This article discusses two interesting concepts. First, it talks about the trend of “impact investing.” Impact investing regards the willingness of people to invest in projects and business that aim to promote social development, rather than just focusing on profits. But the article talks about how difficult it can be to pick up the specific investments that can truly “make a difference.”
Crowdfunding seems to be one option, as it may be a channel to funnel money to small entrepreneurs in a more democratic way. The article, then, talks about an initiative promoted by ImpactUs that, instead of being just a platform for crowdfunding, works as a broker, that assess different business and which type of social difference they aim to achieves.
According to ImpactUS website, the company was acquired by MissionPoint, a broker dealer that claims to provide the same type of service.
As the market appetite for impact investing increases, it will be interesting to see new ventures being started with the aim of this impact investing. Maybe we will even see legal changes, with designations for companies seeking to provide impact investing services getting certain tax deductions or incentives similar to how a 501c3 does today. We may even see legislation that makes it more worthwhile for a new startup to provide impact investing services over a regular profit, or even nonprofit, traditional business model.
That could mean more meaningful jobs for everyone involved and a better society in general. I wonder what the potential costs of moving towards that could be….