Vancouver-based Raven Indigenous Capital Partners will use the money to invest in companies working in four areas: media, tourism, cleantech and natural products. Raven is looking to make investments of between $250,000 to $1 million, and hopes to raise a total of $5 million for the fund by October. (Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Raven, which is targeting six to eight per cent returns, bills itself as the first Indigenous investment fund of its kind. In April, Toronto-based Bridging Finance also launched a new fund, which it billed as the first Indigenous-focused fund to project eight per cent returns. Both firms’ claim to being first are reasonable, since Raven is a VC firm, and Bridging provides debt financing. The two will be competing for similar business, though, and they may not be the only ones in the space for long. There’s a pipeline of deals worth between $400 million and $500 million in this kind of ethical investing. And, the federal government is trying to draw more interest in the space via grants for Indigenous people looking to patent their intellectual property, and $100 million to help Indigenous-led small businesses attract more investments.