Grantee Spotlight: Ken Hynes and Audrey Selian, Artha Networks

Earlier this year, Heading for Change partnered with Artha Networks to undertake ecosystem mapping and to establish a digital investor platform for pipeline and co-investment, with the aim of mobilizing more capital for funds and other initiatives  that combat climate change and gender equality.

Artha’s digital platform will make it easier for investors to discover impactful gender-climate solutions and collaborate with other investors in the space.

We caught up with Artha’s Co-Founders Ken and Audrey to speak about the progress so far, exciting developments in the pipeline and how HfC’s grant has been helping them achieve a greater impact on climate.  

Artha received a grant from HfC to establish a digital investor platform for pipeline and co-investment in climate and gender solutions. Can you share more on the broader vision and how this work is shaping? 

Artha Networks is creating a digital investor platform to mobilize capital for ventures addressing climate and gender challenges. This initiative intends to reduce barriers for investors entering the climate-gender space and better illuminate the growing opportunity set.

The platform is being developed in three phases: stakeholder mapping to identify key players, gaps, and opportunities; pipeline development to showcase curated climate-gender investment opportunities through a secure digital repository with multimedia-rich profiles and peer networking tools; and investor outreach to increase visibility via targeted feeds, events through the Impact for Breakfast Network, and partnerships with platforms like Impact Alpha. By the second year, the project aims to mobilize new investments, attract new investors, and foster ongoing ecosystem growth. Through this effort, Artha seeks to support HfC in building a vibrant community of investors and practitioners while scaling impactful solutions focused on climate and gender challenges, which further honors Suzanne’s legacy in advancing impactful networks and catalytic, collective action.

What can investors expect from the platform once it’s live and how will it help them invest more intentionally at the climate-gender nexus? How can interested partners engage?

The HfC Artha Networks platform offers investors a robust, secure digital tool designed to simplify and amplify their investments at the climate-gender nexus. The platform provides access to a curated pipeline of proven climate-gender investment fund opportunities, allowing investors to discover, assess, and collaborate on funds and projects aligned with their missions.

Key features include detailed profiles of investment opportunities with metrics on impact and use of funds, customizable due diligence templates to streamline evaluations, and a personalized dashboard to track engagement and progress. By embedding climate and gender considerations throughout its workflow, the platform ensures investments drive both resilience and equityIt also facilitates collaboration through networking tools and shared due diligence spaces, reducing transaction costs and fostering co-investment and shared learning.

Interested partners can engage by sending us an email, joining outreach events planned for 2025, or contributing to the growing ecosystem of climate-gender solutions through their expertise, networks or investments. This platform ultimately aims to bridge gaps in the climate-gender investment space, aligning with Heading for Change's mission to mobilize capital for impactful, inclusive, and sustainable ventures.

Tell us more about the ecosystem mapping work that’s currently in progress - how can this bridge gaps in the climate and gender field?  

We have undertaken and are currently still in the process of a profiling and researching exercise across a wide number of databases and networks that we are part of in order to zone in on investors, donors and fund management teams whose work integrates and exemplifies the narratives of climate and gender.

What has inspired the interest/commitment to growing the climate and gender finance field? 

Artha’s inspiration for our interest and commitment to this growing field comes from the direct practical experience of having invested in Artha Impact portfolio companies and funds in the Indian context – the vast majority of which leverage the 2X criteria, and from having understood what a major strength this has brought to the impact strategy of the Singh Family Trust (whose core impact initiative is indeed, Artha).  

So much of this has begun from the experience of impact investing ourselves, as  practitioners. We understand well how important these interventions are and the strength that a strong gender lens imbues upon the vehicles, models and the strategies that are most effective at supporting strong access and livelihood models for underserved communities.  

The other main inspiration, of course, has been a nearly 20-year friendship and collaboration with the late Suzanne Biegel, whose leadership in this domain has positively impacted so many; as a result, we have long been sensitized to the gender lens and feel strongly about the importance of catalyzing as much capital as possible for climate focused interventions. 

Find out more about Heading for Change’s grant strategy, criteria and current grantees here.