The Impact Engine

The Impact Engine

The Impact Engine launched in 2012 as an impact investing accelerator, later transitioning into an institutional private equity and venture capital firm. CEO and Managing Partner Jessica Droste Yagan and Partner and CIO Tasha Seitz lead the Chicago-based team. The firm explicitly pursues market-rate returns while targeting positive, measurable impacts in economic empowerment, health equity, and environmental sustainability. The firm invests across two primary vehicles: an early-stage venture capital strategy focused on technology-enabled solutions, and a growth private equity strategy for more mature companies. In venture, The Impact Engine participates in Seed through Series B rounds, backing companies that build products for underserved populations. Their growth equity practice targets later-stage businesses with proven revenue models and a clear path to scaling social impact. Portfolio exposure spans healthcare services, education technology, sustainable agriculture, and financial inclusion. Geographic focus is primarily United States-based, with an emphasis on businesses serving communities overlooked by conventional venture capital. The firm has backed companies including mRelief, a platform simplifying access to food assistance, and Literably, a literacy assessment tool. The Impact Engine has raised multiple committed funds, deploying capital into approximately two dozen portfolio companies. Beyond fund management, the team operates an active community of practice, publishing research on impact measurement and convening limited partners around emerging best practices. The firm expanded its team and closed its third institutional fund in 2023, deepening its commitment to Chicago's growing impact investing ecosystem. What structurally differentiates The Impact Engine is its refusal to treat impact as a secondary screen. The firm's investment committee evaluates every opportunity against a proprietary impact framework that measures depth, scale, and additionality of social outcomes — with equal weight to financial return projections. This integrated diligence process, developed over a decade of iteration following the firm's accelerator origins, gives The Impact Engine a distinct edge in sourcing companies that traditional managers overlook before they reach institutional scale.