As interest in impact investing builds up and social impact bonds are increasingly explored, challenges remain in connecting investors with projects.
Liesbet Peeters, managing partner of D. Capital shared her thoughts with Devex Impact on how to help bridge the gap between investors and the existing opportunities.
“There is a gap in perception,” she said, “a misalignment in the risks and the actual operational risks on the ground.”
D. Capital is working with social enterprises to help them ensure that they are perceived as authorities on the market trends and not as risky, early-stage business, noted Peters.
The first step is really to focus on the key parameters of what makes the business successful and demonstrating that the company understands the business, the customers, the market and can make the case for why their product is the best for the market, she said.
D. Capital, Dalberg’s impact investing arm, has recently announced a partnership with Hollard Insurance and others to create the first social impact insurance agency to help reduce risks and encourage more transactions in the space. The firm is also partnering with restaurant chain Nando’s on a development impact bond to combat malaria in Mozambique.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
