The Practitioner's Guide for Connecting Social Impact and Corporate Venture Capital

Corporate Impact X, IDB Group, Global Corporate Venturing, Centrica and Big Society Capital recently released The Practitioner’s Guide — Steps to Corporate Investment, Innovation and Collaboration: A Practical Guide to Creating Positive Outcomes.

The Practitioner’s Guide is a map for companies pursuing social impact through innovation and investment strategies. It delves into how companies like GE, JP Morgan, and PepsiCo have successfully pursued social impact goals via corporate venture capital or corporate innovation activities in ways that also drive business goals.

Other highlighted companies include IBM, Google, Starbucks, Patagonia and Centrica (who’s Ignite Fund earned a 50% return on its first impact investment exit).

Key findings include:

• Innovating for business and social impact is at the heart of corporate venture impact investing.
• Companies doing impact investing offer more than money to their investees — they also provide skills/expertise, networks, channels and technology.
• Collaboration is key for companies seeking to derive business and social impact from investing and innovation activities
• Obstacles to integrating innovation and investing with impact include the finding right partners and deals, and managing risks.
• The top sectors for corporate venture capital include sectors with high impact investing potential, such as Ed Tech, Fin Tech, Energy, Health and Food.