Interview Impact Loop with Charlie Macdonald

“𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.” Our colleague Charlie Macdonald shared some candid insights with Impact Loop about the shifting reality of impact investing.

His message is clear: the days of relying on ‘green premiums’ are numbered. In today’s uncertain climate, startups need to win on fundamentals (cost, performance, convenience) with sustainability as the bonus, not the reason to buy.

“𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭.”

It’s a pragmatic view for turbulent times. The only way impact can thrive is if the economics make sense in up markets and down!

Read the full conversation with Charlie and other leading European impact VCs (Alex Bakir, Lena Thiede and Beata Enwall) in the Impact Loop article.