourced and completed due diligence on startups that could deliver high financial returns and positive social/environmental impact. The 10 MBA teams each had an investment thesis with a thematic focus on education, renewable energy, financial inclusion, food & agriculture, health & wellbeing, international development, oceans, sustainable products, supply chain and urban innovation.
“The Haas Impact Fund course gave me a unique perspective and chance to experience a real world impact investing career, more so than any other academic course a business school could offer. Not only did we source over 50 global startup companies working to advance international development (with the help of our amazing mentor, Selcuk Tanatar) but we then evaluated and scrutinized the financial and technical aspects of a dozen companies before pitching our final selection to a panel of actual VCs who tested our proposed investment idea to its limits. I feel extremely fortunate to have had this practical, hands on experience that will hopefully set me up to succeed in an impact investing role someday.” Christina Cairns, MBA 2022
Out of the top teams representing 5 companies at the final event, Mazi Mobility won the pitch competition. Mazi Mobility Incorporated is a Kenyan startup that has strong potential to become the dominant player in the African electric vehicle and mobility (eMobility) sector by providing electric motorbikes, charging infrastructure, and AI software in East Africa.
The companies pitched to the Haas Impact Fund in 2022 were:
Mazi Mobility: Facilitating Africa’s eMobility transformation through smart, efficient and clean shared mobility (Winner)
Thrive Lot: Digital platform connecting local service providers with customers to transform yards into sustainable ecosystems (Top 5)
Zvilo: Unlocking capital in the Balkans through financial digital transformation (Top 5)
Learnfully: Personalized online learning platform that provides recommendations and records progress toward goals
Locale: Marketplace that offers local food products from bakeries, restaurants, farms, and more
Mindco: Providing organizations with effective and accessible mental health programs.
Mars Materials: Working to sequester captured-CO2 into robust, everyday products like affordable carbon fiber—a critical tool for global decarbonization efforts.
Oakstop: convenient and affordable workspace options for artists, startups, non-profits, and freelancers
“The HIF experience was one of the most significant learning classes for me at Haas. I really appreciated the opportunity to speak to impressive global founders for our International Development topic. The world is full of impact oriented, venture backable startups that are tackling wicked problems (UN SDGs). We ran into business models and product innovations with significant impact. I liked it so much that I made my choice to career pivot into the ClimateTech VC sector.” Adriana Penuela-Useche, EWMBA 2022
The Haas Impact Fund course and program is designed to give MBA students hands-on impact investing experience, preparing them to enter a competitive impact venture capital job market at graduation. Next year, MBA students will continue to source new companies for investment alongside developing a portfolio management and stewardship strategy with an opportunity for a $75,000 investment.
In 2021, MBA student interest in the Haas Impact Fund increased substantially, with over four times as many students applying for it this year following its inaugural launch in 2020.
The MBA students focused on sourcing startups that matched their team’s investment thesis and could deliver high financial returns, while generating positive social or environmental impact. The winning startup, 60Hertz, selected at the end of year Invest for Impact Pitch Competition, will be the Haas Impact Fund’s first equity investment.
“We are thrilled that 60Hertz was selected for funding from such a rich field. They provide the missing piece to enable maintenance for distributed microgrids, which has a huge impact for rural electrification and economic empowerment, and we really believe in the 60Hertz team, their traction, and their network to make it happen.” Jack Kerby-Miller, MBA 2021
The 10 MBA teams each pitched a startup they had sourced. The companies were holding active investment rounds and most had not yet raised $1 million, with the focus being on Seed and other early-stage startups. All of the final companies students pitched were co-founded by women or people of color. The companies pitched to the Haas Impact Fund in 2021 were:
Cambium Carbon: 2-sided marketplace selling local urban wood
Hacktiv8: End-to-end Indonesia education platform to create new developers
Swipe Credit: B2B2C software for credit unions and community banks,
KovaDx: Affordable and easy diagnosis of sickle cell disease
True Moringa: Moringa products to improve lives and the environment
Maro: App for preventive interventions for teen mental and sexual health
Matriark Foods: Vegetable broth made from upcycled vegetable remnants
Caresplit: Flexible childcare marketplace for the modern workforce
60Hertz: Maintenance management software for remote electric grids
“One of the most rewarding experiences was getting to know various start-ups that are taking different angles and truly revolutionizing the workforce and housing space. With each company, we were able to practice our sourcing skills by asking tough questions to properly measure risk, assess valuations, and gauge impact.” Catherine Romero-Portillo, MBA 2022
The Haas Impact Fund course and program is designed to give MBA students hands-on impact investing experience, preparing them to enter a competitive impact venture capital job market at graduation. Next year, MBA students will continue to source new companies for investment alongside developing a portfolio management and stewardship strategy.
