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Impact Measurement and
Management in India:

A Position Paper

Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) is the ‘cornerstone’ of impact investing. The measurement of impact performance is crucial as impact investors scale-up financing to achieve the United Nations’ SDGs. With impact investing all set to become mainstream in the post-COVID world, ‘impact performance’ is bound to evolve as a new dimension to evaluate the performance of all types of investments. IIC and KPMG India undertook an industry-wide survey of Impact Investors active in India in an attempt to capture the baseline state of IMM practices in the country. The report provides insights on current Indian IMM industry practices.

Impact investing: Purpose-driven finance finds its place in India

Rising demand for socially responsible and purpose-driven finance has resulted in new ways of putting capital to work the world over. In the past decade, what is now known as “impact investing” has challenged the long-held view that social returns should be funded by philanthropy and financial returns should be funded by mainstream investors.

The global market for impact investments is projected to grow to $300 billion or more by 2020, according to the Global Steering Group on Impact Investment. Although this is still a fraction of the total private-equity assets under management (about $2.5 trillion in 2016), mainstream investors have entered the arena and are bringing scale to what was earlier considered a niche. And the dialogue is shifting rapidly from impact investing to “investing for impact.”

India is fast becoming a test bed for many of these activities. Between 2010 and 2016, India attracted over 50 active impact investors, who poured in more than $5.2 billion. About $1.1 billion was invested in 2016 alone. We hope this report will give readers a sense of how impact investing is developing in India, and debunk some myths that have long surrounded these investments.

The Promise of Impact investing in India

With an active social enterprise space and an engaged investment market, impact investing takes advantage of private sector efficiency and capital to achieve public sector goals. With this report, we aim to provide an analysis of the impact investment sector in India and its potential to achieve social good. The study brings together wide-ranging analyses undertaken between February 2018 and April 2019. Structured around four key tenets of impact investment market activity — market trends in India, sector-level analysis, innovative financing and measurements— it takes the reader through the major trends that have shaped the Indian impact investment environment and offers specific recommendations. A special focus is placed on the key social themes of health, education and agriculture.

Giving Credit Where Due:

A Case for Debt Financing in Indian Impact Enterprises

Debt financing has grown in India, but at only 25 percent of total investing, Indian impact enterprises struggle to find the working capital they need to grow and fulfil their potential. To better understand the challenges impact enterprises face in borrowing money, the India Impact Investors Council and The Bridgespan Group joined in this research project to chart the debt landscape, identify barriers to debt financing, and propose ways to make debt more accessible.

The India Impact Investing Story

Assessing a Decade of Capital Plus Innovation for Impact (2010-19)

A comprehensive report on the Indian impact sector over the last decade looking at the nature of capital flows and business models, and assessing the cumulative impact of the industry. The aggregation study attempts to quantify and showcase the cumulative power of the impact created and also celebrate the great stories of innovation that the industry has spawned.

2020 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends

India Impact Investors Council (IIC) released its annual report “2020 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends” on 15th February 2021. The report reveals that Impact enterprises received ~$2.6BN in investment across 243 equity deals and saw 13 successful exits in the calendar year (CY) 2020. One clear conclusion from the report is that despite the global health pandemic and its accompanying effects on the business and economic environment, impact investors have pledged their support to solving critical social and environmental challenges through investments in scalable, tech-based, innovative impact enterprises.

The analysis is based on a bottom-up database of venture deals in social enterprises across all significant impact sectors.

Re-Imagining Traditional Finance for India’s COVID Recovery

COVID-19 is an unprecedented health and development crisis. The efforts required to contain its spread by curtailing movement to limit exposure have severely impacted lives and livelihoods and stalled economic activity. While a significant amount of capital has been deployed by the Government, there is scope to do more. Commercial mainstream capital can fill this funding gap, provided opportunities are appropriately structured and the risk return profile is aligned. Blended finance involves using philanthropic or concessionary funds to de-risk investments in order to attract commercial capital. This catalytic approach leads to a leveraging effect where every rupee of grant money deployed attracts many multiples of commercial capital.

Key focus areas of the report are:

Blended finance solutions for addressing the credit crunch faced by MSMEs and small holder farmers and enhancing the employment prospects of India youth through strategic skill development.

Insights into the legal obstacles facing blended finance, drawn from live deals being structured in the Market

Recommendations for legal revisions in laws such as Income Tax, GST and CSR that would allow for quick and large-scale disbursal of capital through blended financial deals.

Early-stage Climate-tech Startups in India: Investment Landscape Report 2021

Early-stage Climate-tech Startups in India: Investment landscape 2021 is an endeavour by the Impact Investors Council, Climate Collective and Areté Advisors to spotlight the activity in the Indian climate tech ecosystem over the last five years. The report serves three key objectives –

• To deconstruct and adequately socialize the landscape of less understood solutions and innovative business models that characterize the current wave of climate-tech activity in the country.

• To pave the way towards a unified taxonomy for the ecosystem that can help leap-frog space in response to the growing climate crisis.
• To provide detailed recommendations and insights from industry players which can help climate-related start-up investments become mainstream.

IIC’s continuing effort to spotlight emerging climate tech innovations presenting investment potential, is furthered by the 2022 chronicle of the equity investment trends in climate-tech enterprises.

Gain deep insights into evolving investment trends in innovative solutions that leverage technology to propel climate action. The report aims to demystify and familirise the landscape of ingenious solutions and business models that hold the potential to amplify the scale and impact of ‘green’ sectors. Acquint yourself with the evolving ecosystem of climate focussed innovations and startup enterprises which can poise India at the forefront of climate action.

This Report builds on IIC’s endeavour to mainstream climate-tech investing as an asset class and equip the impact investing ecosystem with meaningful insights that can drive investment strategies.

Learn more about how the innovative solutions across Sustainable Mobility, Waste Management & Circular Economy, Climate Smart Agriculture & Food, Energy, and Environment & Natural Resources are at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis in India.

Embrace the data-driven narrative of India’s climate tech evolution and what investment trends say for each of these sectors!

This report is supported by funding from the Neev Fund.

The Impact Investors Council (IIC) and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) collaborate to present a comprehensive exploration of the emerging sectors in India, offering promising investable opportunities for various forms of private capital.

This diligently curated report identifies and showcases sectors positioned for growth, supported by data-driven insights and the wisdom of industry experts. It offers a unique chronicle of sector-specific investment strategies, providing a concise and authoritative framework for structuring investment approaches in sectors at the forefront of India’s sustainable growth journey.

Dive into the research findings and recommendations, tailored for specific stakeholders, across pivotal and high-impact domains such as:

Green Hydrogen
Battery Energy Storage Systems
Waste Management & Material Circularity
Climate Smart Agriculture

The report serves as a valuable guide for strategic green investments, offering a comprehensive reference for investors and stakeholders seeking to make an impactful contribution to India’s green growth.

Marking a decade of transformative work in the impact investing space, the Impact Investors Council (IIC) proudly presents a commemorative coffee table book that celebrates The India Story over the past decade and more.

This one-of-a-kind publication chronicles the journey of impact investing in India, spotlighting the evolution of equity, debt and blended finance in catalysing impact across sectors.

Read more to learn about the themes that demonstrate potential for investments and impact, and the ‘Impact Champions’ who have been instrumental in shaping India’s impact investing narrative.

2023 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends

The India Impact Investors Council (IIC) presents the fourth edition of our annual research report series, “2023 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends.” The report delves into the intricate landscape of impact investment in India, revealing that in 2023, a total of $2.9 billion in equity investments were spread across 275 impactful enterprises spanning critical sectors such as agriculture, climate tech, education, financial inclusion, healthcare, and technology for development. In addition to the sector deep dives, the report highlights other themes such as Gender-Lens Investing and the landscape of family offices in the impact space. Moreover, you can also find insights from industry practitioners, as they share their on-ground perspectives within the report.

Climate Tech Investment Trends in India: A 2022 Retrospective is a comprehensive annual report by the Impact Investors Council, aided by funding from the Neev Fund. It’s a deep dive into the investment landscape for climate tech startups in India during the year 2022.

This report serves three key objectives:

Illuminating the Investment Landscape: Our primary goal is to shed light on the investment activity within the Indian climate tech ecosystem throughout 2022. We provide a detailed analysis of sectors and trends, helping stakeholders gain a clear understanding of the dynamic climate tech landscape.

Deconstructing Innovative Solutions: We aim to break down and effectively communicate the landscape of innovative solutions and business models that have characterized the recent surge in climate tech activity in India. This will provide readers with insights into the less-understood facets of this ecosystem.

Guiding the Way Forward: Through a series of recommendations, we provide insights that can help shape the future of climate tech investments in India. These recommendations are designed to support the continued development of this critical sector.

The report is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding and contributing to the growth of climate tech startups in India.

The Blended Finance India Narrative: A Decade of Blended Finance in India and What Lies Ahead

The first-ever landscape of Blended Finance transactions in India, discussing key trends and future opportunities. The report is built upon the analysis of India’s first open-source database of Blended Finance transactions in India spanning transactions over a decade

2022 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends

India Impact Investors Council (IIC) releases the third edition of the annual research report series called “2022 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends”. The report reveals that 377 impact enterprises received ~5.8 Bn. in investments across 411 equity deals in 2022. Although in 2022 there was healthy flow of transactions in impact investments, the total investment amount decreased by approximately 1 billion dollars (in comparison to 2021). Climate-tech emerged as the most active sector with the maximum number of deals (130). The report also uses a gender-lens in understanding representation of women among founders of impact enterprises in India today. The research highlights that only one out of every five impact enterprises that have raised capital in the last three years (2020, 2021, 2022) are (co) founded by women.

Unlocking Impact Capital – The Indian Family Office Edition

Family offices are coming into their own in India. A steady increase in wealth, juxtaposed against growing threats from climate change, poverty and inequality, has encouraged this growing cohort of wealthy families to create legacies that go beyond just financial wealth and contribute to a better and sustainable future.

In a first of its kind study, Waterfield Advisors and the Impact Investors Council (IIC) have come together to present a comprehensive picture on the state and position of impact investing practices amongst family offices (FOs) and high net worth individuals (HNIs) in India.

Access IFI Report 2021: The Promise of Blended Finance for Financial Inclusion

Impact Investors Council (IIC) is pleased to share our contribution to the ACCESS Development Services Inclusive Finance India Report 2021 through a chapter exploring blended finance structures in the financial inclusion space. The write-up delineates how innovative asset-based, liability-based and pay-for-success structures (such as impact bonds) can strengthen NBFC balance sheets and solve pressing challenges in critical sectors where a lack of credit is hampering India’s economic growth.

2021 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends

India Impact Investors Council (IIC) releases the second edition of the annual research report series called “2021 in Retrospect: India Impact Investment Trends”. The report reveals that 294 impact enterprises received ~6.8 Bn. in investments across 345 equity deals in 2021. Overall impact investments in 2021 exhibited positive investor outlook with strong signs of renewal and recovery in terms of both the number of deals as well as investment volume relative to 2020 and 2019 levels. Climate-tech emerged as the most active sector with the maximum number of deals (79). The report also uses a gender-lens in understanding representation of women among founders of impact enterprises in India today. The research highlights that only one out of every five impact enterprises that have raised capital in the last three years (2019, 2020, 2021) are (co) founded by women.

The analysis is based on a bottom-up database of venture deals in social enterprises across all significant impact sectors.

State of Impact NBFCs in India

Our research effort at the India Impact Investor Council (IIC), in collaboration with Northern Arc Capital and TransUnion CIBIL, is an attempt to build a strong data backed analytical framework to understand the performance and challenges of small and medium sized Impact NBFCs in greater detail. The report focuses on the emerging class of non-MFI NBFCs, especially those that focus on segments such as micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) loans, auto and vehicle finance, and other BoP credit sectors. NBFCs with a portfolio size of <INR 5,000 crore and BoP clients >75% of the portfolio have been included in the research as Impact NBFCs. Through this data driven approach, we intend to showcase the performance of such NBFCs, their contributions to the socio-economic development of India and the challenges they face.

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Unlocking the Promise of Blended Finance in India

Over the past few years we have witnessed how the Covid-19 pandemic has compounded existing inequalities in India, across critical sectors such as healthcare, education and MSMEs. Therefore, the need of the hour is to look beyond traditional models of socioeconomic development and embrace more innovative models of financing social impact such as blended finance. This white paper – “Unlocking the Promise of Blended Finance in India” – is the first in a series of such analytical outputs that are a part of a broader effort by Impact Investors Council (IIC) and Desai & Associates (D&A) to socialise the development community and the Indian government on the benefits of blended finance to support their financial and development agendas.

Exploring the “Missing-Link”: The India Opportunity for Growth Stage Impact Funds

India’s equity impact investing market is poised for sustained growth. As the nation looks to spend roughly ~$170 Bn annually to finance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the limited public sector resources mean that impact capital providers will have to play a greater role in plugging this funding gap.

Traditionally, funding into early-stage impact enterprises in India has been led by impact investors, while later-stage funding comes from commercial investors. This model has served us well so far. Still, a “missing-link” exists in the market: the absence of a growth stage India-focused impact funds can finance the transition of impact enterprises beyond early venture funding.

India Impact Investing Handbook

The all-in-one handbook attempts to provide a bird’s-eye perspective of the investment opportunity across multiple dimensions of the impact investing market in India (such as Equity, Debt, Gender-lens, Climate-tech, Blended Finance etc.) through a combination of grounds-up IIC database analysis and insights from key industry practitioners.

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Impact Investors Council generates a variety of research publications, ecosystem building activities and policy advocacy efforts to encourage private capital to bridge the social investment gap. If you are interested in working at the confluence of the financial markets & development sector, please write to us at esha.saini@iiic.in.

19 Oct 2020, 10:24

‘India’s impact enterprises face issues accessing debt’

08 Oct 2020, 10:24

Bridging the credit gap for India’s impact enterprises

October 6, 2020 8:12 PM

Nitin Gadkari bats for MSMEs to focus on profitability through socio-economic impact

July 14, 2020

Impact investors catalyze $10 billion for India’s social venture market over 10 years