ABOUT IMPACT

Making a difference through impact businesses

At Inclusive Business Partners, we bring together businesses, investors, and partners to scale solutions that combine growth with positive social and environmental impact. Our work spans agriculture, clean energy, water and sanitation, food security, healthcare, and digital innovation.

Impact Initiatives

From climate-smart farming in East Africa to sustainable coffee in Colombia and impact-driven companies in Sweden, we support ventures that improve livelihoods and unlock new market opportunities. With our Impact Measurement tools, we make sure every step contributes to driving progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, such as advancing gender equality, building climate resilience, and reducing poverty.

Here are some of the impact initiatives that have created lasting social and environmental impact.

Innovations Against Poverty

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Innovations Against Poverty has enabled 2 million people to access essential goods such as improved cooking solutions and affordable, nutritious food. In addition, 700,000 people have increased their income or reduced household costs.

Green Economy Ghana

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Green Economy Ghana, 389 young people completed certified vocational training in sustainable forestry, plastic waste management, or organic waste management. A further 289 participants received tailored job-search support, while 114 chose to pursue entrepreneurship through our training programs.

Want to learn more?

Watch the two videos below to get our take on these important concepts…

We’ve empowered 260 businesses, and counting …

Over the past 12 years, we have helped +260 inclusive businesses world wide to grow and scale, creating impact across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

BUSINESSES ENABLED

COUNTRIES (BUILDING CAPACITY)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Measuring What Matters

At Inclusive Business Partners, impact is more than reporting numbers — it is about understanding whether our work truly improves lives, strengthens businesses, and contributes to sustainable systems.

We measure impact by combining rigorous international standards (SDGs, IRIS+, SROI) with practical tools that make sense for businesses, investors and organisations. Our methodology focuses on:

Theory of Change design

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A Theory of Change design which clarifies how activities lead to measurable change.

Selection of meaningful KPIs

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Selection of meaningful KPIs that are aligned with SDGs, ESG, and IRIS+ standards.

Forecasting and tracking

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Forecasting and tracking using both qualitative and quantitative indicators.

Social and Environmental Return on Investment (SROI)

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Social and Environmental Return on Investment (SROI) is about translating impact into financial value to demonstrate both economic and societal returns.

Impact initiatives covering all SDGs

We are actively working towards all of the SDGs, but with direct focus on the following:

Where we have worked

But what does “impact” & “inclusive” actually mean?

It’s easy to confuse one buzzword with another. Let’s sort out what these important concepts really mean.

Impact business

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An impact company is driven by a mission to create positive, measurable social or environmental impact at the core of its business model. Impact companies actively seek solutions to societal challenges such as poverty, climate change or food insecurity.

Impact investor

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Impact investors are those who invest in companies, organizations or projects with the intention of generating measurable social and environmental impacts in addition to a financial return. Impact investors often set specific goals, such as reducing poverty or addressing climate change, and actively seek investments that address these issues.

Inclusive business

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Inclusive businesses specifically target low-income, fast-growing developing markets with the double purpose of making reasonable profit and creating tangible development impact that matters for low-income communities such as as decent jobs and/or better income opportunities.

Sustainable business

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A sustainable business integrates ESG factors into its operations and strives to minimize its negative impact on the environment and society. Sustainability is about changing the company's internal routines to reduce damage in its operations, for example by reducing waste or saving resources. Sustainable companies focus on minimizing harm, while impact companies are built with the explicit goal of creating positive change.

Powered by Open Impact

To make impact measurement practical and transparent, we partner with Open Impact — a digital innovation and accredited research spin-off from the University of Milano-Bicocca. Their work combines academic rigor with cutting-edge technology to transform how organisations measure and manage impact.

Their flagship tool, Impact Manager, is the first digital platform in Europe linked to a unique repository of over 5,000 impact chains, 4,000 indicators, and 3,800 financial proxies. Together, we use these tools to help our clients move beyond reporting outputs and instead measure and manage real outcomes and long-term impact.

With Impact Manager, organisations can:

Design their impact pathways and define KPIs linked to SDGs and ESG standards.
Forecast different scenarios to anticipate risks and opportunities.
Monitor progress step by step with collaborative data entry.
Visualise results through clear, customisable dashboards.
Monetise social and environmental value through Social and Environmental Return on Investment (SROI) calculations.
Strategise for the long term by aligning projects with broader goals.

The Impact Call tool enables donors, funds, and accelerators to run selection and funding processes based on impact metrics, ensuring that investments are directed to the projects with the highest potential for measurable change.

By combining IBP’s expertise in inclusive business and impact strategy with Open Impact’s digital infrastructure, we make impact measurable, comparable, and actionable — helping our clients and partners turn purpose into performance.