Imfino - Impact Investing Platform

Impact is defined as achieving social and/or environmental improvements, e.g. affordable housing, access to water and healthcare, sustainable agriculture, waste management, access to education, etc.

Impact investing is a financial investment opportunity where the investor is interested in producing social and/or environmental benefits as well as a financial return. Thus, impact investing has the potential to cause a paradigm shift in the capital markets, adding impact as the third dimension to risk and return, transforming our society for the better.

Due to current low rates of return on the market and a new generation who have a growing awareness of the effect finance can have on the planet, investors are increasingly interested in the impact of their investments. The annual investor surveys published by The GIIN show a rapidly expanding market currently worth at least USD 114 billion. The market is expected to continue its strong annual growth to make up a larger proportion of the USD 300 trillion of global financial assets.

The Imfino target group includes any investor looking for impact, e.g. Impact Funds, Family Offices, Foundations, High-Net-Worth Individuals, Business Angels, etc.

Currently, investors receive access to detailed financial and impact information on impact investment projects published on the Imfino marketplace. These are categorised by the United Nations’ SDGs (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300) for basic impact classification. More features are in development and will be realised and communicated as soon as they are available.

Later this year, Imfino will provide a search algorithm for investors to look for investment opportunities that match their interests. Search criteria will include SDGs, country/region, impact classification, ticket size, return rates, KPIs, and more.

Impact projects need to fulfil the Imfino requirements, which include investability, scalability, and impact measurement. Imfino grants free access to impact projects in order to also attract projects with limited financial resources. Additional services packages will be presented later this year.

Additional services offered include up-to-date industry know-how, market insights on events, studies and reports as well as risk profiling, country overviews, newsletter services and networking possibilities (for premium investors only).

Impact measurement is still in an early stage, and there is no global standard yet. The main currently used solutions are IRIS (self-assessment tool by GIIN, https://iris.thegiin.org/) a nd GIIRS (self-assessment tool created by B Lab, http://b-analytics.net/giirs-ratings). Together with an international institution, Imfino is working on a new standard that goes beyond self-assessment and will take impact measurement to a new level, based on the SDGs.

Impact investing is not philanthropy, charity, sponsorship or crowd funding. Additionally, impact investing is more than Socially Responsible Investing (SRI, http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sri.asp), which only excludes investments in specific markets and/or companies, e.g. weapon or nuclear sectors, alcohol, and tobacco, although Imfino also takes these criteria into consideration for granting access to the marketplace.