Impact Investor Challenge | Investors

This program is an 11-week training program where we gather a group of investors new to impact investing. The group will go through the training and decide at the end of the program to invest collectively into one of the companies that have been selected to participate in the program.

Like in an Angel Group, the due diligence work is done by the investors. Unlike an Angel Group, this program is focused on impact where the investor will learn about evaluating impact and creating an “investment thesis” for her/himself.

Additionally, the program is open to non-accredited investors who are allowed to invest thanks to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that is created for each of the investment. Many program participants are also members of Angel Groups and find this program a useful resource for knowledge, community and deal flow.

This program is an 11-week training program where we gather a group of investors new to impact investing. The group will go through the training and decide at the end of the program to invest collectively into one of the companies that have been selected to participate in the program.

Like in an Angel Group, the due diligence work is done by the investors. Unlike an Angel Group, this program is focused on impact where the investor will learn about evaluating impact and creating an “investment thesis” for her/himself.

Additionally, the program is open to non-accredited investors who are allowed to invest thanks to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that is created for each of the investment. Many program participants are also members of Angel Groups and find this program a useful resource for knowledge, community and deal flow.

The program is structured around 11 weeks. Each week, we meet online for 2 hours.

At the start of the program, you will be given access to an (optional) online training platform which provides you with approximately one hours worth of content per week.

The last 4 weeks of the program are a little more time consuming as you will be performing due diligence on one of the finalist companies. Participant usually spend between 2 to 4 hours in addition to the 2 hour weekly sessions meeting with their team, interviewing the company and preparing the final investment recommendation report.

The selection process for startups ends at least three weeks before the start of the Investor Challenge. Once the startup pool is identified we will share the list with registered investors as well as investors still considering participating.

All the selection is done by the investor group. During the course of the program, you will get to filter the startup group from 15, to 10, to minimum 3 companies in order to select one at the end.

At each stage, you will receive an individual voting sheet. The results of all investors will then be pooled and the startups with most votes will get selected for the next phases.

The winning company is determined as the company who receives at least 50% of all votes cast. In some cases, this requires two voting rounds.

Yes, you are free to invest directly in any company. Keep in mind that this option is usually only open to accredited investors, due to securities regulation. If there is a demand from the cohort to make an investment in a second company, Spring may be able to offer an SPV structure to include the non-accredited investors.

Most investors will continue exploring investment opportunities, either through the deal flow provided by Spring or outside of this. As an alumni of the program you have the possibility to invest in the subsequent winning companies of other IIC managed by Spring.

Some investors take part in multiple investor challenges as they appreciate the structured approach of the program and the experience.

Early stage investing is a high risk investment which may be lost entirely. Private equity investments typically generate returns through the sale of those businesses. For early stage investments, this will likely not occur for at least 4 years, but can be as much as 10 years (or more). In this case, the selling price of the shares will be paid into the SPV, which will then be distributed to the shareholders (ie. investors), pro-rate to your investment.

Between the fall of 2019 and summer of 2022, we have completed 7 challenges. All but one have raised subsequent rounds at higher valuations (or caps). These “markups” are good signs because it demonstrates the companies ability to show value creation, usually from a combination of revenue, new intellectual property and/or new strategic partnerships. There hasn’t been an exit so far, but given the short time period invested, this isn’t unusual. The previous winners (and investment years) include Open Ocean Robotics (2019), Indiegraf (2020), Moment Energy (2021), Heal Mary (2021), Viridis Research (2021), Circular Rubber Technologies (2022) and UVX (2022).

Each investment differs, but most companies are seeking to return capital to their investors via a strategic sale or IPO. We also allow entrepreneurs and investors to consider alternative investment structures, such as revenue-backed financing, which could be liquidated overtime with repayments.