Company: Impact X Capital
Website: https://www.impactxcapital.com/
Business: Impact X Capital is a London-based venture capital firm that invests in underrepresented entrepreneurs from across Europe.
About Eric Collins and Impact X Capital
Impact X Capital was founded by Eric in 2019. Eric has stated that his inspiration for starting his business was the lack of investment in companies led by people from underrepresented communities. Impact X Capital focuses on people of colour and women.
Eric is originally from Alabama and studied at Princeton University and then at Harvard before becoming a strategy consultant. His career at SwiftKey (where he worked as Chief Revenue and Distribution Officer) was the initial role that took him to London, where he has remained. He continued on to work as the Chief Operating Officer of Touch Surgery. Eric is a serial entrepreneur having served on many boards and in the C-Suite of rapidly growing companies within the tech sector.
It was the realisation that “only 1% of venture funding goes to Black entrepreneurs and only 4% goes to female entrepreneurs” that pushed Eric to start Impact X Capital and solve this problem. He noted that this market inefficiency meant that there was a greater opportunity for investment and financial returns. Impact X Capital has focused on ventures within Europe that are at Seed, Series A and Series B stages. They work across a range of sectors including education, lifestyle, media, entertainment, health and digital technology.
Since its founding, Impact X Capital has seen over 700 companies with 21 commitments, closing on 17 investments. The main issue is not that there isn’t enough deal flow from underrepresented entrepreneurs but rather that there are fewer partners from similar backgrounds investing in venture capitalists with similar backgrounds who will then fund entrepreneurs from similarly underrepresented groups.
The Impact X Capital team has successfully generated returns for clients of over $12 billion in investment assets.
What Did The Judges Like About Impact X Capital?
Sithara said, “Impact X Capital’s goal to democratise business funding is extremely admirable, which makes their successful track record even more impressive.”
Alix said that “I love that Impact X Capital focuses on people of colour and women, tackling funding inequity in the two spaces most underserved. As part of an African exec team building a new app and business, it’s great to hear of their existence and mission. It’s commendable that since its 2019 founding, Impact X Capital has seen over 700 companies with 21 commitments, closing on 17 investments. Here’s a prime example of company living and breathing social change with the ability to do so en masse.”
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