The Project
The U.S.-based Impact Finance Research Consortium (IFRC) is a collaboration among the Wharton School, Harvard Business School, and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to advance academic research on catalytic capital in its Impact Finance Database, a leading source of in-depth data on the management, structure, and performance of impact investing private equity and venture capital funds. C3 support enabled IFRC to grow the number of funds included in the database, prioritizing outreach to fund managers that deploy catalytic capital.
The Impact Finance Database tracks information on how funds perform, structure incentives, enforce accountability, evaluate investments and communicate results, among other information. Data collection includes gathering survey responses as well as legal documents, financial statements, and impact reports. The research team also conducted interviews to explore key findings in further detail. Through this project, the IFRC analyzed the amount of catalytic capital deployed to various types of investments; the relationship between the terms of the catalytic and non-catalytic investments; the features, practices, and specializations that differentiate impact funds that deploy catalytic capital from those that do not; and the ways in which funds track the financial performance of catalytic capital investments.
Value and Outcomes
By growing the Impact Finance Database, the IFRC boosted the geographic scope, sectoral diversity, and statistical significance of its findings.The resulting practitioner-oriented report offers a detailed quantitative analyses of the prevalence, applications, and consequences of catalytic capital investment. The team has shared these findings through webinars, podcasts, and convenings.
For more information on the Impact Finance Research Consortium, visit their website.