Impact Investing: The new breed of SME Financing

Globally, innovative models are being explored to provide better funding alternatives to SMEs; one of them is Impact Investment. These investments are made into SME companies / organizations / funds with the purpose to produce quantifiable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. The impact investors here target a range of returns - from well below the market up to market rate, depending upon the business model of the issuer. There are certain bodies and associations working for effective impact investing by building critical infrastructure and developing activities, education, and research that attract more investment capital to poverty alleviation and environmental solutions.