Do investors care about impact? Often, no: they're more focused on the warm fuzzy feeling of 'doing good'. But some are accepting moderate returns for more impact, and they're crucial to the growth of early-stage social enterprise.
Eight years after it was created amid a buzz of optimism, the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network has shut for good. Its closure has stark lessons for those supporting social enterprises, writes GSEN co-founder Krisztina Tora.
PLUS: $100m MacArthur grant to end homelessness; Dutch VC fund backs digital-only fashion house; ImpactAssets custom investments surge; new pooled fund for southeast Asia; Resonance's launchpad loan for mums' mental health; and more.
PLUS: A first crowdfunded impact bond Israel and a new ‘career impact bond’ for American students; MacArthur Foundation’s catalytic capital investment; new climate fund from Aberdeen Standard and Big Issue Group, and more.
The Women in Safe Homes fund, from UK impact investment firm Resonance and real estate manager Patron Capital, aims to buy 650 homes and lease them to charities helping women at risk of homelessness.
“Unprecedented times call for extraordinary solutions,” says US grantmaking giant, announcing $1bn social bond sale to fund a massive, anti Covid-19 grantmaking programme.
Impact investors looking for ‘opportunities’ are, by definition, making impact a secondary interest. One of Europe’s leaders in venture capital and impact investing calls for a major rethink.
Social investors are still too focused on internal battles – distracting them from the huge potential impact they could have by partnering up. Big Society Capital's CEO makes the case for the (sometimes) more difficult path of collaboration.
