January 26, 2021
For nearly three decades, Advantage Capital’s approach to impact has placed an emphasis and laser focus on deploying capital so small businesses can retain and grow jobs in some of the most distressed communities in the country. While we were recognized for this work recently in Real Leaders, as one of the world’s top impact companies, this award is deeply tied to the business owners and operators we support. With focused resources and backing, they are leading the charge to help drive deep impacts in their communities through good jobs, strong wages and benefits, and clear pathways for advancement. Beyond this, many of the entrepreneurs and businesses we support are also centered around their own unique promise and mission. For instance, Advanced Enviro Systems, one of our portfolio companies, ranks No. 90 on the Real Leaders list for its work in reducing, recycling and eliminating waste. We are thrilled to celebrate the businesses in our portfolio, like Advanced Enviro Systems and so many others that, like us, are building up communities and the world around them.
Impacting the COVID vaccine supply chain
In late November, as vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna received FDA approval, Stirling Ultracold in Athens, Ohio was poised to step up in a big way. The company is the only manufacturer of ultra-low temperature cold chain storage products that can thermally protect vaccines needing to be stored between -20 and -80 Celsius. As a critical resource in the transport and storage of the vaccine, Stirling Ultracold is not only making a global impact, it has had a strong bearing in its community as well. When others were trimming workers because of the pandemic, Stirling continued to hire and now boasts a 150-strong workforce. The company provides good, quality jobs that lead to household stability, building up families and communities.
Advancing the medical field
In New York City, Modern MD operates eight clinics in economically and medically underserved communities throughout Brooklyn and Queens where on average 20% or more of the population lives below the poverty line. The critical services provided by Modern MD helps divert traffic away from emergency rooms, offering people a viable alternative for medical treatment. The company also hires directly from the nearby neighborhoods, putting good jobs in reach for local residents. Across the state in Ithaca New York, Rheonix has led the charge in developing COVID-19 tests with same day-results. The company’s work has been critical in disseminating testing units to medical facilities throughout its community.
Utah-based digital biology company, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, is industrializing drug discovery by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Last spring, as the race to find compounds and therapies to combat COVID-19 ramped up, Recursion partnered with a local Salt Lake City laboratory to screen thousands of FDA-approved compounds to determine their effectiveness against the virus. The company released its first data set, RxRx19 outlining the therapeutic potential of more than 1,600 small molecules researchers can use around the world in advancing therapies to fight against COVID-19.
Environment and sustainability efforts
Businesses across our portfolio have very diverse impacts on the communities around them. Companies like New Jersey-based Advanced Enviro Systems has worked to reduce all forms of organizational waste using innovation, logistics and technologies. The company—a Certified B-Corp– sees doing good as good business and seeks to create waste reduction strategies that produce environmental improvement results.
On the other side of the country in Oregon, Brew Dr. Kombucha manufacturers its products using 100% renewable energy. Additionally, the company donates a percentage of its sales to 1% of the Planet, a nonprofit that seeks to promote environmental solutions, as well as Ecology in Classrooms Outdoors, an elementary school enrichment program that introduces science and environmental awareness to school children across Oregon.
While this is a small sampling, many of our portfolio companies are influencing their communities and the world around them in tremendous ways. This award is also for those portfolio companies – the entrepreneurs and workers who every day are making a ripple effect for good in their communities and beyond.
The investments, portfolio companies and recommendations listed on this website represent only a sample of companies that have received investment capital from Advantage Capital-related entities. It should not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or will equal the performance of the securities highlighted herein or contained in any other information provided by Advantage Capital. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. For a full list of companies, please click here.
