Etsy Puts $30 Million of Its Cash into Special Investment Fund

Etsy is putting $30 million of its cash into a fund earmarked for investing in projects that will expand its efforts to foster economic empowerment and promote sustainability. Note that Etsy had ended 2022 with $921 million in cash and cash equivalents. Adding in short- and long-term investments, the number was $1.2 billion.

In announcing the new fund, Chelsea Mozen, Etsy’s Senior Director of Impact & Sustainability, said, “Etsy’s investments through this fund align with our impact goals to help accelerate the development of the creative economy, support financially underserved communities, and promote environmental sustainability.”

Etsy partnered with Impact Assets and deposited $30 million for the program at City First Bank, one of the largest Black-led Minority Depository Institutions in the nation, which Mozen said has a track record of opening doors for entrepreneurs from marginalized and low-income communities.

The new fund kicked off with investments with two organizations:

• Grameen America provides capital, training and support to aspiring women business owners from low-income and marginalized communities, to help create transformative economic opportunities.
• We’ll also direct capital toward Greenbacker Capital Management, an investment firm that catalyzes growth in renewable energy technology and connects investors with innovations aimed at reversing the climate crisis.

Mozen said what’s good for people is good for business. “We’ve learned from our previous work that when people have access to the resources they need to thrive, they are able to not only uplift themselves, but their families, the communities they live in and their local economies with them.”

She also mentioned the company’s 2021 launch of the Etsy Uplift Fund, which supports nonprofits that work to lower barriers to entrepreneurship and creates opportunities for economically disenfranchised communities. “In addition to Etsy’s contributions to the fund, we’ve been especially moved by our buyers’ excitement to support small businesses – in 2022 alone, U.S. buyers elected to donate the change on their orders more than 6.4 million times. This enabled us to distribute approximately $2.5 million in grants last year.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.