Impact investing gains visibility at the Lilith Fair, thanks to musician, entrepreneur, and Denver-native Casey Verbeck, whose idea for collaboration is profiled in this article.

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Roughly $1 from each [Lilith Fair] ticket sale is invested in three companies and one nonprofit organization chosen by Verbeck and organizers of the female-oriented concert tour. The ventures also are promoting themselves at the concerts. Verbeck would not disclose the size of the investment.

"The people who are truly tackling today's biggest challenges are doing it through entrepreneurship and collaboration," Verbeck said. "People are realizing they can be philanthropic and profitable."

Verbeck, who managed the Yonder Mountain String Band until he quit to help raise his children a few years ago, said he is an entrepreneur at heart. He was looking for a way to support young companies with sustainable models or "triple bottom lines" of people, planet and profit.

A growing field of venture-capital and private-equity firms serves these businesses. Impact investing, as it is called, is similar to socially responsible investing but seeks out companies targeting social and environmental problems rather than screening out those deemed harmful.

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