Tags: Equity, Pre-Revenue, Gender Considerations, Impact Committed, Broad Sectors and Geographies

At 1to4 GiftVest, our investments are all about livelihoods in India, Africa and Latin America. We are relatively agnostic regarding sectors and regions, but we do have one focus, which is the stage at which we invest. We provide initial seed capital to start-ups. While we do not have a deliberate gender lens, we do have an interest in businesses that are addressing the needs of women and girls. Among our 45 businesses, more than half are women founded and this is way above the norm.

Our investment thesis is also quite personal. My wife and I, as private investors, ask ourselves in every investment whether we have connections to the sector, and whether our capital can make a difference.

Our capital is essentially a relationship. We walk away from very solid businesses when we don’t feel we are the right match.

Tags: Equity and Debt, Pre-Revenue to Launch, Gender Considerations, Active, Impact Committed to Certified, Specific Sectors and Geographies

At Beyond Capital, our investment thesis is to improve lives under the poverty line in India and East Africa, providing access to goods and services that people who live under $4 per day don’t have access to. Women make up half of the world so women are of course impacted by that. The focus areas of our seed stage investments are sanitation, healthcare, waste, as well as energy access, agriculture and financial inclusion. More women than men are being impacted by our investments. We have impacted 2.4 million people in general; out of that, 1.7 million women are impacted. It is more a consequence of our investing rather than a strategic decision. We are highly focused and we have deep knowledge of the markets we invest in. Focusing on the regions ensures that the knowledge is institutionalised within our team.

Tags: Equity, Launch to Growth, Gender Focus, Active, Impact Motivated, Broad Sectors but Specific Geographies 

Our new Venture Capital fund is an impact fund focused on for-profit businesses in Pakistan delivering superior financial and social returns. We define impact loosely, such as sharing economy. We are beholden to our LPs so financial returns are very much our priority. We are business-oriented but impact still matters to us. If I was to look at two potential investments with exact financial returns, I would always choose the one with stronger impact. 

Tags: Blended, Pre-Revenue, Gender First, Active, Impact Committed to Certified, Specific Sectors but Broad Geographies

We are a funding collaborative, working with a lifecycle approach for women and girls, focusing on menstruation, menopause and female sexual pleasure. We invest in areas where we see significant growth opportunities that support and benefit an underserved population. Our goal is to support women to take control of their own lives and give them the agency to demand equal opportunity.

One of the biggest differences between The Case for Her and other gender lens investors is that many think about it and try to incorporate it as a part of their thesis, ending up with 10% gender lens. What we do is holistic and we solely focus on women and girls as a target audience.

We are high-risk investors; we often invest in very early stage and in ideas. We are flexible with our capital: we do convertible debt, equity and grant funding, or whatever fits the purpose best.