Impact Investing Guide

America’s challenges with nutrition are less about individual willpower and more about how our food systems are structured. This presents a unique opportunity for investors to help drive meaningful improvements. Last week in Kingston, my sister Dr. Asha S. Payne and I were talking with family and friends about why the produce shelves were nearly empty. Hurricane Melissa had hammered St. Elizabeth, Jamaica’s “breadbasket,” disrupting the movement of fresh food across the island. Different country, different issue — but the same underlying truth: when food systems break, communities bear the cost. When they’re redesigned, everyone benefits. That’s why this new FoodHealth Company report with NielsonIQ is so important. Despite unparalleled wealth, the average U.S. grocery cart scores just 48.9/100 — nearly 40 points below the level associated with better long-term health. More than 60% of our national food spend flows to items that are designed for “occasional” use, not everyday nutrition. And the biggest drivers of these outcomes are structural — not behavioral. For institutional investors and food-ecosystem operators, this report is essentially a roadmap of where capital, strategy, and policy can be most catalytic: 1. The food marketplace is misaligned with consumer demand. The healthiest 10% of products are growing 14% faster than the rest of the shelf — yet they represent only 6–7% of offerings. Demand has shifted. Supply hasn’t. 2. Access gaps are a market failure, not a consumer failure. Healthier items are 20–35% less available across major categories. SNAP households often buy healthier foods than their peers — when those foods exist. 3. Retail distribution is the new frontier for impact. Geography alone predicts whether a family can even find a high-quality choice. The South and Midwest are structurally disadvantaged by the inventory mix they’re offered. 4. Small interventions move entire populations. Three weekly swaps per household would raise America’s FoodHealth Score by ~20 points, with a cost impact of less than 1%. That’s public-health ROI at national scale. 5. The investment opportunity is enormous. This is a system in transition — and like all transitions, outsized returns accrue to early movers: 👉 Reformulation and product innovation 👉 AI-driven retail optimization 👉 Food-as-medicine infrastructure 👉 Health-aligned CPG portfolios 👉 Climate-resilient supply chains 👉 Community-level distribution models From my viewpoint, this is less a public-health story and more a capital-allocation story. Healthier food systems aren’t inevitable — they’re investable. Here’s what data shows and where the next decade of growth is already pointing. 👉Health of America's Grocery Carts Report | The FoodHealth Company #ImpactInvesting #FoodSystems #HealthEquity #SustainableInvesting #InstitutionalInvesting #FoodAsMedicine #ClimateResilience

Cut the Fluff: Systemic Investing as a Risk-Reduction Strategy Last week, I was asked to give a talk at the Regenerative Food Systems Investment Summit in Brussels. The challenge Sarah Day Levesque gave m? Cut the fluff and explain systemic investing in a way that makes sense for investors. In the days after, several investors reach out to me with questions: Regenerative agriculture sounds promising, but where are the real opportunities? And how can we as investors contribute to meaningful change? The answer: Invest systemically. Let me explain. The current norm for investors (return-oriented and not) is to back isolated projects and businesses and hoping they beat the odds. We see many of those high-potential investments go bust in recent months. Why? Not because they are bad investments, but because the system they act in is optimised for industrial agriculture. Systemic investing creates the conditions for entire markets to succeed - reducing risk, unlocking new value, and ensuring long-term returns. What is it? In short, three things: Where to Invest: Identifying the Right Leverage Points Not all investments have the same impact. Systemic investors focus on areas that unlock value across supply chains. This requires a larger system analysis, in order to identify the opportunities that not only have the desired return-profile but also can make a significant difference. Refer to our system map if you want to skip a year of work - in the comments) How to Invest: Structuring Capital for Long-Term Success Most financial structures aren’t built for regeneration—they prioritize short-term gains over long-term stability. Systemic investing requires: ✅ Flexible Metrics – Impact metrics typically limit systemic impact as they incentivise short-term and measurable activities. ✅ Blended & Patient Capital – Combining philanthropy, government incentives, and private investment to de-risk transitions. ✅ Collaborative Experimentation – Instead of betting on one silver bullet, systemic investing funds multiple, coordinated solutions. With Whom: Aligning Stakeholders for Systemic Change No investor can shift a system alone. Success comes from collaboration: 🤝 Investors pooling capital to fund critical infrastructure and market development. 🏛️ Policy & regulatory alignment to ensure regenerative businesses aren’t penalized by outdated rules. 🌍 Market actors creating demand signals to pull regenerative products through the system. Systemic investing is about reducing risks. By structuring investments that support entire ecosystems rather than isolated players, investors can move from reacting to the market to shaping it. Over the next few posts and as I'm preparing for the Systemic Investing Summit in London next week, I’ll break this down further with concrete examples and investment approaches. If you’re already applying systemic investment strategies, I’d love to hear your insights in the comments!

Just back from Brazil's #PreCOP30 and #BridgingtheGap - a convening of food systems leaders, climate, finance, and policy experts. If we’re serious about meeting the #ParisDeclaration, food can’t stay on the side of the plate. Despite receiving less than 3% of climate finance, our food system drives a 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions. To unlock real investment, I think we need three shifts: #mindset, #data, and #architecture. 1. Mindset Food systems are cross-cutting—health, finance, climate, education. Acting in silos keeps solutions small. At The Rockefeller Foundation, we’ve launched a $100 million effort to accelerate the regenerative transition—anchored in public procurement and school meals. We’re aligning farmers, scientists, and Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and Education to make regeneration a national, not niche, play. 2. Data We must speak the language of finance. The transition from business as usual to regenerative food systems will cost ~$430 billion a year—less than repurposing two-thirds of the >$600 billion now spent on ag subsidies. And the risk of waiting is getting real. The Bank for International Settlements warns that climate shocks threaten the solvency of borrowers—meaning supply-chain risk is financial risk. Investing in food resilience isn’t charity; it’s smart risk management. 3. Architecture We need a system where capital flows to those driving change across three levels: - Upstream: policies and procurement that create demand. - Midstream: blended finance and guarantees to de-risk innovation. - Downstream: inclusive finance so #farmers, #SME's, #women, and #youth can scale. Philanthropy must be catalytic—every dollar unlocking ten more from private and public sources. And to co-invest effectively, we need shared metrics that measure what matters: nutrition, equity, and resilience. If we don’t redesign how money moves to transition our food system, we’ll fail on climate—and on feeding our future. The world is looking to #COP30 and Brazil for solutions that work on both fronts. Thank you to the amazing thought leaders and innovators driving these discussions and showing what works on the ground. Incredible to see you in Santos: Joao Campari, Martina Fleckenstein, Sanjoo Malhotra, Federico Bellone, Matheus Alves Zanella, Fabrício Muriana, Juliana Medrado Tângari, Lieke Verhofstad, Nancy Aburto, PhD MS, Lasse Bruun, Patty Fong, Arend Kulenkampff, Elisabetta Recine, Saskia Sanders, Cecilia Seravalli Soares, Charlotte Pavageau, Sharon Gil, Aimée Christensen, Cristian Barrazueta., Pete Pearson.

Today's announcement about the £500m Better Futures Fund (https://lnkd.in/eubaDSdF) is a huge achievement by many working across the social enterprise and impact economy. It's also a genuinely significant opportunity for social enterprises and charities to be able to support many more children and families to improve their lives.   I've observed over the years a surprising ambivalence from some in our sector about the types of service delivery models which this Fund will support - usually now called Outcomes Contracts and what used to be (unhelpfully) called Social Impact Bonds (SIBs).   This £500m will be used by government bodies (likely mostly local government) to help fund services which deliver significant impact on outcomes for children and families. The examples cited today include improving school attendance and creating employment opportunities. However, in this model government will only pay for the services delivered once they have achieved the positive outcomes specified. If the impact is not achieved, Government doesn't pay. The role of external private investors is to finance the costs of delivering these services in the meantime.   So why the ambivalence? As with other historic narrative challenges in social investment, there was a burst of hype around the growth of the Social Impact Bond market at just the same time as austerity was hitting the sector in the first part of the last decade. SIB's became synonymous with social investment, but turned out to be complicated and elusive for small community charities. I recall dozens of conversations with leaders of charities struggling with changes in their funding model asking how they could "get a SIB".   My response has always been to think of SIBs or Outcome Contracts not as a form of social investment but as a form of public service commissioning. If a community based charity is looking for finance, a SIB is unlikely to be where you start (www.goodfinance.org.uk can help navigate the market).   But where there is an alignment between commissioners designing service outcomes, charities and social enterprises with evidence of delivery, and investors looking for impact these partnerships can be extremely powerful. And it's not just large charities who have participated, with the right support (which I hope this new money can also fund) smaller community based organisations have played important roles in delivering outcomes (see for example work supported by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships in Norfolk).   This is long term funding to tackle long term social challenges. We should celebrate this opportunity for what it is - a major catalyst to help the sector deliver the deep impact in communities that it does best - and not bemoan it for what it isn't.   Massive nod to Stephen Muers and the team at Better Society Capital especially Aman Johal for the many years of work which have brought this about.  

Food-as-medicine isn’t a marketing story anymore. When people can feel the effect and see it in their numbers, the category moves from hype to investable. For years, the space was heavy on promise and light on proof. The shift came when real agency met real-time data. People can now link what they eat to next-morning data, creating the kind of meal-to-measurement evidence investors can underwrite. In Issue #124 of Better Bioeconomy, I sat down with Mirasbek K. from Thia Ventures to unpack what’s real, what’s hype, and where the defensible opportunities are emerging. 5 insights that stood out: 1. Agency is the unlock. GLP-1s reduce “food noise,” continuous glucose monitors are now over-the-counter, and wearables turn dinner into next-morning data. When people can see their numbers move, products have to prove their effect, not just their intentions. 2. Evidence earns the seed-stage check. Two credible paths: build on robust diet literature where it exists, or bring new biology with animal efficacy on the way to human readouts. In vitro alone rarely makes risk legible to investors anymore. 3. Moats live in trust and supply. Novel ingredients and metabolites matter, but so do batch fidelity, label accuracy, and access to hard-to-source functional inputs. Quiet moats compound. 4. Regulation defines the roadmap. Food, supplement, device, drug, these are legal categories with consequences. One disease claim can shift a company into a different regulatory and capital universe. 5. Natural GLP-1s are overhyped, and maternal nutrition is underrated. Foods won’t compete with semaglutide pharmacology. The real opportunity lies adjacent: tolerance, adherence, and long-term metabolic support, especially in pregnancy and early life, where the evidence base is growing. Read full article: https://lnkd.in/g5iRrPFQ

🌱 Investing in the Future: A Solar Pump Journey ☀️ As an investor, I've always sought opportunities that not only promise financial returns but also contribute meaningfully to the world. Recently, I had the privilege of investing in a company that is revolutionizing agriculture through solar-powered water pumps—a sustainable solution that addresses both energy and water access challenges in rural communities. The company's innovative approach to clean energy has already made a significant impact by reducing dependence on diesel and grid power, providing farmers with reliable irrigation while lowering operational costs. In a world where water scarcity is an ongoing issue, this technology is helping to unlock new possibilities for food security and sustainable farming practices. Key takeaways from this experience: Sustainability Meets Profitability: Investing in green technologies isn't just about doing good—it's about doing well. The company’s solid growth trajectory (150% CAGR) and expanding market share show how sustainability can align with strong business fundamentals. Technology as a Game Changer: The scalability of solar pumps, combined with technological advances, is transforming agriculture in the most energy-constrained regions. It's a perfect example of how innovation can create long-term solutions to global challenges. The investee company crosses MNRE's Criteria by more than 5%. Impact-Driven Investment: Being a part of this journey has reinforced my belief that impact investing isn't just a trend—it's the future of the industry. It's about creating businesses that are both profitable and beneficial to society. Looking ahead, I’m excited to see how this sector will evolve and the role renewable energy will continue to play in shaping a more sustainable world. 🌍🔋 The future is bright—both literally and figuratively. #ImpactInvesting #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #SolarPower #AgTech #RenewableEnergy #InvestmentJourney #FutureOfFarming #GreenTech

Can India Lead the Next Wave? The social sector is shifting from funding activities → to funding results. Two powerful models driving this change are: 🔹 Development Impact Bonds (DIBs) Outcome payer: Donors/Foundations Example: Educate Girls DIB in Rajasthan (UBS Optimus Foundation + CIFF) tied funding to enrollment & learning outcomes for girls. Best suited for: education, health, skilling, women empowerment in India. 🔹 Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) Outcome payer: Government Example: Peterborough Prison SIB in the UK reduced reoffending rates, government paid back only when outcomes were achieved. Best suited for: Skill India, Ayushman Bharat, Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat where policy alignment is critical. ✅ How they work (both models): Investors put in upfront capital. NGOs/service providers deliver programs. Independent evaluators verify outcomes. Outcome funders (donor or govt.) repay investors only if results are achieved. 🚀 India’s Opportunity DIBs can expand quickly with philanthropy & CSR backing (less red tape). SIBs need stronger government adoption but could transform flagship schemes by making them truly pay-for-success. 📌 The big shift: From charity to accountability, from inputs to outcomes, from projects to systems change. 👉 Question for you: Which model—DIBs or SIBs—do you think has greater potential to transform India’s social sector? #SocialImpact #ImpactInvesting #Innovation #ESG #India

🌍 Ending Hunger is Possible: Unlocking Investment for Sustainable Agrifood Systems 🌍 Hunger remains one of the most pressing issues of our time, affecting 733 million people globally. The solution isn’t simply about producing more food but involves a strategic, income-generating approach. Key takeaways for investors and stakeholders include: 1️⃣ Boosting On-Farm Productivity: Investments in agricultural R&D, mechanization, and technology adoption are crucial. Empowering small-scale producers with resources and knowledge can dramatically enhance yields and reduce hunger. 2️⃣ Building Infrastructure: Irrigation, roads, storage, and electrification are essential to reduce post-harvest losses and stabilize food availability. Infrastructure investment yields high returns by creating resilient supply chains and improving rural livelihoods. 3️⃣ Promoting Agrifood Processing: Encouraging local agrifood SMEs can transform economies and provide value-added opportunities. Investment in skills training and modern equipment in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can tap into the rising demand for locally processed foods. 4️⃣ Financing the "Missing Middle": Bridging the finance gap for SMEs and small-scale producers is critical. With innovative solutions like factoring, real estate investment trusts, and supply chain finance, we can enable equitable growth across agrifood systems. 5️⃣ Enhancing Social Protection: Cash-plus programs combining cash transfers with economic interventions can stabilize incomes and reduce investment risks, fostering a more inclusive agrifood ecosystem. 6️⃣ Regional Trade & Competition Policies: Harmonizing trade policies and strengthening regional integration can ensure fair market access for small producers, supporting local economies and reducing inequalities. It's not just about doing good—it’s about investing in a sustainable and resilient future. Let's make impactful changes to bring food security to vulnerable populations worldwide. 🌱 #Investment #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #AgrifoodSystems #EndHunger #Infrastructure #Agribusiness #ImpactInvesting #FinanceForGood #ResilientEconomies #FoodProcessing #SocialProtection #RegionalIntegration

Are Your Solar Investments Delivering Maximum Value Beyond Energy Generation? The Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin, exemplifies how large-scale solar investments create value far beyond energy generation. Developed by National Grid Renewables, this 100-MW project combines economic, environmental, and community benefits that resonate with solar asset owners looking to maximize their impact. Key takeaways for solar investors and asset managers: 🔋 Energy output: Apple River will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power 26,000 homes annually, supplying Xcel Energy’s Upper Midwest customers. 💰 Economic value: Over $36 million projected economic impact in the first 20 years, including $10 million in local tax revenue. 👷♂️ Job creation: 150 construction and service roles, with local firms like The Boldt Company leading execution. 🌱 Sustainability commitment: Featuring First Solar’s Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, powered by American-made solar technology. As asset owners, how are you planning for the future of your solar portfolios to ensure long-term ROI and environmental stewardship? Let’s discuss the opportunities for value recovery and circular economy solutions in solar. #SolarAssetManagement #RenewableEnergy #CircularEconomy #WeRecycleSolar