Why: In order to foster broad and deep sustainable innovation, impact investing is a highly relevant mechanism to support startups that address the most pressing challenges of our times.
How: The promise of these investments can only be achieved if the intent to generate a positive impact is assessed holistically and early on - following a process that is adapted to startup needs while being based on rigor and empirically proven findings.
What: Therefore, over multiple design cycles, we design a sound and practical applicable impact assessment framework for early-stage startups - including crucial knowledge from the scientific community.
Impact assessment, especially for young startups, is still a highly complex matter. Yet to obtain impact investing, this step is crucial to have reliable proof of the intended impact (Arena et al., 2018; Bocken, 2015; Glänzel & Scheuerle, 2016; Holtslag et al., 2021; Lall, 2019). Concerning the assessment, via expert interviews with startups and investors, we have identified multiple trade-offs startups face. These trade-offs, such as Standardization versus Flexibility, or Accuracy versus Usability, have so far been neglected in the development of adequate impact assessment frameworks for startups (Bengo et al., 2021).
Likewise, the underlying promise of impact investing to foster sustainable innovation needs to be included in the framework to generate positive and systemic change, which is often not accounted for (So & Staskevicius, 2015; Scholda et al., 2021). We try to bridge this dichotomy and propose a newly designed Impact Assessment Framework, following a design science approach (Kuechler & Vaishnavi 2008).
This workshop is intended to discuss and enhance the current findings and design propositions. By actively engaging with the framework, the participants get to know the content and its intended functionalities hands-on, so they can transfer their knowledge from multiple disciplines into the debate surrounding the impact assessment of early-stage startups.
Agenda (75min)
• Introduction to the Impact Assessment Framework and its underlying findings (15min)
• Group Work: Collaborative session on identifying potential friction points and improvement potential, considering different contexts, or industries (40min)
• Q&A and open discussion for further insights and clarification (20min)
In summary, our workshop is tailored to collaboratively identify future pathways for impact assessment of early-stage startups, strategize effective applications, and boost the visibility of the framework. Through interactive discussions, practical exercises, and expert guidance, we hope to enrich the scientific debate. We are looking forward to the valuable feedback and knowledge contributions of the participants.
References
Arena, Marika; Bengo, Irene; Calderini, Mario; Chiodo, Veronica (2018): Unlocking finance for social tech startups: Is there a new opportunity space? In Technological Forecasting and Social Change 127, pp.154–165.
Bengo, Irene; Borrello, Alice; Chiodo, Veronica (2021): Preserving the Integrity of Social Impact Investing: Towards a Distinctive Implementation Strategy. In: Sustainability 13 (5), S. 2852. DOI: 10.3390/su13052852.
Bocken, Nancy (2015): Sustainable venture capital – catalyst for sustainable startup success? In Journal of Cleaner Production 108, pp. 647–658. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.079.
Glänzel, Gunnar; Scheuerle, Thomas (2016): Social impact investing in Germany: Current impediments from investors’ and social entrepreneurs’ perspectives. In VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-profit Organizations 27 (4), pp. 1638–1668.
Holtslag, Maarten; Chevrollier, Nicolas; Nijhof, Andre (2021): Impact investing and sustainable market transformations: The role of venture capital funds. In Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility 30 (4), pp. 522–537. DOI: 10.1111/beer.12371.
Kuechler, B., Vaishnavi, V.: On theory development in design science research: anatomy of a research project. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 17(5), 489–504 (2008).
Lall, Saurabh A. (2019): From Legitimacy to Learning: How Impact Measurement Perceptions and Practices Evolve in Social Enterprise–Social Finance Organization Relationships. In Voluntas 30 (3), pp. 562–577. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-018-00081-5.
Schaltegger, Stefan; Lüdeke-Freund, Florian (2011): The sustainability balanced scorecard: Concept and the case of Hamburg airport. In Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM), Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.
Scholda, Fabian; Vandor, Peter; Millner, Reinhard; Meyer, Michael (2021): Impact Evaluation in Early Stage Impact Investing. In: Proceedings 2021 (1), S. 14445. DOI: 10.5465/AMBPP.2021.189
So, I. & Staskevicius, A. (2015). Measuring the “impact” in impact investing. MBA Harvard Business School
