Businesspeople favoured impact investments, saying that it is beneficial both for enterprises and the country’s economy, according to a survey.      

The survey report was presented while unveiling the Innovative Finance Toolkit titled "The Thriving Future of Impact Investing in Bangladesh” in the capital recently.

Toolkit was unveiled to help the investors better understand the potentials of impact investment, especially in Bangladesh, according to a press release.

The Toolkit contained information on different perspectives of investment in Bangladesh, positive effect of impact investments, funding guideline and different sources of funding of entrepreneurs.     

The survey was carried out among 100 investors and high officials of business firms.  

The report was presented at a virtual programme organized by Roots of Impact, a German-based financial consultancy firm, and LightCastle Partners, a Bangladeshi business consultancy firm.

The event was organized in partnership with Biniyog Briddhi, Bangladesh Angels, SBK Tech Ventures, Startup Bangladesh Limited, and Venture Capital and Private Equity Association of Bangladesh (VCPEAB).

The survey was carried out for two months (March-April) this year. In the survey, 30 per cent respondents opined that increased impact investments provide more funding facilities for enterprises, while 27 per cent said that it becomes easier to face social and environmental challenges if business is done with innovative and new approaches.

Some 14 per cent thought that there will be positive effect regarding achievement of SDGs in case of impact investments.

Also, a discussion titled ‘Effect and future potential of impact investments’ was held.

Bijon Islam, Founder & CEO of LightCastle Partners, and maxim Cheng, programme manager of Roots of Impact, presented the keynote papers. Bijon Islam also moderated the discussion.

Sonia Bashir Kabir, founder and chairman of SBK Tech Ventures, Nirjhor Rahman, chief executive officer of Bangladesh Angels, Shawkat Hossain, general secretary of VCPEAB, Bjoern Struewer, founder and CEO of Roots of Impact, attended as panel discussants. 

In his keynote paper, Bijon Islam mentioned three main challenges regarding impact enterprises.

Maxim Cheng said, “$500 billion has been invested in impact investment sector in the world market. Its amount will increase more in the future. It is a big opportunity for us.”

About 80 people, including entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and ecosystem builders attended the event.

NS