Impact investments are investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. There are various definitions on how to specify and measure impact in a more deep and concrete way. This is why FiBAN wants to tackle the topic by providing practical tools for business angels in order to be more impact conscious and create more impact.

“Many angels make the investment decision based on the mission of the company rather than basing their investment decision only on expected financial return”, notes Janne Jormalainen, FiBAN’s Chair of the Board. “Therefore, angels consider company impact even if they are not talking about it”, he continues.

New impact investing toolbox for business angels

FiBAN, together with its partner organizations, is working on creating an impact investing guide for business angels. As an outcome, FiBAN will launch an Impact Investing Toolbox at the FiBAN Angel Day on the 19th of November 2019. FiBAN’s toolbox will serve business angels with different needs, and as the impact understanding evolves, so will the toolbox.

​“It is important that FiBAN creates common tools for angel investors to evaluate impact investments. Startups claiming to make an impact have to be able to demonstrate it with measurable results”, states Jormalainen.

The toolbox will for example help angels on evaluating the potential impact of a startup before making an investment decision. It will give guidance on measuring the actual impact of the company and developing the impact of operations. The toolbox will also tackle the question of how to ensure the continuation of the mission through startup phases.

​After creating frameworks and gathering valuable materials on impact investing, the next step is to share the best practices with business angels. Notable impact investors and organizations with core impact competencies will be invited to participate as guest lecturers in FiBAN Academy and training. Also, some self-study materials produced from expert advisors and peer-to-peer tips will be available for angel investors.

Tips for more impact conscious action

While FiBAN continues developing the impact investing toolbox for business angels, there are various players that have been doing great things in the field of impact investing. To start with, here are some tips for you to start being more impact conscious right away.

If you have some ideas on how business angels should tackle impact investing, please share your thoughts with us:

Janne Jormalainen
FiBAN’s Chair of the Board, janne.jormalainen@fiban.org

Heidi Tawast
FiBAN’s Community Manager, heidi.tawast@fiban.org