Chintan Panchal

Practice Areas

A transformative figure and influencer since the early days of impact investing, Chintan Panchal is recognized for his ability to use the levers of finance and law to create novel transaction frameworks that have been used to address some of the most pressing global challenges around the world.

Chintan is committed to the idea that success in impact investing often requires a multidimensional approach that combines traditional investment tenets and a commitment to transaction rigor with new thinking and approaches to drive multiple bottom-line outcomes for investors, entrepreneurs and growth enterprises.

A Leading Practitioner in Impact Investing and Blended Finance

Chintan has helped architect a number of groundbreaking transactions for clients around the world that have become templates for the rest of the industry, including innovative blended finance structures; a series of investments in Africa and other emerging markets that leverage capital and relationships from Development Finance Institutions and corporate investors; and a range of financing structures engineered to align social impact with financial performance.

As a corporate advisor, entrepreneur, and sustainability professional, Chintan works with clients across the capital stack including private equity, venture capital, foundations, family offices and growth companies on corporate merger & acquisition, finance, and dispute resolution matters. He has represented clients in many of the leading impact-focused private investment funds and advisors including Imprint Capital (later acquired by Goldman Sachs) Align Impact, and Mission Driven Finance, leading Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) including DFC, FMO, EDFI MC, Swedfund and Finnfund; leading impact funds including ACCION, Circulate Capital, Knife Capital, Trimtab and Kawi-Safi Ventures; multinational non-profits such as ImpactAssets, Gary Community Ventures, Malaria No More and Keep A Child Alive; and pioneering impact focused family offices such as the Blue Haven Initiative, Impact Engine and Open Road Alliance.

Chintan is recognized as a pioneer in the practice of blended finance, having developed structures for bringing public, private and philanthropic investor groups together in novel and innovative ways to solve some of the most difficult global development challenges. Notable projects include the Open Doors Africa Private Healthcare Initiative (ODAPHI) which mobilized COVID-19 relief funds to keep 1600 medical clinics in sub-Saharan Africa afloat through government shutdowns and the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund which incorporated a USAID guarantee structure to help catalyze investment in the ocean plastics circular economy. Chintan is also one of the principal authors of the "Unlocking Legal Pathways for Blended Finance Case Studies and Global Insights Report" by the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL).

The Firm

Chintan's vision for RPCK was to create a global boutique law firm whose mission is to co-create and facilitate the launch of scalable and investible solutions that address social and environmental challenges. The firm has assembled a deep bench of senior talent who honed their craft at some of the world’s leading law firms and are highly skilled at building impact-investing concepts into complex financial transactions.

The firm works closely with leading family offices and foundations, high growth companies, and investment funds across a broad spectrum of industries throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America on a range of capital investments that generate social and environmental impact alongside market rate, risk-adjusted financial returns.

Field Building

Chintan has been recognized many times for his contributions to law and impact investing. He was a 2019, 2021 and 2023 Grunin Prize Finalist, he has contributed to legal and business texts on impact investing, and he teaches lawyers impact finance.

Chintan is regular speaker at a variety of industry conferences around the country, including at the Sorenson Innovation Summit, Gratitude Railroad, the Impact Capitalism Summit, SOCAP, and the Grunin Center’s Legal Symposium on Impact Investing.

In addition to his legal practice, he is an active member of the global Impact Investing community. He is an inaugural Sorenson Impact Global Leader, a founding member of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL), a Beyond Capital Ambassador, and a member of the North Star Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). Chintan also teaches in the Impact Finance Innovations Programme at Oxford University's Said Business School.

Awards