CLEAN AND GREEN: DAVE KIRKPATRICK'S NATURAL AFFINITY FOR SOCIAL-MINDED ENTREPRENEURS PROPELS A DURHAM INVESTMENT FIRM.

AuthorDykes, David
PositionNC TREND: Money talk: North Carolina's financial set

Dave Kirkpatrick's love of the environment grew from fishing trips with his dad and a freshman orientation program at Duke University that included backpacking in western North Carolina. Over the ensuing decades, the co-founder and managing director of Durham-based SJF Ventures has shown an ability to make lots of green by investing in sustainable, environmentally friendly projects.

Since 1999, SJF has backed more than 60 companies that innovate in technology, sustainability and resource efficiency, from brokers of pre-owned laboratory equipment to manufacturers of natural cosmetics and cleaning products. While he won't divulge details about the $260 million invested through SJF's four funds, the "returns have been competitive at or above venture-capital benchmarks," Kirkpatrick says. Industry officials peg successful VC returns at about 15% to 20% compounded annually.

That prowess has led to offices in New York, San Francisco and Seatde, giving SJF a national presence and connections with more entrepreneurs and investors. It typically invests between $3 million and $7 million in promising companies, always with a social agenda. While Kirkpatrick is a North Carolina devotee--he also has an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill--SJF has made relatively few investments in local companies. A key exception is TransLoc Inc., a Durham-based transportation-technology company that raised $8 million in a March 2016 offering led by SJF and Detroit-based Fontinalis Partners LLC.

Started in 2004, TransLoc designs technology to assist users and providers of transit services, including lining up rides, paying fares and scheduling service. The company made Fast Company's 2017 list of the most innovative companies in transportation, joining Uber and Tesla. In January, Ford Motor Co. bought TransLoc, creating an undisclosed windfall for SJF.

Kirkpatrick, who chaired TransLoc's board until the Ford acquisition, conducted the most extensive due diligence that TransLoc CEO Doug Kaufman has experienced in a career that includes starting several companies. "It was intense, and it went on long enough that I did worry, 'Is this the way everything's going to operate going forward if we take their money?'" he says.

Within months of SJF's investment, Kaufman proposed a new strategy for TransLoc. "There was a plan in place, and I came to the board and I essentially said, 'Put all of that stuff aside. I want to take us in a different direction,'" he says. "That is very challenging...

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