Santa Clara, CA | 12 May 2025 — Miller Center Capital is proud to announce a new loan to Flamingoo Foods, a Tanzania-based rice processor and distributor, to support the company’s expansion into value-added production and deepen its impact on smallholder farmers across East and Central Africa. Miller Center Capital is the impact investing arm of Miller Center for Global Impact at Santa Clara University and invests in high-potential graduates of Miller Center’s flagship accelerator program.
Flamingoo Foods is part of the current cohort supported by Miller Center’s initiative with Bayer Foundation to advance health and nutrition, women’s economic power, and climate resilience across the Global South.
Flamingoo sources paddy rice from smallholder farmers and aggregators, processes it locally, and distributes polished rice across Tanzania and neighboring countries. Its use of weather forecasting and satellite imagery enables efficient, demand-responsive distribution.
The company now works with nearly 4,000 smallholder farmers—54% of them women—offering safe storage, reduced transport burdens, and better prices through delayed sales. In 2024, Flamingoo more than doubled its revenue and processed over 7,000 tons of rice.
However, 2025 brought new challenges. “The dissolution of USAID funding left our business in a difficult position,” said Adrian Weisensee, co-founder and CEO of Flamingoo. “We received the Miller Center Capital funds just in time for harvest season. We’re very excited to get our bran oil processing facility up and running with the support of this investment.”
The loan, made through the Miller Center Capital Innovation Fund, will finance rice bran oil processing and color-sorting equipment at Flamingoo’s facility in Katavi. The investment will help Flamingoo develop product lines that reduce food waste, improve rice quality, and expand into high-demand markets for rice bran oil and animal feed.
Miller Center Capital’s current Innovation Fund uses innovative finance tools and gathers investor participation in order to support Miller Center entrepreneurs scaling their impact. To date, the Innovation Fund has invested $1.3 million in 12 social enterprises and unlocked more than $10.3 million in follow-on funding, representing a leverage rate of 800%. The Innovation Fund has raised $3.1 million, reaching 62% of its $5 million goal by September 2025.
“We’re excited to support Flamingoo Foods as they scale their innovative work linking smallholder farmers to higher-value markets,” said Ted Levinson, founder and CEO of Beneficial Returns, the loan fund manager for Miller Center Capital. “By turning rice byproducts into nutritious oil and feed, Flamingoo is increasing farmer incomes and reducing food waste while using AI and satellite data to connect surplus regions to areas in need.”
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About Miller Center for Global Impact
For almost 30 years, Miller Center for Global Impact has been a leader in the global social enterprise movement. With an emphasis on climate resilience and women’s economic power, we accelerate social entrepreneurship to end poverty and protect the planet, guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Located at Santa Clara University, we fuse the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley with the university’s heritage of social justice, community engagement, and global impact. Miller Center has served close to 1,500 social entrepreneurs based in over 100 countries that are impacting hundreds of millions of lives.
About Beneficial Returns
Beneficial Returns is an impact investment manager that supports the growth of outstanding social enterprises that alleviate poverty and protect the natural environment using market-based solutions. Beneficial Returns was founded in 2016 based on the belief that capital, when used consciously, can catalyze positive change. Headquartered in San Francisco, Beneficial Returns has a diverse and global team that draws on their experience and on-the-ground expertise.
Media Contact:
Karen Carter
Director of Marketing Communications
Miller Center for Global Impact
kcarter1@scu.edu
Investment Contact:
Paul Belknap
Director of Impact Investing
Miller Center for Global Impact
pbelknap@scu.edu
