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Impact investing is a recent concept linking the best of both worlds between philanthropy and
entrepreneurship. This concept was born to overcome the inefficiency of public authorities in solving major social and environmental problems. Impact investing is characterized by the search for a double profit, namely a financial return as well as a social return. One of the main components of the definition is also the measurement of impact, which is necessary to be able to compare the relevance of two projects, or to see if the impact objectives have been achieved.
This market is still considered to be a niche market, and like any recent market, its development
faces various obstacles and opportunities. Indeed, the non-consensus regarding the definition of the concept, the difficulty of measuring impact, the lack of regulation and liquidity or the lack of
investment ready companies are challenges that will have to be overcome before the market
develops further. But practitioners are optimistic, as we will see in this research.
Given the figures, the market still has good days ahead. However, theorists have not been able to keep pace with practitioners in the production of scientific papers related to the world of social
impact finance. Thus, few or no articles cover the concept of the value proposition of an impact
investment fund.
After describing the main characteristics of the market, ranging from its history to its actors and
ecosystem, to its challenges and opportunities, this work will attempt to provide answers to the
following research question:
“What is the value proposition of an impact investment fund compared to traditional financing
instruments?”
As there is no real scientific literature on the subject, we conducted 18 interviews with industry
professionals to give us an idea of the potential value proposition of an impact entity, the aim will
also be to learn more about the current state of the market, mainly in Belgium

Impact investing --- social impact --- impact-first --- social entrepreneurship --- venture capital --- venture philanthropy --- socially responsible investment --- ESG --- traditional finance --- Belgium --- Fund industry --- finance --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Finance