Late last year Impact Investment Group (IIG) launched the Impact Angel Network, a new community of angel investors with a special focus on impact startups.
The network works alongside IIG’s venture capital program Giant Leap, to provide opportunities to angel investors who want to balance their financial returns with measurable social and environmental outcomes.
Continuing with IIG’s mission to use finance as a force for good, the Impact Angel Network is a way to democratise the angel investing process so individuals can make their own decisions on who and what to fund.
With Giant Leap being based on a post-revenue model, previous to the development of the Impact Angel Network, the fund identified a gap in funding for earlier stage impact founders, before they were ready for Giant Leap investment.
Damien Messina, Impact Angel Network Manager, is excited to be able to improve that conversation and put together meaningful partnerships and investment opportunities.
Messina said, “I am passionate about directing funds towards creating a better world. Purpose-led founders are the backbone of what we do and being able to meet with them and assist them is my favourite part of the job. I love connecting them to purpose-led investors. Bringing great people together can achieve even greater things.”
The funding for Impact Angel Network came from The Victorian Government via the Launch Vic Grant Round X after reports from Startup Genome and LaunchVic revealed that there is an ongoing challenge in connecting angel investors to the startup community, rather than a lack or shortage of capital available.
With IIG’s strong base of close-knit investors and founders, the network is set to be a safe and collaborative community for early stage founders to grow. It focuses on natural, inclusive and power balanced interactions where founders and investors are encouraged to engage directly as they would in everyday life.
One of the key goals of the network is to provide capital to startups working on driving diversity and inclusion without our society.
Messina said, “Impact startups typically address the challenges of underrepresented groups and have been found to be started by diverse founders with lived experiences of the challenges they are seeking to address.”
For more information head to Giantleapfund.vc