To catalyze industrial decarbonization, we must move away from energy-intensive manufacturing to more energy-efficient, low carbon footprint alternatives, such as bio-fermentation. Quebec-based BioIntelligence Technologies (BIT) provides solutions for reducing the carbon footprint in large-scale bio-manufacturing industries like chemical production, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and certain food applications. BIT's analytics can alleviate challenges in biomanufacturing by reducing production losses and increasing yields by 5-10% per batch. This improvement fosters the adoption of more sustainable manufacturing processes.
Venture capitalists have traditionally focused on high returns and calculated risks. However, in today’s evolving market landscape, there’s a significant shift towards a more purpose-driven approach. Relying solely on financial gains is no longer sufficient. The demand from consumers, governments, and communities for investments that also yield environmental and social returns is growing. This is particularly crucial given the current state of our planet and the challenges faced by health and education systems. Impact investing emerges as a paradigm shift, redefining the fundamental principles of investment for double bottom-line returns.
Kathryn Wortsman, managing partner at Amplify Capital, told BetaKit that she and Ella Seitz, a partner at Esplanade Ventures, also saw a gap in awareness of healthcare technology focused on women’s health when collaborating on deals in early 2023.
“As women ourselves, and in our respective positions as investment decision makers at our funds, we wanted to help amplify the startups in the space and lead the conversation on the financial and health impact opportunity that can come from investing in this segment,” Wortsman said.
Joining Amplify Capital was a life-changing decision for me, and I'm often asked why I made the move. The answer is simple: purpose and passion.
Amplify's mission to make a positive impact on climate, education, and healthcare struck a deep chord within me. I believe that business can be a powerful force for good, and I am thrilled to collaborate with mission-driven founders to create meaningful change in the world.
Future Fields optimizes the biomanufacturing process, enabling more opportunities for cost-effective alternative proteins. As a result, Future Fields will support the decarbonization industries while offering a scalable solution to meet food, pharmaceutical, and other urgent and necessary needs globally.
A week ago, Canadians, border to border, celebrated or reflected on Canada Day. We hope your day was filled with maple syrup, Tim Hortons, and passionate discussions about the National Hockey League series. We wanted to highlight why Canada is not only a wonderful place to live, but also a wonderful place to invest.
July 7, 2020
Impact investors are double bottom line investors. We look for financial return alongside “impact”. What is impact? Well, it’s different to each impact investor, but generally a positive impact outcome is something we can quantify such as lower GHG emissions, improved access to quality healthcare or improved skill levels in our K-12 students to prepare them for the future of work.
Today, the challenges of our global economy have been exposed under COVID-19 for all investors to see. Real concerns of inequality in industries including healthcare, education and job security are now part of the conversations in rebuilding the economy. Testing, protective equipment, and deciding who gets treated and who supports those patients of COVID is a scramble at best. Our schools had to quickly adapt to remote learning platforms and face the reality that school campuses actually provided more than an education, but a safe haven, technology, and too often a balanced meal.
These sudden swift market changes and broad acceptance of the gaps in the system support many impact investors thesis on solving for the future of health and work. When the government comes in to be the primary customer, and private payers start paying for essential services like these, it paves the way to why impact investment portfolios generally outperform or at minimum perform as well as their non-impact comparable asset class.
Because impact investors look at problems in society that if solved, can affect a lot of people, significantly; those solutions tend to have secondary domino effects across society, reinforcing the business and sector.
COVID-19 has exposed the cracks in the system. Impact investors, such as Amplify Capital were already tackling these for years as we looked to solve gaps in our society through business innovation and scale. Our impact investments cover improving drug outcomes, democratizing quality health care and access to quality and affordable mental health support. In education, as an investment group — impact investors have long known that education access in North America is unequal and uneven. Impact investors have sought out technology to supplement in-class learning to provide more personalized and wider access to quality education.
As communities move back to some version of normal we can ask ourselves, “what needs to change”? Can we prioritize equal access to quality education and equal access to quality healthcare for all? Can we agree that if we had that level of access we could be more resilient as a society to face any healthcare or environmental challenge we are bound to face in the next decade if not sooner?
Impact investing can help support the roadmap to get ahead and build for the future we want. In addition, early stage innovation investments in social sectors create jobs and skills alongside the business. If we expand our investment goals beyond financial return, we can emphasize the ultimate outcome of that business on society.
Photo by Holden Baxter on Unsplash
We have the power to shape what recovery from the COVID-19 crisis looks like. We need to start asking how we can use investments to shift our preparedness and make investments that can benefit the economy, people, and the environment. This crisis has demonstrated just how applicable and adaptable our portfolio of impactful companies can be. Inkblot, an online platform that provides low-cost, anytime, video mental health counselling, was able to pick up the dramatic uptick in need for mental health support. Chalk, an all-in-one education platform that streamlines curriculum and instruction for educators, is helping to support K-12 schools that seek to pivot to distance learning and maintain education outcomes. ClassCraft, through their scalable technology platform, was able to provide free access to their remote education program to keep kids supported engaged with each other and the teacher at home. What sets these companies apart are the integrated impact targets which keep them accountable and moving forward through good and challenging times.
What are your investments doing to support our best future? We have seen impact investments provide both financial and impact outcomes. We hope all investors start thinking about how they can incorporate impact into their portfolios.
