Bob Pattillo is an entrepreneur and founder of
Gray Ghost Ventures
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...
,
Gray Matters Capital
Gray Matters Capital is an impact investing foundation founded by Bob Pattillo. Its mission is to achieve "An education leading to a purpose filled life for 100, Million Women by 2036." GMC is based in Atlanta, Georgia with global offices in Nai ...
, First Light Ventures, GMC Ratings, GGMF, ISFC, and IDEX and co-founder of Bellwether Fund, ASA Intl, and
Village Capital
Village Capital is a venture capital firm that finds, trains, and invests in early-stage ventures solving major global problems in agriculture, education, energy, financial inclusion, and health. VilCap Investments, LLC is its affiliated, managed ...
. Gray Matters Capital (GMC) is an Impact Investing Enterprise that actively invests in education for low income students in emerging markets. GMC's mission is an education leading to a purpose filled life for 100 million women.
He has served as an adviser to global investors and foundations. His funds and/or investments have participated in sales of RentBureau / Experian, Movirtu /
BlackBerry Limited
BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...
, Cell Bazaar /
Telenor
Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
. His interviews are featured by SOCAP and Emory University
Career
In real estate, he took over a family business, then founded Robert Pattillo Properties in 1994 and pioneered the "STCDE" shell, a spec building concept that took Robert Pattillo Properties to 8th on the list of the largest industrial developers in the United States. He began working in microfinance in 1998 and sold a 54-year-old business in 2003 from the influence of his 11-year-old daughter to focus solely on impact investment and enterprise development.
In 2001, Pattillo founded the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, a $69m fund that focuses on regional equity microfinance funds that supply start-up and expansion capital to microfinance institutions around the world. In 2016 according to a report by BCorp four of the top five impact funds over the last 14 years were led by investments from GGMF.
In 2006, Pattillo began investing in
social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
Social enterprises ca ...
through his Gray Matters Capital Foundation, and in 2008 he invested in Gray Ghost DOEN Social Ventures Coöperatief, alongside the DOEN Foundation. The portfolio includes d.light, MKopa, and BKash. In its work in social ventures, he has coinvested alongside
Acumen Fund
Acumen (formerly known as Acumen Fund, legally Acumen Fund, Inc.) is a nonprofit impact investment fund focused on investing in social enterprises that serve low-income individuals in United States. Acumen was founded in April 2001 by Jacqueline ...
, the
Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over $1.5billion to n ...
, and
Shell Foundation
The Shell Foundation is an initiative of the oil major Royal Dutch Shell, envisioned in 1997,European Venture Philanthropy Association http://evpa.eu.com/membership/country/uk/4369 as a worldwide, social investment initiative to concentrate on wor ...
. Pattillo helped found Village Capital and IDEX.
Awards and recognition
Pattillo has been named one of Forbes' Top 30 social entrepreneurs of 2011.
[Forbes]
''30 Top Social Entrepreneurs''
30 Nov 2011. He has also served as a Director of
Accion International, Microvest, ASA International, Antares, Mix Markets, d.light, Council for Microfinance Equity Funds, and the Indian School Finance Company. He was the Keynote Speaker at SOCAP, Sanabel, The UN Conference on Microfinance (with
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
), Goldman Sachs Global Partners meeting, Accion Global Conference, and Consortium Launch (with
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
).
References
External links
Gray Matters CapitalFirst Light India AcceleratorVillage CapitalBob Pattillo Creativity Conversation, Emory UniversityBob Pattillo SOCAP InterviewStanford Social Innovation Review, ''Private Schools for the Poor''Harvard Business Review, ''Creating Shared Value''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pattillo, Bob
Social entrepreneurs
Microfinance people
Living people
Businesspeople from Atlanta
Year of birth missing (living people)