Maximizing Social Impact With Investments & Partnerships

To make socially conscious startups and initiatives succeed, they need investments and partnerships. These things are important.

We talk a lot about social impact. It's important. We have good reasons.

People nowadays, mostly millennials and Gen Z, want businesses to act responsibly. This message is getting stronger. Big and small companies like J&J and Cash-D are working on ways to solve this. It's good news.

Small companies must rely on investors to make their ideas impactful, unlike larger companies who can self-fund.

"Large Companies, Strong Collaborations"

Lots of large companies are making strong promises to support social changes through partnerships. One example is Johnson & Johnson, a big company that has been doing social impact projects for many years.

Johnson & Johnson bought Colbeck's Corner wind farm in Texas. This will help them reach their goal of zero energy consumption by 2025. The wind farm is a private renewable energy business. Johnson & Johnson uses 60% renewable energy in the U.S thanks to this partnership.

J&J is making people happy because they want to reduce greenhouse gases. The wind farm is happy because J&J is a good client. This helps both companies.

BP and JLL teamed up in Jan 2021. Their goal was to make BP's workplaces eco-friendly. The partnership is global. JLL gets a reward for helping BP achieve their targets. Over 200 BP sites are involved.

Small Companies' Impact Investing: The Catch-22

Impact investing has a problem: small startups don't get much support. This is a shame, because small startups often have big ideas that could help society. But they often don't have the business skills or financial support they need to make those ideas happen.

More people want to invest in things that will make a positive difference. But, making a business that cares about society is hard to do when there's a big focus on making money. There are two main problems: It's hard to start and keep that kind of business going.

Lots of businesses and initiatives that care about society are run by folks who care a lot but aren't that good at business. This is bad because they wanted to start a business.

Another reason is that it's hard to get enough funding and partnerships for social initiatives. This is because they often take a long time and have a lot of risks involved. This is partly because there are many unknowns.

Eitan Neishlos tells about the catch-22. He is the CEO and founder of Neishlos Capital.

Social investment is hard to combine with long-term profits. This makes investors avoid social startups.

It can be tough to bring investors and startups together without issues. The investment and contracting parts can cause problems. These problems make the investors and startups fight.

LISI helps make impact investing more balanced. They assist investors and social startups. They're from the Netherlands and are a non-profit organization. They aim to bridge the gap.

"Calling Impact Investors: Let's Make A Difference!"

Neishlos wants investment companies to invest more in companies that focus on society. He thinks they need to take responsibility for their actions. Neishlos also thinks social impact investors should focus on improving their business.

Neishlos talked about how philanthropy and business can work together in a panel discussion. He explained his ideas about philanthropy at the Jerusalem Post Global Investment Forum 2022 in Marrakech, Morocco.

It can be tough to find firms that are good for both society and money. Investors can help, but leaders may still need more support. They need help to reach both social and financial goals.

Neishlos Capital is in Australia, Israel, and Latin America. They like disruptive technology and fintech. Resonance Australia and CashD are examples. They help with payments for things like social grants, agency banking, and medication. They believe in financial inclusion.

Investing For Impact: The New Generation

NYU's School of Law will hold a conference in 2023 on Legal Issues In Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing. The conference will be co-organized by NYU Law's Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship and the Impact Investing Legal Working Group. This might be the next generation of impact investment.

The NYU School of Law is hosting a conference on June 6 and 7. Over 300 people, including lawyers, students, and stakeholders, will attend in-person or online.

Deborah Burand, co-director of the Grunin Center and professor at NYU School of Law, is pumped for the conference. She wants money and knowledge to flow into impact investing. The legal community wants to share knowledge to make things better and cheaper. In the end, they hope to create a big social impact.

Good news! Impact investing is moving in a positive direction.