“Impact” is increasingly entering the general colloquium, but what exactly do Alberts mean by “Impact Ventures”? You may ask, “Isn’t every company out to create an impact in the world? To meet a need in the marketplace? To offer employment and contribute to the economy?” – on the face of it, that’s absolutely correct.
The questions we ask at Alberts are – What is the difference you are seeking to make? And is this difference at the heart of your business model?
We want to see that there is an intentional social and/or environmental outcome embedded in who you are and core to the success of your business (rather than such outcomes being “nice to haves” or “happy coincidences” of your actions and activities). It is not about making money with one hand, and giving it away with the other. We want to see profit and purpose intrinsically interlinked. And we want you to be able to measure it.
Our ultimate impact goal is a connected community, business and family contributing to a culturally rich, inclusive, healthy and sustainable world. This is the world we want to create, and which we want future generations to inherit. To work towards this we seek to partner with pioneers aiming to achieve a positive impact in four key areas: mental health and wellbeing; environmental sustainability; arts, music and entertainment; and, equality.
For each of our investments we have committed to set and measure an impact metric which sits hand in hand with our financial metrics and enable us to track how our portfolio companies are performing.
Beyond that initial filter, we move into more nuanced questions such as:
- What is “enough” impact?
- Would the impact have happened anyway?
- Is it creating “deeper impact” than our baseline?
- What is the risk of the impact not occurring?
- What are potential unintended negative consequences?
These are all questions we ask ourselves when considering the positive impact of a potential investment, and there is not always an easy or clear answer.
Ultimately, we seek to work with pioneers who share our values and creating a positive impact is at the heart of this. We want a commitment to measure, track and verify this impact.
In the end, when impact is embedded in the business model, your impact will be amplified when your business does well.
