At Venturebeam, our goal is to help the world’s most impactful entrepreneurs and companies achieve their ambitions. By setting new benchmarks and standards, we ensure that companies thrive and make a positive, measurable impact.
Measuring and evaluating the impact of a company is part of our process when evaluating each and every deal, and now we’ve made it available to everyone for free.
Impact companies
When discussing the impact of companies, we categorize them into three groups:
- Impact companies – these are companies that place the primary commitment on achieving a meaningful impact on People or the Planet.
- Companies with an impact mission – companies that do not focus on solving a single impact objective but work towards achieving a positive impact on keeping impact goals part of their business operation.
- Companies with Impact Intent – companies seeking to introduce impact goals in their business operations.
At Venturebeam, we seek to fund and empower companies with direct impact and with impact as part of their mission – the first two groups.
For companies in the third group—those with impact intent—we want the Venturbeam impact scorecard to help them identify ways to add and improve impact goals as part of their business and return to us for funding and empowerment.
How it works
The Venture Impact Score is a self-assessment questionnaire covering five general and four impact topics, with focus questions to validate the company’s external and internal impact.
The four impact topics stem from our impact tree, which is based on the UN sustainability goals and grows from two main areas – we measure the company’s impact on People and the Planet.
We are often asked how the “G”, or governance in ESG, fits into our impact tree. We believe governance is the key to every company’s business and daily operations. It is also often an easily improved area. We measure it as part of the five general area topics in addition to questions focusing on People and the Planet.
The Questionnaire
You can download the application questionnaire to make collecting required information from other parties easier. You can also invite collaborators to help you answer the questions.
When companies start filling out the questionnaire, the first step is to indicate which of the three groups they belong to – impact, impact mission, or impact intent. Each topic is measured and weighed based on the group to which the company belongs.
The questionnaire starts with general questions about the company’s mission and practices:
- Mission and Purpose
- Scalability
- Innovation
- Measurement and Reporting
- and Governance and Ethical Practices
followed by more specific questions about the impact on People and the Planet.
- Net-zero Strategy
- Nature Positive Strategy
- Human Rights
- Diversity and Inclusion
As part of the Mission and Purpose segment, we ask companies to identify which of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals apply to their business and to indicate the level of impact their organization has on each one. This will serve as the primary basis for further evaluating the company’s impact.
We also measure the scale of the company’s impact, ranging from local to global, affecting the entire world.
In addition to technology and new materials, companies can create an impact through innovative and sustainable business models, improved value chains, and more. The Innovation segment of the questionnaire addresses these topics.
In order to make progress in a particular area, it’s important to assess your starting point. Within the Measurement and Reporting section, we aim to determine whether the company evaluates its performance in terms of impact and if it does so using any recognized frameworks or standards.
As mentioned earlier, we see governance as one of the most important impact areas. We analyse it in more detail, asking questions on employee involvement and board competency, as well as about any impact-focused corporate policies the company has in place to help us measure its internal impact.
The Planet section measures the company’s actions in two main areas – “Net 0 Strategy” – about reducing negative impact, e.g., reducing waste and carbon emissions, and “Nature Positive Strategy” – about increasing positive impact.
The people section covers topics of growing importance related to internal employee well-being, mental health, pay equity, diverse hiring practices, external issues, and stakeholders’ involvement in the company’s impact-related decision-making.
The Scorecard
After submitting the questionnaire, every company receives a scorecard with a combined overall impact score based on qualitative and quantitative data collected and analysed using our scoring methodology, as well as scores on each impact area.
The scorecard also provides detailed descriptions on each topic to give feedback, help companies interpret the score and include tips to improve it.
You can download the scorecard as a PDF document to share with your employees and partners, and you can also download the score badge to share on your social channels.
Get started
We invite you to create an account and determine your own Venture Impact Score, review your Impact Score and Scorecard, and share your valuable insights with us. Together, let’s harness the power of impact and make a difference!
