Giving Compass' Take:

• Alicia Robb argues that women in impact investing are essential because they are more likely to invest in other women, who have traditionally been left out of venture capital and angel investments. 

• How can women be brought into the impact investing sphere? How can all investors work to expand their investments to women and people of color who have been traditionally marginalized? 

• Learn how to build a gender-lens investing strategy. 

Alicia Robb is he founder and managing partner of the Next Wave US Impact Fund, an early-stage investing fund focused on bringing more women into angel investing — with a focus on social innovation and impact investing

How did you become involved with impact investing? Was there a pivotal moment?

I’ve written a few books about women and minority entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial finance. When Stanford University Press came to my co-author and I and asked if we would write a follow-on book focused on high-growth women’s financing strategies, we said we would if we could also look at the gender gap on the investor side. When you look at the gender and racial gaps in high growth entrepreneurship, one reason is because they get only a tiny fraction of venture capital and angel financing.

What are your goals with Next Wave Impact, specifically with metrics and measurement?

We have two sets. With the investor piece, it’s to educate and train new people in angel investing. Outcomes are measured by participation in the fund through the due diligence and screening of companies, and whether they go on to be active angel investors.

With the investment piece, we want to invest in companies that are successful in scaling and/or becoming profitable while having a significant impact. However, because we’re a generalist fund and investing across a wide spectrum of industries, the specific metrics used to track each company will depend on the sector they occupy.

Read the full interview with Alicia Robb about women in impact investing at Medium.