Our Theory of Change
Our Theory of Change provides the foundation for how we think about and track impact. At its core, it reflects a simple idea:
We aim to improve equal opportunities for 1 million people to participate meaningfully in society.
Through our investments, we aim to expand equitable opportunities for individuals, for example by improving access to financial stability, employment, education, and trustworthy information. At the same time, we support companies that contribute to fairer, more inclusive, and safer systems.
This Theory of Change helps us stay focused on what matters: linking our activities, investing, supporting, and scaling companies, to tangible outcomes for people, and to broader shifts within the systems they operate in.
Our Framework
We assess every venture in three steps.
Step 1 – Gatekeeper criteria. Before anything else, we ask four questions, and all four need a clear yes:
- VC Fit: Is the company a good fit for venture capital investment?
- Theory of Change: Does it contribute to an equal, safe and inclusive society, in line with our Theory of Change?
- Lock-step: Does impact grow alongside the business, with mission and model moving together?
- Momentum: Are there already signs of systemic change happening in this sector?
Not every impactful solution is suited for venture capital. And not every business model benefits from the expectations that come with it. By explicitly assessing this, we aim to stay honest about where our type of capital can meaningfully contribute to impact, and where it cannot.
Step 2 – How the company contributes to change. Once a venture passes the 4 gatekeeper criteria, we look at where they contribute to systemic change. We identified seven categories:
- Expand Access: Making essential services available to people who were previously excluded by lowering barriers such as cost, complexity, or language.
- Improve Outcomes: Delivering better, more human-centered results within existing systems, improving quality and effectiveness.
- Increase Transparency: Making systems more understandable and fair by providing clearer information, insights, and visibility into processes.
- Shift Incentives: Influencing behaviour by aligning economic or social drivers with better long-term outcomes.
- Reduce Harm: Limiting negative effects such as fraud, exclusion, financial stress, or misuse within systems.
- Enable Prevention: Addressing challenges early, before they escalate into more complex or costly problems.
- Deliver Direct Solutions: Addressing core needs by directly solving problems and creating immediate, tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Step 3 – Nature of impact. Finally, we look at the depth and reach of that impact:
- Depth: how meaningful is the change being created? Does it address a fundamental challenge, or a more incremental improvement?
- Reach: who is affected, and at what scale? Are we improving deep outcomes for those who need it most, or offering lighter-touch improvements to a broader population?
This combination allows us to stay grounded in what matters, without overburdening companies with measurement systems that distract from execution.
Impact measurement, in our view, should be rigorous enough to be meaningful, and practical enough to be used.
