LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network based in Silicon Valley, has invested $10 million in TECH Fund, an initiative of Housing Trust Silicon Valley to get more high-tech organizations, large employers and philanthropists involved with creating affordable housing in the Bay Area.
With this Mountain View-based investment LinkedIn is the first company to use their investment in the TECH Fund to make additional voluntary contributions to benefit their community. TECH Fund, which was created to help developers with short-term capital needs to compete more effectively with market-rate developers and purchase property faster, is a critical new tool to fill a need in the affordable housing development process. Housing Trust, which created TECH Fund, also noted LinkedIn’s contribution to TECH Fund brings the total investment level to $30 million.
“We see TECH Fund and LinkedIn’s investment as new way to lead change in the affordable housing landscape,” said Kevin Zwick, CEO of Housing Trust. “We’re happy to create a way for affordable housing developers to access land acquisitions funds quickly, and we thank LinkedIn for being a committed ally to do so.”
“It’s great to see a local company with such global influence step up and make a clear commitment to addressing the affordable housing crisis in our region,” said Mountain View Mayor Ken Rosenberg. “I hope that LinkedIn’s investment in the Housing Trust TECH Fund will be the example for other tech companies to follow in that it provides a real, tangible starting point for developers to make the choice to build housing that is accessible to everyone.”
TECH Fund investments are already being deployed. For example, part of LinkedIn’s investment is already being utilized by Palo Alto Housing to purchase a site at 950 W. El Camino in Mountain View intent to build 70 new affordable apartments, with 20 homes dedicated to permanent supportive housing. Housing Trust was able to close the loan within a month and lock down the site.
“We must all take ownership of the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area, and invest in compassionate solutions,” said Katie Ferrick, head of community affairs at LinkedIn. “This partnership with Housing Trust through the TECH Fund is a creative way to make community impact investing a viable way for companies to address the need for housing.”
ABOUT LINKEDIN
LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful and transforms the ways companies hire, market, and sell. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has offices around the world.
ABOUT HOUSING TRUST SILICON VALLEY
Housing Trust Silicon Valley (Housing Trust) is a nonprofit community loan fund based in San Jose that works to improve quality of life low-income people in the Greater Bay Area by increasing affordable housing opportunities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested $145 million in programs that help everyone from the homeless to renters to first-time homebuyers – creating more than 15,000 affordable housing opportunities serving over 27,600 of our neighbors. It is the first nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to receive a Standard & Poor’s rating, AA- because of its strong capacity to meet financial commitments. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org
ABOUT TECH FUND
TECH Fund (Tech + Equity + Community + Housing) is an initiative created by Housing Trust Silicon Valley to create opportunities for philanthropists and large Bay Area employers to provide resources to be part of the affordable housing solution. The fund began in March 2017 with an initial investment from the Cisco Foundation that has since been followed by investments from the Sobrato Family Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Housing Trust target is to raise $50 million for the TECH Fund to be revolved over the course of a ten-year investment period – at the end of which TECH Fund investors receive a modest return on their investments in addition to the original investment being repaid and, most importantly, having created 10,000 affordable housing opportunities during that time. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org/tech-fund/
Contact: Julie Quinn, Dir. Of Resource Development, Housing Trust Silicon Valley julie@housingtrustsv.org 408-436-3450 x 223
Contact: Michael Norris, Communications Manager, Housing Trust Silicon Valley michael@housingtrustsv.org 408-4363450 x 241