In case you missed it, Steve Case’s new Rise of the Rest fund, which strives to “construct an ecosystem like the one in Silicon Valley that will provide support and connections to entrepreneurs in small towns,” is not an impact investment.

Mr. Case was quick to say the new enterprise should not be considered an impact fund.…Mr. Case said he would only succeed in changing the way investors think about the rest of the country if he can produce significant financial success stories.

Making the extra effort to generate and report measurable impact does not narrow the opportunity set or dim the financial prospects of an investment. In many cases it is simply a more disciplined, accountable, and truly empowering way of investing, period. Otherwise, how will Case and his co-investors know The Rest are actually Rising?

Read the full article on embracing impact investment by Ben Thornley at ImpactAlpha