Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson well-known entrepreneur and co-founder of Virgin group. He has owned more than 400 companies in various fields , his taste for adventure and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure, Richard has interviewed and he has shared his views about start-up foundation.
I was really excited to answer this question, as purpose-driven investing is a great passion of mine. Over the past 13 years of my career and in my more recent role as Chief People and Purpose Officer on Virgin’s V Team, I’ve seen how purpose-driven businesses go further, faster and reach greater heights. So when we look for a new start-up to invest in, we really look for sustainable businesses that are driven by a strong purpose to make the world a better place and use innovation to drive this forward. We evaluate every potential investment through a ‘purpose filter’ to ask critical questions such as: Does it balance the needs of all stakeholders (not just shareholders)? Is it innovative? Is it inclusive? Can it scale? Is it solving a problem or a pain-point? Is it future-focused? Are we the best fit to amplify their impact? This filter ensures we’re considering the health and wellbeing of all people, as well as the planet, and it pushes us to be as bold as we can be.
As Impact Investing becomes increasingly popular – with more and more consumers demanding businesses step up and be a force for good in the world – I would highly recommend that you clearly define your purpose (why do you exist?) and passionately communicate it to investors. To give you more context, here are some of the companies we’ve invested in, and the reasons they caught our eye.
I hope this has been both inspiring and useful Mike (and everybody looking at funding opportunities). The bottom-line is that we take a triple bottom line approach (people + planet + profit) to investing, and I would encourage all founders and investors do the same!
Thanks,