TORONTO, ON, December 2, 2013 – Today, Youth Social Innovation Capital Fund (YSI) announced it has invested in two social enterprises: Growth Mosaic and MENTORnetwork. YSI investments will contribute to the successful growth of these ventures.
Founded by Wayne Miranda, Growth Mosaic prepares West-African social enterprises to access and manage growth capital. Growth Mosaic offers services to their clients that improve operational efficiency, lower costs, and increase the viability of becoming attractive investment opportunities. With five years of business development experience in sub-Saharan Africa, Wayne is a strong believer in the hypothesis that job creation is the ultimate poverty reduction tool. A graduate of the University of Waterloo, Wayne held numerous positions at Engineers Without Borders Canada prior to launching Growth Mosaic.
YSI’s second investment is in Jeremy O’Krafka’s MENTORnetwork, a social enterprise committed to creating a culture of mentorship across Canada. MENTORnetwork develops programs and resources to support individuals accessing mentorship. Their online mentor-matching platform called MENTORup provides a network of mentors to support entrepreneurs and social innovators in the Greater Toronto Area. Jeremy is a member of CSI Regent Park, client of ventureLAB, graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, past-President of JCI (Junior Chamber International) Toronto, acted as the Corporate Partnerships Lead for BizLaunch, and produced a Guinness World Record setting event with the Ontario Centres of Excellence for the “World’s Largest Business Mentoring Event”.
Growth Mosaic and MENTORnetwork create powerful positive impact in the societies in which they operate. YSI is looking forward to playing a pivotal role in supporting the financial, social, and environmental goals of these social enterprises. We are proud to add an investment with local impact and an investment with international impact to our portfolio.
-Jory Cohen, Managing Director
YSI invests in young social entrepreneurs and their social enterprises to drive the creation of sustainable financial, social and environmental value. For more information, go to www.youthsocialinnovation.org or contact info@youthsocialinnovation.org.
