How to unlock VCs’ full impact potential
Article via Pioneers Post, featuring perspectives on Impact VCs from Christina Moehrle and Dr. Markus Freiburg (FASE), Johannes Weber (Ananda Impact Ventures), Francois de Borchgrave (Impact Expansion and KOIS), Espen Daae (Ferd) and Impact Europe’s own Inès Mertens de Wilmars.
If you take the latest numbers from the GIIN, impact investing has long moved from niche to mainstream. But for many in the impact space, reality feels very different at the moment. “Where did social go?” was the title of a recent cri de cœur by a well-known European impact VC, Johannes Weber of Ananda Impact Ventures, who made the case that “investing in people is just as vital as protecting the planet”. While many have obviously fallen in love with climate-tech – and, as Weber pointed out (drawing upon Dealroom data), invested US$350bn in this space over the past five years – only a meagre US$12bn went to social equality solutions. Why is that? And more importantly, how can we change this?
“For VCs, social investment is much more complex than climate-tech,” confirmed Inès Mertens (pictured), impact funds lead at impact investing network Impact Europe, in a multifaceted session about how to unlock VCs’ full impact potential. Many myths and truths were unearthed during this ‘Impact Fire Talk’ organised by European impact finance advisor FASE.