Feb 19, 2026 | Glen Korstrom | BIV Business Intelligence for B.C.
Fund invests in projects that help the environment or Indigenous people
Jeff Cyr is founder and managing partner at Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds Inc. submitted
Investments in B.C. Indigenous projects could come soon now that Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds Inc. has made its second close on its Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund I, with $32.2 million.
Jeff Cyr, founder and managing partner, told BIV Thursday that his company is involved in "active due diligence" related to two potential investments with Indigenous communities in B.C.
His company first launched the fund with more than $20 million invested in late 2024, and it has made five investments totalling around $8 million, he said. None of those were in B.C., added Cyr, who has 11 employees, including three based in B.C.
A recent capital raise to the fund generated between $12 million and $13 million in new money, which came from CAP Finance Social Finance Fund, the Northpine Foundation, the Eclipx Family Office and other investors, Cyr said.
Those investors were likely attracted to what Cyr estimated would be a return of between four per cent and seven per cent for "what I would call a stable return profile for low risk." He added that investors also are interested in having their money provide "high impact," or essentially to be put to good use by helping the environment and Indigenous people.
"This fund, as part of its investment strategy, is focused on climate adaptation, or what we call the health of Mother Earth, and the health of Indigenous people," Cyr said.
Investments by the fund are not made to buy equity stakes nor do they take the form of loans. Rather, they are done through what Cyr described as service agreements.
Previous investments have included capital sent to First Nations or Indigenous social enterprises to retrofit homes and to make energy use more efficient by installing new geothermal units. As part of that work, provincial governments and the federal governments provided subsidies, of which the fund gets a slice, Cyr said.
A second fund may launch, Cyr said, adding he is aiming for it to potentially raise up to $100 million.
That second fund would have a similar mandate to help the environment or Indigenous people but it would need to be a separate fund because of how funds are structured, he explained.
"You have to close a fund and then return the capital to the investors," he said. "Then you can open your next fund. Otherwise, it's called an evergreen fund and there is a different sort of financial structure in there."