Villgro Philippines and xchange, two of the leading impact incubators in the Philippines, have recently formed a partnership to boost impact investment activity in the country. With decades of combined experience in incubating and investing in impact enterprises in India, Africa and the Philippines, this partnership aims to leapfrog the Philippine impact ecosystem and contribute to building a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable country by supporting and funding impact enterprises. This collaboration has created the Impact Pioneers Network, a first-of-its-kind impact investing network.
The network comes from a recognized need for more robust angel investing activities locally. While there exist international and regional impact investment funds with interest to invest in the Philippines, many of them lack a firm local presence. Moreover, these firms tend to provide capital upwards of USD 500,000 leaving behind early-stage impact enterprises in need of risk capital ranging from USD 25,000 to USD 500,000. The goal of Impact Pioneers Network is to catalyze local capital among high net worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices, corporations, and foundations for the benefit of high-potential impact enterprises within the Philippines. The Network will provide services such as deal sourcing, due diligence, and deal closure to ease the barriers commonly encountered by investors, and provide networking opportunities to further bridge the gap for enterprises to connect with local investors.
In 2021, Impact Pioneers Network kicked off its custom Learning Journey with its first investor members to guide them through the process of impact investing. This Learning Journey provided them with first-hand learning experiences on due diligence and investment deliberations and access to tools and resources, while also gaining access to a live deal pipeline. The 10-week program comprehensively covers the entire investment process, immersion activities, and relationship building that is key to the emergence of impact investors. Furthermore, investors learn not only by gaining knowledge on the investing process but also actively participating in investment deals by the end of the program. The Impact Pioneers Learning Journey has also proven to be an opportune avenue for impact enterprises to receive such funding from aspiring investors.
Impact Pioneers Network has been generously supported by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). /PN
