Our investment profile

We invest in social enterprises that:

Are mission-led – that is, where the business leaders, employees and stakeholders are not motivated by a temporal strategic plan or vision, but rather a more fundamental purpose or objective. Remaining true to the mission creates an authentic enterprise. Strategic plans, business plans and targets play an important role – in providing a framework for action and decision-making to help the enterprise achieve its mission.

Are committed to delivering real social or environmental impact – the Case Foundation (2015) outlines a useful spectrum of social enterprises – from ‘impact motivated’, where the primary objective is to deliver financial returns although there is a strong desire for social impact, to ‘impact certified’, where the social impact is the primary motivator and is independently assessed by third-parties. We look for social enterprises in between these two ends of the spectrum, or what is termed ‘impact committed’. These social enterprises demonstrate clear intent to have social impact, commit to measure against targets set by company, commits to transparency and regular reporting to investors. We outline below the areas of social impact where we are seeking to make a real difference.

Are driven by passionate and talented teams – we understand the critical importance of passionate entrepreneurs and founders, those with the inquiring minds to explore the problem, creativity to design a solution and tenacity to bring a theoretical solution into reality. At the same time, we also understand the essential – and often overlooked – role of the team that brings the solution to life.

Have a strong, scalable and sustainable business model – that is, the social enterprise needs to deliver a product or service to a market that has the capacity to pay a price that generates a profit and is sufficiently large enough to create a scalable opportunity. Solving all the pieces of this puzzle is often one of the greatest challenges for a social enterprise. And this is where we can help. We have specific expertise in business model design and developing and executing marketing and customer acquisition strategies, particularly leveraging emerging digital channels. We prefer business models that do not require government aid or assistance, where the user or consumer of the product or service pays. In general we focus on social enterprise in their growth phase – that is, where the proof of concept has been established and the business is now seeking capital and expertise to scale.

Are seeking partners – that can provide capital, experience and expertise to help take their business to the next level. Beyond the skills and experience of our small team, Pangaea can access a wealth of talent and expertise through our network of partners and associates.

Pangaea Impact Investments