Impact investing is an investing approach that combines positive social impact with investing and now has a ten-year history in India. In the last five years, the industry has booked impact investments of over $4 billion USD in over 500 investees. It takes all kinds of investors and asset classes to deliver positive social impact at large scale. It spans the entire spectrum of asset classes, from the very high-risk, seed investments in unproven business models and markets to venture debt-to-growth equity in large companies delivering social impact and collateralized debt to these companies. Technology plays a critical role in this space. This panel will discuss how impact investing is enabling industries within India to grow rapidly and implement new and interesting business models and use of digital technologies. Some of the portfolio companies use information technology to digitize and improve their current business processes and others transform their business by implementing new business models that create value by leveraging digital connections and information and combining them with traditional resources in new ways. Participants will discuss and debate the role of for-profit social enterprises in India’s digital economy, the interest they draw from impact investors, the scaling of such companies and their ability to create impacts that address the Sustainable Development Goals.
