The increased showboating and “greenwashing” of the term “Impact Investment” has virtually led to the term being thrown around loosely: especially, as it is hard to gauge the tangible impact sometimes startups working in this domain bring. But, what exactly is impact investment? How different is the understanding of the term in developed countries compared to emerging markets? How can startups working in this domain find the sweet spot between profitability and impact? Is tangible impact more valuable than intangible ones? Or the other way around? These are some of the many questions that arise while trying to understand the impact of investment space. And in this episode, we bring a prominent guest whose experience across Asia and the US in the impact investment space makes her the perfect guest to answer these questions and more. 

In this episode, we are joined by Ilaria Chan, Group Advisor on Social Impact Investment for Grab, one of Asia’s most prominent tech unicorns. Having started her career in investment banking with Goldman Sachs, today Ilaria is a global keynote speaker, private investor, and serves on the Board of Trustees of several humanitarian organizations. We talk all about impact investment and socially conscious startups and the investment ecosystem that revolves around them. 

SHOW NOTES

03:14 Introduction to Ilaria Chan

07:04 Ilaria’s expertise in Impact Investment

09:32 Understanding the reality of Impact Invest and Difference between East & West

14:50 Impact vs Profitability: The quandary for social entrepreneurs for raising funds

20:09 How Tech Unicorns are making social impact a big of their proposition

26:05 Tangible impact vs Intangible Impact: Is one less important than the other?

30:22 The “green-washing” trend in impact investment

34:41 Flow of innovation from East to the West

43:44 Connect with Ilaria

Many thanks to our guests  Ilaria Chan; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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