Aug 29, 2017
By Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen
Large-scale affordable housing projects, wind farms, and small-scale diagnostic health clinics are just some examples of the wave of impact enterprises that have been emerging over the last decade, seeking to address social and environmental needs in addition to making profits. The unique characteristic of these impact enterprises is the expectation of a net positive social or environmental benefit, whether through their product or service, or in the way they create value for the communities they serve. Some may be extremely profitable; others may more closely resemble nonprofit organizations. What most of them share is a difficulty in finding capital that aligns to their needs and enables their growth.