Christin Eckerle

Relevance: Early-stage Startups that want to raise external financing have to know what investors are looking for and if there is potential match. When it comes to impact investors, it is still highly unclear what differentiates them from other investors and what makes them invest in certain startups - or not. The main difference seems to be the goal: to address a societal problem. But maybe other factors play also an important role to be eligible for impact funding. It is therefore important to identify the "signals" impact investors consider as most relevant in assessing early stage startups. We already do know some of these signals from theory and qualitative research. After researching these characteristics in a systematic manner, it is then important to test these findings against a large number of data points.

RQ: What are the most relevant signals to persuade an impact investor of the intend of an early-stage startup to achieve a positive impact alongside financial return? 

Methodology: Survey questionnaire development and analysis