SVX is a Canadian impact investing firm based in Toronto. The corporation started 10 years ago and have one single aim: to move “towards a world where all investment and all enterprises have a positive impact.” According to its website, SVX is an investing platform or a single access point for any potential impact investor. SVX effectively acts as a stock market that connects entrepreneurs with organisations. The firm focuses on both for profit and non-profit organisations that aim to tackle ESG issues in the world. SVX themselves are a non-profit corporation that is supported by Government of Ontario and other partners (SVX, 2018).
In November 2018, SVX launched a US-based version of their corporation. Their first offer is Techsoup, a NPO sharing the same objective. Techsoup provides technology products to NPO wanting to raise $11.5 million through debt financing, and they plan to attract investors by issuing three different types of notes (corporate bond) (Field, 2018):
5 years $50,000 note with 5% return. This aims to attract foundations and other large investors.
$1500 notes with 3.5% interest rate aimed at retail investors.
$50 community notes with 2% return aimed at people who actually work on delivering impact every day.
“A platform for raising impact capital and making impact investments.”
SVX (2018)
Although as of now SVX is only available in certain parts of Canada, US and Mexico, nevertheless, this presents another pathway for any impact investor looking for investing opportunities to jump in. By acting like a stock market, SVX provides convenient and easy access to the impact investing market. Investors, once registered with SVX, can search for opportunities on their website. SVX will have already filtered out businesses that are not working toward impact investing, therefore, investors do not have to individually filter out non-impact investing businesses. Additional information can be requested by the investor through SVX to help them in making an informed investment decision.
SVX can link potential investors with the businesses that require financing. This provides opportunities to engage directly with the management team and could provide potential investors some insight into the business. As impact investing will primarily be driven by the younger generation, SVX is placed in a good position to benefit from this trend. The SVX website also provides a tracking page where investors or potential investors can check the milestones of the investment and summary of the offer details.
As more interest are pouring into the field of impact investing, ESG and sustainable investment, it is likely that we will see more businesses that are similar to SVX in future.
Further information in the references section.
By Konlawat Jarrunpattana (Mooky)
konlawatj@gmail.com
References
Field, A. (2018). New U.S. Impact Investing Platform's First Issuer Has Something For Everyone. Forbes [Online]. Available at:https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2018/11/28/new-u-s-impact-investing-platforms-first-issuer-has-something-for-everyone/#f0813e542d30. (Accessed 28 November 2018).
SVX. (2018) [Online]. Available at: https://www.svx.ca/. (Accessed 28 November 2018).
TechSoup. (2018) [Online]. Available at: https://www.techsoup.org/. (Accessed 28 November 2018).