Impact Investing and the Public Sector
Creating Jobs, Driving Profits
October 7, 2010
Dave Chen
Dave Chen's commitment to sustainability is a result of his work in venture capital, regional economic development and energy policy. Throughout his career, Dave has seen the greatest impact – financially and personally – when his heart was tied to operational goals. In founding Equilibrium Capital Group (eq-cap), Dave's plan is to repeat that pattern. In 2007, Dave was a visiting executive at the Meyer Memorial Trust developing an investing thesis on mission-related investing (MRI); this tool has since been adopted by several institutions. In late 2007, he applied the MRI findings to form Equilibrium Capital Group, an Oregon-based holding company building a portfolio of operating companies managing assets in key sustainability sectors. Each of these companies is charged with executing a unique investment strategy in a targeted area: green buildings; resource efficiency; energy; water; land; carbon; and agriculture. Previously, Dave was a general partner at OVP Venture Partners, joining the firm in 2001. His investments at OVP include @once (acquired by InfoUSA), Ambric, Intelligent Results (acquired by First Data), Net6 (acquired by Citrix), Tzero and UXComm. He served on the board of @mobile prior to its acquisition by Software.com. Until 2002 Dave served on the board of HNC Software when it was merged with FICO (NASDAQ:HNCS, now NYSE:FIC). Dave has a B.A. in biology, from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.M. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Dave is co-owner of Patton Valley Vineyards, committed to making the finest Pinot Noir based on sustainable vineyard practices.
