Israeli impact investment fund 2BCommunity, founded by chairman Yoel Cheshin, has made its first investment in online social fashion venture CO.CO. The fund is acquiring 35.5% of CO.CO. for NIS 2 million. The fund was founded in 2015 by Cheshin who was joined by managing partner and ISSTA Lines chairman Shahar Botzer. Cheshin is the son of the later Supreme Court Justice Michel Cheshin and Jerusalem Foundation president Ruth Cheshin.
Cheshin told "Globes" "What we were looking to do was set up a fund with a commitment to the spectrum of players that we encounter. What is important for us is the values of the business are channeled towards promoting social aims as in the case of CO.CO. We searched far and wide for a venture that meets our criteria and I'm glad to say that we found CO.CO."
CO.CO was founded in 2013 by Dalia Kapuza and CEO Zafra Perlmutter who both have a background in fashion design and entrepreneurship. Perlmutter said, "The idea was born into to set up a just company that contributes and belongs to its many customers and gives them back value. The rationale is to fight inequality. It's hard to say to society's wealthiest to give money to the 99% that don't have it, and it's hard to tell the poor to work harder. The option is to find another model. We said come let's take a simple product that is an ongoing expense in every household and we'll make it into an investment. We have a salary cap that is ten times higher than the lowest salary and a clear declaration about employment diversity and this comes from the understanding that gender inequality is also a problem for men, not only women. We also contribute to the community, for example through open events and lectures to enhance the soul, and overall 10% of our profits are passed onto the community."
She added, "We do this through discarded clothes for NIS 50. Most of the fashion companies give us clothes and we conduct online sales and at the end of the year money is donated."
Perlmutter does not like defining the venture as a store. "It's a cooperative economic platform. All our partners (about 560) have purchased products up front. We need to create a better mechanism and apply it to the world of our sales - fashion. When we founded the company everybody raise their eyebrows and said it was an indulgence of people from North Tel Aviv. But textiles is the fourth largest industry in the world and we need to change it. We don't need to consume less but perhaps manufacture less."
Cheshin added, "The professional part of the business is important to us because we want to consolidate the strength of impact investment. CO.CO is a fashion business that manufactures women's fashion through an interesting model committed to the community and thus they call on civil society to prefer them."
Cheshin says that 2BCommunity has found several more businesses that it is considering investing in and more investments will be made in the coming months.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2016
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