Opportunity Alabama on Wednesday announced the creation of The OPAL Fund – a Qualified Opportunity Fund formed to invest in Yellowhammer State projects that meet expressed community needs and build wealth for those traditionally underrepresented in investing.
Since its inception in 2018, Opportunity Alabama has helped close $300 million in deals, along with capacity-building work to generate investable, community-centric projects across Alabama.
Opportunity Alabama’s groundbreaking work has earned national attention. Forbes last year selected Opportunity Alabama as an OZ/20 Catalyst Grand Prize Winner, a national award given to the top-performing, impact-oriented investors and community groups in the United States.
The OPAL Fund was created to invest in real estate projects that target market rates of return, engage minority and woman-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) in development and management, and create better communities statewide.
“In building an investment ecosystem during the past few years, we have identified a need to more intentionally and strategically diversify our investor base,” explained Alex Flachsbart, the founder and CEO of Opportunity Alabama. “With The OPAL Fund, we will work to ensure investors and our deals are representative of the diverse tapestry of Alabama, and that opportunities for wealth-building are equitably available.”
The OPAL Fund’s targeted $10 million “proof of concept” round was oversubscribed, with $13 million in commitments signed at closing in March. Initial investors in The OPAL Fund include corporate foundations, such as the Regions Foundation and Alabama Power Foundation; family offices, such as Jemison Investment Company; community trusts, such as the Housing Affordability Trust; and large Alabama-based corporations.
The OPAL Fund’s investors also include individual accredited investors like Larry and Kim Lewis of PROJECTXYZ, an African-American and woman-owned technical solutions company headquartered in Huntsville, who plan to leverage their fund participation to create a broader minority business investment community across the state.
“We have spent the past two and a half years building relationships with national capital sources and with developers working in Alabama’s Opportunity Zones, making introductions and providing technical assistance to help get deals done,” Flachsbart added. “We see The OPAL Fund as our opportunity to get more local capital into projects in our own backyard.”
The OPAL Fund will remain open to accredited investors until the end of this year.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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