The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has announced that they’ve hit the $250 million goal for their Black Economic Development Fund.

As a result of hitting this goal, they’ve also announced that they’re investing in Black-led banks and real estate development opportunities. 

In a press release announcement, it was revealed that this fund was first funded last summer. It was part of LISC’s Project 10X, a $1 billion strategy to address racial gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity. The private investment fund has raised capital from 11 public and private corporations, with McKinsey and Company recently coming in with $15 million.

Corporate investors in the Black Economic Development Fund include Netflix, which helped launch the fund, Paypal, Costco, Square, Inc., Aflac, Wayfair, DuPont, McKinsey and Co., ThermoFisher, HubSpot, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

“We’re excited about the outpouring of interest from impact investors because it speaks not only to the quality of the fund but to a deepening recognition that access to capital is what facilitates access to opportunity,” said George Ashton, managing director of LISC Strategic Investments, the fund management arm of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), one of the country’s largest community finance organizations, in the press release announcement.

“The Black Economic Development Fund allows us to make an impact by investing in Black and Brown talent who want to be in this industry and ensure they prosper,” said Buwa Binitie, with Dantes Partners.

Dantes Partners, a Washington D.C. -based firm, is one of the five companies that received a financial investment from the Black Economic Development Fund.

The other companies are Phoenix Adams Rising of Jacksonville, FL; Pittsburgh’s Bridging The Gap; Unity National Bank of Houston; and Optus Bank of Columbia, South Carolina.

The Black Economic Development Fund (BEDF) is an impact investment fund built to address economic challenges in Black communities and to help close the racial wealth gap. The fund targets Black-led financial institutions, businesses, real estate developers, and anchor institutions with the goal of growing these organizations and strengthening their contributions to Black communities.

More information about the fund can be found here.