New legal designation affirms CNote’s longstanding commitment to closing the wealth gap and uplifting communities with sustainable solutions.
March 30, 2022 // Oakland, CA // CNote, a woman-led impact platform, has announced its official conversion to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC).
Since its founding in 2016, CNote’s fixed income and cash products have streamlined millions in scalable investments from individuals and corporations. Dollars invested and deposited on the CNote platform are deployed with mission-driven financial institutions to fund underserved communities and BIPOC entrepreneurs in line with the firm’s mission to close the wealth gap.
A supermajority of CNote’s stockholders voted to formalize a transition to a PBC, further aligning the company with its practice of enhancing equitable community development through financial empowerment. CNote’s specific public benefit purpose is to advance greater economic and social justice for underserved communities by unlocking access to impact investments. Now, unlike traditional corporations that primarily focus on maximizing only shareholder value, CNote can also ensure that decisions are made in light of achieving this specific purpose.
“Becoming a Public Benefit Corporation has allowed the company’s charter to reflect CNote’s core values that motivate us every day,” said Yuliya Tarasava, COO and co-founder of CNote. “This conversion means CNote will always be pushing for greater capital access for underserved groups that have long been neglected by the financial mainstream.”
As a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, CNote’s Board of Directors will have a mandate to balance the economic interests of stockholders with its stated public benefit purpose, allowing it to take into account the material interests of all stakeholders affected by the company’s operations, including the underserved communities CNote supports and CNote’s partner financial institutions, clients, and employees.
About CNote
CNote is a women-led impact platform on a mission to close the wealth gap through financial innovation. Using the power of technology and a community-first framework, CNote enables corporations and individuals to efficiently invest at scale in fixed income and time deposit products that further economic equality, racial justice, gender equity, and climate change initiatives. As part of its offering, CNote delivers regular reporting on the social impact of deposits and investments made through its platform. A Certified B Corporation, CNote was a B Lab “Best for the World” honoree in 2019 and was named “Best Women-Owned Business” by the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles program in 2020.