The Missing Middle

A case study in social investing: The ‘Missing Middle’

A quick portrait on the social investment landscape in Canada highlights the challenges that businesses like La Siembra meet along the path towards successful growth.

The social investment scene in Canada
In the UK and in the US, there is an increasing number of progressive investors – both individual and institutional – making capital available for social enterprises to flourish. Research has demonstrated that in Canada, the availability of social finance is limited. It is relatively easy in Canada to raise $20,000 in capital to start up a social business with the support of grants from enlightened investors, social investment clubs, small business grants from local foundations or government, or community investment funds. Similarly, investment capital for larger social enterprises in the business of urban social housing or alternative energy is available through forms of government support or through venture capital investors who are anxious to see a strong return on their investment.

The challenge: the ‘Missing Middle’
We feel that La Siembra Co-operative is a leader in the field of social enterprise in Canada; however, the Co-op suffers from what has been identified in social financing as “the missing middle” of the investment spectrum. If a social business needs $100,000 to $500,000 to launch or to expand, there is no obvious marketplace to seek that scale of financial support. There are nascent efforts to create a Canadian Social Stock Exchange, in which La Siembra is involved, and there are discussions of a social “mutual fund” product that would hold a variety of social stocks, bonds and debts. However, these projects will take time and perseverance.

The solution
La Siembra files an offering statement annually with securities regulators in order to offer private shares to individuals across Canada. This unique investment opportunity reflects our approach to business: financial returns have been relatively modest, but the social returns are tremendous.

If you are interested in learning more about the private share offering, please contact our Investor Relations team at invest@lasiembra.com, or call us at
613-235-6122.