Allivate Impact Capital Announces New Employee Ownership Fund

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS, August 26, 2025 — Allivate Impact Capital®, a subsidiary of Woodforest Financial Group, Inc., today announced the firm launched the Allivate Employee Ownership Fund. The Fund aligns the power of employee ownership alongside measurable social impact including a focus on job quality and preservation; and wealth building among employees of the Fund’s portfolio companies. The Fund will provide capital for business owners who are looking to retire or reduce “day-to-day” involvement in their business and wish to leave their legacy in the hands of the management team and employees who will ensure its continued long-term growth and success.

Noelle St.Clair Lentz, CEO and Managing Director, Allivate Impact Capital, shared, "Employee ownership is a powerful tool for stabilizing jobs in local economies and bridging our nation’s chronic wealth gap. It is a promising area for impact investment as employee-owned companies tend to outperform their competitors as employees shift to an ownership mindset. Allivate’s parent company is a long-established ESOP with 4,000+ participants, and we are uniquely aligned with business owners who may be considering the benefits of transitioning to an employee ownership structure."

The Fund will provide subordinated debt capital to business owners considering a full or partial transition to an employee ownership structure as part of a business’ succession plan. The Fund is seeking long-established privately owned businesses with a strong position in regional or national markets that have over 40 employees.

"Employee ownership is a proven triple-win strategy. It benefits the business owners, empowers employees, and sustains the local economy where those employees live and work. In my view, the single greatest barrier to wider adoption of employee ownership is simply a lack of awareness about the different models available. A close second is the limited access to capital to fund these transitions. Retiring business owners are frequently presented with all-cash offers from third-party buyers. Buyers who often have no real stake in the long-term well-being of the business or its employees. While employee ownership checks nearly every box for a thoughtful exit (legacy, culture, continuity, and impact), the absence of significant cash at closing often becomes the deciding factor. Having more funds like the Allivate Employee Ownership Fund is critical to expanding the number of worker owners in our country and I am excited to see the Allivate team join the small handful of funds dedicated to employee ownership transactions," said Steve Storkan, Executive Director, Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX).

Alison Lingane, Founder, Ownership Capital Lab added, "It is an incredibly exciting time in employee ownership, as we are seeing increased interest among business owners and investors alike. This makes it a great time to see new funds coming to market—like the Allivate Employee Ownership Fund—which are designed to create impactful employee-owned businesses that root longstanding companies in their local economies and create paths to business ownership for the entire workforce."

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About Allivate Impact Capital

Allivate Impact Capital is an impact investing firm with the goal of delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns from investments while creating measurable positive social impact. Our team uses innovative capital solutions to elevate communities, alleviate poverty, and activate entrepreneurial ecosystems. The company manages capital across asset classes in responsive ways to meet the needs of communities lacking access to funds needed to bring underutilized assets to their full potential. As a subsidiary of Woodforest Financial Group, Allivate Impact Capital leverages a global award-winning, and industry leading Community Development Team to achieve their goals. Learn more at https://allivate.com. Follow us on LinkedIn @Allivate Impact Capital.

CONTACT
Noelle St.Clair Lentz at noelle@allivate.com

For media inquiries contact Perashina LaMotte, CCO, at perashina@allivate.com