Portfolio Partner Profile

Community Investment Management LLC (CIM)

Community Investment Management LLC (CIM) is an institutional impact investment manager which provides strategic debt capital to demonstrate and scale responsible innovation in lending for underserved communities. CIM seeks to deliver positive social impact by partnering with innovative credit providers offering responsible and transparent financial solutions to underserved communities.

Featured Impact Story

Impact Story

Empower, a San Francisco-based financial technology company

One of CIM's fintech partners is Empower, which helps its users manage their finances and avoid expensive overdraft and late fees. By providing customers with value-add services and fast access to cash through salary advances, Empower helps to improve its users’ financial health. Early access to earned wages allows Empower’s customers to meet urgent expenses without falling into costly debt traps. Through its Cash Advance product, Empower users get instant access to advances for a small monthly subscription fee. Customers can reliably get needed liquidity without facing unpredictable fees and costs. Those that prove their creditworthiness with Advance can graduate to Thrive, a line of credit that allows users to build their credit score and eventually access increasingly lower cost credit. CIM's facility assists Empower to demonstrate and scale its platform to meet increasing customer demand.

Catherine E. is one of the many users that has benefited from Empower. When her fiancé’s mom died, her family struggled to stay on top of current bills and funeral expenses. She learned that she qualified for a Cash Advance from Empower and was able to cover some of her family's expenses. "I know $250 might not be a lot to some, but when you don’t have money at your disposal, your view of money changes." Learn more about Catherine's story and others here.

Impact Story

Gynger, a New York-based financing platform

One of CIM’s partners is Gynger, a New York-based financing platform that helps businesses buy software and technology by providing capital loans and flexible payment options. The company's mission is to combine software with capital to enable businesses to scale with the technology that they need and love. The platform enables businesses to pay, finance, and manage all of their technology expenses from one dashboard. For tech vendors, Gynger provides an opportunity to extend flexible payment options to their customers while still getting paid upfront. CIM's facility with Gynger will help the company to scale its financing of technology spend to meet increasing customer demand.

Lovd is one of the many businesses that has benefited from Gynger. Lovd is a marketplace that simplifies the process of selling used tech such as laptops, cell phones and smartwatches. During a time of critical growth, Lovd sought a financing solution that would allow them to access the tools they needed while maintaining capital efficiency. With the help of Gynger financing, Lovd was able to commit to their vendors’ upfront contracts while still spreading out their costs over time. The savings and cash flow benefits allowed the company to focus on building its business instead of over-budgeting for SaaS. Learn more about Lovd's story here.