The Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP), a non-profit centre dedicated to impact investing, was launched by Temasek Trust in June 2022 with the belief that impact investing can act as an effective lever for achieving sustainability. Since then, CIIP has been developing resources to close knowledge and information gaps, and help spur the growth of more effective and innovative solutions towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
CIIP – a Temasek Trust entity – is UNDP SDG Impact’s Anchor Partner in Asia and investor maps for Southeast Asia have been developed by local UNDP country offices and SDG Impact, with support from CIIP. These equip impact investors with market intelligence tools to explore regional impact investing opportunities that can potentially further the SDGs. Investor maps are currently available for Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia – more across the region are in the works.
CIIP also partnered with Accenture and Singapore Management University to release the field report “Scaling Impact in Asia: Achieving Purpose and Profit”. This features insights from in-depth interviews with investors and businesses, and offers preliminary ideas on how Asia’s impact ecosystem can forge ahead. Case studies on the impact journeys of regional players were also developed to raise awareness of inspiring impact work that is already underway in Asia, with the goal of inspiring more discussions on how we can collectively deliver more impact in Asia, for Asia.
“As CIIP continues our work to contribute to Asia’s impact ecosystem, we aim to uncover the significant opportunities for impact in Asia, highlight innovative business models for impact, and support an evidence-informed approach to regional capacity building initiatives. Ultimately, we want to accelerate capital deployment from commercial investors as well as philanthropists into areas of highest need, for the well-being of communities in Asia and around the world,” said Ms. Dawn Chan, CEO, CIIP.
SO, WHAT DOES IMPACT INVESTING LOOK LIKE IN ASIA?
These three case studies provide tangible, real-life examples from practitioners on the ground:
Photo: Olam Group
Olam is a leading food and agri-business with a value chain that spans over 60 countries, reaching over five million farmers across 45 crops and 66 countries.
Over the years, Olam has built a competitive edge through data-driven and technology-powered sustainability initiatives and services. Its solutions have addressed challenges such as tracking supply chain transparency, providing farmer advisory, and measuring carbon emissions. These tools have also been made available to Olam’s clients and other businesses and stakeholders.
Olam’s innovation efforts have culminated in Olam Ventures, which develops commercially viable, digital business enterprises. Jiva, a digital platform designed to solve critical challenges facing smallholder farmers, is a prime example of an enterprise that has been incubated by Olam Ventures. It offers personalised agronomic advice, the opportunity to sell crops direct to market at harvest, digital loans, and app-based e-commerce for farm inputs.
Having successfully completed two seasons of harvest and generated revenue of over US$50 million in Indonesia, Jiva has surpassed 89,000 registered farmers, with over 200,000 metric tons of crops purchased and US$1.5 million in financing to more than 5,000 farmers. Now a major player in the corn supply chain in Indonesia, the benefits Jiva brings to farmers upstream will have positive effects downstream for shareholders and consumers.
“Sustainability has always been something that we have embedded in and embraced in our business. We do not do it as a separate activity,” – Suresh Sundarajan, CEO, Olam Ventures
2. SwipeRx: Building Strong Pharmacy Networks Across Southeast Asia to Drive Business & Impact Outcomes
Photo: SwipeRX
SwipeRx, established in 2014 by CEO Farouk Meralli, aims to address the fragmented regional pharmaceutical value chain by making bulk purchases on behalf of a network of pharmacies. Its mission is to improve the quality, accessibility, and affordability of regional healthcare.
Meralli consciously chose investors who backed its North Star and sought commercial returns. SwipeRx’s impact investors, such as Patamar Capital and the Global Innovation Fund, sought financial returns, while its commercial investors, such as Susquehanna International Group and Johnson & Johnson from the US, valued its impact mission.
The SwipeRx platform helps pharmacists improve the quality of care they can provide by building professional networks and providing access to accredited drug information and educational courses.
Today, it is home to the largest regional community for pharmacy professionals, connecting over 235,000 professionals across more than 45,000 pharmacies in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia.
“I have seen a lot of start-ups that are entirely reliant on grant or impact funding, and I did not want SwipeRx to be in that situation. Integration of impact with the core business model has always been key [to scale].” – Farouk Meralli, Founder and CEO, SwipeRx.
3. Ngern Tid Lor (NTL): Building a Successful Title Loan Business Based on ‘Empathetic Lending’
Photo: Ngern Tid Lor
NTL is a Thai title lending company and insurance broker on a mission to make financing more inclusive for the unbanked and underbanked across Thailand.
In Thailand, as many as 70% of Thai adults rely on informal lending, with as much as 41% of household debt in Thailand being “underground debt” borrowed from loan sharks. To transform an industry with rampant predatory practices to one with responsible lending at its core, NTL team developed lending practices to provide accessible, fair, transparent, and responsible financing, while capitalising on the commercial opportunity present in providing auto title loans, commonly known as “Car4Cash”.
Managing Director Piyasak Ukritnukun’s foundational principles were to do no harm, improve accessibility, and lend with empathy. During the pandemic, when many lending sources dried up, NTL continued to support the vulnerable self-employed segment. In addition to lending, it provided generous debtor leave by waiving accrued interest and fees as part of a debt relief programme. NTL sought to maximise the impact and community support by proactively engaging customers to offer assistance – the only lender in Thailand to waive fees and interest in this way.
NTL’s May 2021 listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand was the largest ever IPO in the Finance and Securities Sector.
“Our mission statement corporate advertisement communicates to customers our intent: We never want them to come back.” – Piyasak Ukritnukun, Managing Director, NTL
More case-studies can be accessed here.
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Find out more about impact investing and practices, and access practical tools and resources to inspire your own impact journey from the CIIP website. Follow CIIP on LinkedIn for its latest updates.
