"In 2018, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), launched the Gender Lens Impact Measurement (GLIM) Fund to enhance the awareness, rigor, and quality of impact measurement for organizations supporting entrepreneurs with a gender lens approach. Each grant from the fund went to a partnership between small and growing business (SGB) support organizations in Latin America and researchers to use measurement for driving improved gender-inclusive strategies. This synthesis report summarises the tools and lessons from these grants on using measurement to increase gender inclusion for SGB support organizations."

This study demonstrates how investors can begin comparing investments based on impact, not only highlighting impact performance across this sample of investments but also exploring investors’ contribution to that impact in terms of the progress so far in supporting quality jobs. Fundamentally, this research is intended to cultivate the suite of impact analytic tools to come, such as impact performance benchmarks, ratings, and indices. Its specific findings highlight the tremendous need for further research to enhance the industry’s insights into impact performance and its drivers, enabling evidence-based decision-making. Ultimately, through this research and related efforts, the GIIN seeks to enable investors to optimize for impact at each stage of the investment process, accelerating progress
toward global goals.

As investors with experience in gender lens investing (GLI), our peers often ask us for information on how to start their GLI journey. Many useful resources are available to do this. However, this brief addresses a gap in information on the tools and approaches used to design and implement gender-smart technical assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to improve their social and financial performance. We also share our reflections from our collective experience to date.

With support from The Lemelson Foundation, ANDE conducted interviews with 13 representatives from a select group of funders and impact investors to identify barriers to and opportunities for funding climate entrepreneurship. While not an exhaustive list of funders, these representatives provided practical insight on how climate entrepreneurship is seen among funders focused primarily on climate action and/or entrepreneurship and how greater funding could be allocated to the intersection.

"Nos últimos anos, poucas pesquisas têm focado em investimentos de impacto na América Latina apesar de comunidades crescentes e ativas de investidores de impacto estarem presentes em muitos dos países da região. Este relatório representa um passo em direção ao preenchimento desta lacuna de conhecimento, oferecendo um panorama do setor de investimentos de impacto na América Latina. A primeira parte do relatório traz uma análise regional de tendências gerais de captação de fundos, operações e saídas, com enfoque especial no desenvolvimento de potenciais empreendimentos, assistência técnica, mensuração de impacto, talentos e gênero. Após esse resumo, encontram-se análises aprofundadas sobre investimentos de impacto em três mercados-chave nos quais essa indústria se encontra mais desenvolvida: Brasil, Colômbia e México."

"This short guide outlines tips for how to apply a gender and inclusion lens while developing and reviewing communications materials. The intention is to provide basic guidance to a group of impact investors working as part of the “Investing in Women” initiative supported by Australian Aid’s DFAT program. It aims to serve as a starting point for thinking more deeply and critically about how gender inclusion and gender equality can be embedded into communications products and processes and coupled with gender-lens investing actions and processes that cut across entire operations of investment firms. Far from exhaustive, this guide is intentionally brief and designed to spur further research and inquiry."

"As an output of the ANDE SGB Finance Learning Lab, ANDE India and Asha Impact have collaborated, with the support of SAP and platform partner UNDP SDG Finance Facility, to put together this playbook on Social Success Notes. SSNs are innovative financing mechanisms that aim to leverage commercial capital for social good. Aiming to be a functional tool for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, this playbook addresses the why, what and how of SSNs, along with a few case studies, challenges and opportunities revolving around these nascent financing tools. Especially in times of crisis, instruments such as SSNs have the potential to improve the efficacy of philanthropy and government spending. The playbook has been developed for impact investors, social entrepreneurs, outcome funders and other players in the impact ecosystem."

"The purpose of this spot survey is to identify the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the current generation of Indian social entrepreneurs as seen by those who spend the most time evaluating them-impact investors. By drawing on the opinions of these investors, it is possible to identify the areas in which critical skills and competencies are stronger than expected or are chronically absent, and how to start a substantive conversation on improving the ecosystem for early-stage social businesses. Unlike other reports in the impact investment space, this report looks at both successful deals that got done and deals that fell through. The insights are designed to assist incubators and accelerators in designing curricula for their investees, and to allow impact investors to develop more effective strategies for addressing pipeline challenges."

"Unlocking the Potential of Frontier Finance assesses key features of frontier finance impact investments and finds significant opportunity for making an impact in this sector. For impact investment in frontier finance to reach its full potential, investors require more clarity around the common features and performance of such transactions and strategies to address the challenges they face in the market. This research seeks to answer these questions by analyzing a database of 40 frontier finance transactions, 10 interviews, and a workshop discussion with 39 investors and other ecosystem players. Specifically, the report includes an overview of the frontier finance investment landscape, presents five in-depth case studies featuring frontier investment vehicles and transactions, and provides recommendations to build the market and overcome common challenges hindering the flow of additional capital into frontier markets."

"This report stems from a point of view shared by Toniic and Shell Foundation: that venture philanthropists and impact investors actively collaborating can increase the amount of impact investment capital into early-stage impact enterprises. The objective of this report is to provide a practical and user-friendly guide primarily for impact investors to encourage them to deploy their investment capital directly or indirectly (via financial intermediaries and funds) into impact enterprises at an earlier stage. In particular, we have targeted individual investors and family offices."