Catalytic Capital Fund

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February 2025

Interview with Mi-Lin Finnie; Managing Partner of Catalytic Capital Fund

Jen: How was the “Catalytic Capital Fund” Created? 

Mi-Lin: First Australians Capital was founded to fill a gap that our founders identified—the unfair barriers that First Nations businesses faced in accessing capital. From an original idea back in 2010, First Australians Capital Ltd. was established in 2016, initially providing capacity building and seed funding for micro and early-stage businesses. Our Catalytic Impact Fund achieved its first close in May 2024.

FAC’s three First Nations founders, Leah Armstrong, Adrian Appo and Jocelyn King joined with Jane Pound, a corporate lawyer, to build an organisation and fund designed to support Indigenous entrepreneurs and help them access the support and funding they needed to build sustainable businesses. 

Jen: How are your investment funds catalytic in a way that is different from other funds?

Mi-Lin: FAC was founded to do things differently. We know that traditional finance,with the ‘6 C’s’ approach to credit assessment and western approaches to risk, doesn’t always work for First Nations businesses. We are also aware that many Indigenous businesses in the past have been forced to seek funding from non-bank lenders who mitigate their perceived risk with high interest rates or predatory lending tactics.  

Instead, FAC has been structured to approach lending with an Impact First lens. That means we take a culturally informed investment framework that offers an alternative to traditional credit assessments, and supplement that with a “Right Capital, Right Support” model which ensures businesses receive the right resources and guidance to set them up for success. This not only provides valuable support for entrepreneurs, but also helps us de-risk our investments!

With an Impact First approach, we can move away from conventional risk pricing and instead focus on valuing and pricing the impact generated. FAC’s pricing tends to sit between secured and unsecured published bank rates for SME business lending, which means that the Fund offers accessible and affordable finance competitively with bank lenders. We’re able to offer even more attractive pricing where a significant impact is expected to be delivered, and have a focus on specific growth industries where vital cultural and natural advantages may be achieved.
Our business support model, Right Capital, Right Support, is designed to balance capital needs with  business advice and guidance. We obviously want to make sure we’re offering the right product fit. We take into account the business goals and their capital management strategy. We can tailor solutions for each specific business – making sure that we not only meet the capital needs of that business in the short term, but also allow for flexibility to change terms over time if required. 

But capital isn’t always the full answer. Providing tailored business support not only de-risks our lending but also adds value to the business by building skills and knowledge or providing access to experts through our networks. We have access to a broad range of professionals so can refer businesses to pro-bono or low-bono legal, marketing and financial accounting services, and specialized services including export market development, industry-specific insights and advanced business analytics. 

So, in a nutshell, to return to your question: we’re different because our focus is different, our approach is different from traditional lenders, and our services don’t end when the loan is drawn down – in fact that’s when much of the business support really kicks in!

Jen: How do you describe the kind of non-financial returns the fund offers?

Mi-Lin:  We recently had a team day where we had three businesses that we had funded come to speak to the team about their experiences, drivers, dreams and business aspirations. In my whole career prior to FAC, I’m not sure I’ve ever been in sessions that so powerfully demonstrated the impact that an organization can have. Each entrepreneur spoke about their difficulty accessing funding, and the (non-financial) benefits that building their business had supported. 

FAC was founded by people who knew how powerful business building could be for individuals, families and communities, but it was incredible to hear, first hand, how our impact approach actually plays out. 

We have metrics across five key impact areas: intergenerational wealth creation, thriving First Nations businesses, economic self-determination, impacts on community, country and culture and racial equality and financial inclusion. Each business that came in that day was able to speak to those areas (unprompted!) and articulate how their business had made a difference. 

The entrepreneurs spoke about the difference that owning a successful business had made to their families. They spoke about their renewed connection to Country and Water. They all discussed how they give back to Community and how running a business had made them an example to others – demonstrating that First Nations knowledge, skills, and hard work can genuinely produce incredible impact. 

More broadly, we measure these metrics annually. Impact from the last 3 years is available in our FY23 Flagship Impact Report: https://firstaustralianscapital.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kolang-Kowa-FAC-Impact-Report.pdf

Jen: Can you describe how you use integrated capital to do your work?

Mi-Lin: Integrated capital is a synonym for FAC’s ‘Right Capital, Right Support’ model. We have a team that works directly with businesses – developing a ‘trusted advisor’ status with the owner. Their objectives include helping the owner become a more effective leader, in order to support the business growth and foster sustainable impact. 

The Business Advisors work with each business to determine their support needs, and then develop a support plan in conjunction with the owner. That might include helping them better understand their industry or market; enhancing their ability to leverage their Cultural Intellectual Property (First Nations ICIP) to thrive in their chosen business space; providing enterprise connections, strategic advice, or specialised business services; and, of course, access to capital through the Fund.

The Fund products are designed to enhance the business’s repayment capacity, taking into consideration  the unique needs and characteristics of the First Nations business sector. FAC’s current objective is to provide a range of products, including working capital loans, term loans, secured asset and property lending, and mezzanine and project finance. Many of these feature patient terms, with the Fund focusing on providing capital in stages as the business grows.

Leanne King - Wollombi Cultural Experiences
Leanne King – Wollombi cultural Experiences

Jen: How do you address racial justice, income inequality, and/or gender justice through your products and services?

Mi-Lin: It’s interesting that most funders have to ‘address’ racial justice, income inequality and gender justice. I don’t see it that way for FAC, because all that is built into our DNA.

FAC is majority First Nations-led and controlled. Three out of four founders were Indigenous – and 8 years later, one chairs the board, and one is a Managing Partner. Three out of the four founders were women. I’m a proud Anaiwan and Maltese woman. The organisation was set up to build resilient First Nations economic outcomes, by addressing institutional racism – so racial justice and income inequality are literally baked in. 

One area where we’re still working hard, is to get First Nations women through the growth phase from micro- to medium-sized business. Our vision is to empower First Nations women to build, sustain, and scale their businesses through culturally informed and community-driven strategies that address financial, social, and structural barriers. We’re working through a process to provide comprehensive support across the whole business lifecycle—from ideation to growth—through grants, equity, debt financing, capability development, and expanded networks. This strategy is informed by Indigenous knowledge systems and will support First Nations women to thrive as economic leaders.

We have a 10-year goal to contribute to catalysing positive impact for up to 10,000 First Nations economic participants (direct beneficiaries) over 10 years through FAC’s 10-year strategic plan – https://firstaustralianscapital.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1.-FINAL-FAC-Strategy-external-use-okay.pdf

Jen: Can you share an example of an investment with us? 

Mi-Lin: WV Technologies (wvtech.com.au) is a IT decommissioning company certified as a Social and First Nations Enterprise. They specialise in data destruction, secure IT disposal, asset buyback, hardware supply, and e-waste recycling – supporting other businesses by ensuring their data remains secure, and that all e-waste is disposed of in ways that are environmentally friendly. 

In addition, WV Tech also provides employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander at-risk youth and long-term unemployed people.

FAC has supported the business to enabled them to take the time and resources necessary to deliver the key activities associated with increasing production, optimising operations, and expanding customer accounts.

Jen: What do you tell people who think your fund is risky?

Mi-Lin: “Risk” is a term that, in a finance context, measures the probability that the business will not achieve a specific outcome – which in traditional (bank) lending means defaulting on facilities and not meeting contractual obligations. With an ‘Impact first’ approach, we prioritise impact as our expected outcome, whilst supporting business sustainability. 

First Nations businesses tend to have outsized social return on investment (see Supply Nation’s SROI report, Sleeping Giants, which demonstrates that for every dollar of revenue, Indigenous businesses create $4.41 of economic and social value). First Nations businesses employ more First Nations people, give more back to Community and are more likely to be environmentally sustainable. So from an impact perspective, the risk is far lower than the average deal. 

It’s also important to note that First Nations did not have a physical fiat currency before colonisation. Our only currency was relational. So culturally, our first and strongest commitment is to our family, community and Country. That’s why FAC’s relational approach is so important. By developing those close ‘trusted advisor’ relationships, we are significantly de-risking the deal. 

In addition to all that, we can also provide the ‘wrap-around’ support a business needs – whether that’s financial, legal, marketing or access to networks. We’re not providing funding in a vacuum. We’re doing all we can to enable that business to be successful. 

And finally, we work with the business to provide a financial solution that works for them. Our products are flexible, competitive and we’re able to structure a deal that includes patient lending, finance holidays and terms that change over time – all of which significantly changes the financial risk. 

So – when people say they think investing in First Nations businesses is risky? I say NOT investing in First Nations businesses is more of a risk. 

Investment Thesis/What is your rationale for your approach to investing? 

FAC’s Catalytic Impact Fund is Australia’s first First Nations-led impact fund. It bridges the financial gap between banking and investment markets and the First Nations economy to drive economic empowerment and inclusion across communities.

The Fund provides accessible, affordable, and flexible debt and patient finance, investing in a targeted and diversified portfolio of predominantly small and medium-sized (SME) First Nations businesses and First Nations community organisations based in Australia (Investees). The Fund is also pioneering a unique culturally informed investment framework that upholds First Nations rights to self-determination under UNDRIP.

The Fund is designed to achieve capital preservation of investor capital with the opportunity for concessional return. Fund Products are intended to support the serviceability of repayment by Investees and meet the needs of the First Nations business sector.

FAC also provides ongoing technical assistance to Investees (Businesses) and supports a range of funding purposes to catalyse the First Nations business sector in Australia and develop a pipeline of talented First Nations entrepreneurs who would otherwise not have access to capital.

Geography:  Australia

Year Founded: 2021

# of Investments: 61

# of Investors: 21 (donors, funders, supporters, investors) 

Funds Raised: $58,000,000 since inception

What’s on Mi-Lin’s Mind?

I recently met with Kay Langford who is an inspiring and energetic business coach who writes fabulous blogs, has great content available on her website and also finds the time to produce a podcast to support start-up and emerging entrepreneurs.