Staff Member
Ian Jones
Co-Founder and Director, Mekong Inclusive Ventures

If we can create an enabling and supportive environment for entrepreneurs of all abilities, then the success is built upon the abilities of the entrepreneur, and not how society defines or shapes them.

I’m systems and design thinker fused with an enterprising mindset, working to increase ecosystemic capacity to support greater independence and opportunity for marginalised communities and people with disabilities through entrepreneurship training, impact venture development and access to adaptive capital.

I’ve founded a number of ventures to be able to achieve this – through women and Khmer led businesses including Agile Development Group, the region’s first entrepreneur support organisation (ESO) for women entrepreneurs living with disabilities, and Mekong Inclusive Ventures, an ESO that trains impact entrepreneurs in Cambodia whilst developing their own disability friendly ventures.

As director of Red Hat Impact, the team provides uncollateralised patient and syndicated impact debt, which aims to ‘fix the capital’ and not the founders. Moving into this space after being continually frustrated with the lack of available capital for early stage impact entrepreneurs, particularly in the Missing Middle – the gap between early start up funds and raising additional debt or impact investment capital, I set up The Adaptive Collective, with a mission to work collaboratively to highlight the impact of adaptive capital, and co-wrote DFAT funded report on Demand Led Investments for the Missing Middle.

As an impact venture creator, builder and trainer, I understands the needs of founder friendly capital. But if you ask what drives me – it’s creating environments so that any venture focussed on, or run by entrepreneurs living with a disability want to thrive or scale, then the supportive environment – physical, social and financial – is accessible and barrier free.

I’m happiest discussing ideas on how to shift ecosystems and harness entrepreneurship to make the world a more inclusive place, particularly over coffee.