Hoping for high returns, venture capitalists look for ways to pump their capital into start-up companies or projects with potential. Perhaps you like risk and want to do something good for the earth, but you're not yet a multi-millionaire with the financial resources necessary to start your own venture capital firm. Opportunities to invest in smaller, green projects do exist, so read on to find out how.

Green start-up investment opportunities come in many shapes and sizes. For the everyday investor, these types of investments are often classed as community development investments. For a succinct overview of the various options, check out this table of products. Here are a few of the main types:

1. Check out community development loan funds: These funds pool investors’ resources to provide affordable financing for new green projects (often nonprofits, both domestic and international). Co-op America’s National Green Pages lists organizations offering these types of loans. Do a search for popular green terms (environment, green, etc.) to find ones that suit your eco-friendly goals.
2. Invest in a community venture fund: Like funds provided by wealthy individual venture capitalists, these funds make loans available to small businesses, but they use a pool of money from many investors. Here’s Co-op America’s listings for these loans too. For more information, you may also want to refer to the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance website.
3. Microenterprise loans: By providing funds to individual entrepreneurs at home or abroad, you’ll be helping green-visionaries get their projects off the ground. Delve deeper with the Microfinance Gateway.