The world of finance and investments has long been dominated by a single driver: Profitability. With the rise of awareness about major climate and societal problems, the changes in consumer behaviour, governmental policies and business ethics, investors are embracing the growing trend of impact investing, where financial gains and societal and environmental contribution go hand in hand.
Raising funds in the startup world has long been primarily associated with large institutions and high-net-worth individuals. With the rise of FinTech and empowered by Internet, new alternative ways of funding are emerging. In the era of social media and proliferation of online communities, the power of the crowd has been the catalyst for the emergence of a impactful fundraising instruments.
It’s been a long-held belief that businesses’ main objective is to generate profit for their shareholders and that this is not compatible with social or environmental causes. Fortunately, in recent times, a combination of different factors – surge of mission-driven founders, talent’s growing drive for impact, shift in consumer behaviour, deployment of impact capital – is changing the dynamic.
Startups are created for scale. This is deeply embedded in their DNA, as are also the concepts of disruption, innovation and growth. In order for a startup to succeed in its endeavours, it demands from its founders a combination of strategy and execution. To bring it even one step further and make it scalable, they need capital.
Starting a new project is an exciting venture, but turning it into a functioning business is no easy task. There are plenty of challenges that impact founders need to overcome early on. As consequence, only few of them make it to the next stage. Succeeding in bringing the product to market will depend to a greater extent on getting the right funding.
Any great impact business starts with an idea, a seed planted by its founder(s), lead by their passion for solving a meaningful problem. Drive and ambition are a powerful and necessary fuel to bring to life any project. In order to sustain it over time and scale it further, however, we need to also get the right funding.
What makes a startup become successful? Developing an MVP, finding the right product-market fit, attracting the best talent…these are all critical ingredients for what defines a truly successful business venture. However, they all can get undermined in case the startup does not get the necessary funding in the critical stages of its development.
Ever since I started thinking of what I want to do for a living, I had one thing clear. I wanted to make impact with my work. I did not know how, what I would be doing and where I would be based, but I knew that I would not be happy doing it, unless it was contributing to a greater cause. The idea of doing work just for the money always sounded to me like being in a prison.
