Oliver Mochizuki – CEO & Founder at Fundsurfer – on bridging the impact investment gap

• Bridging the impact investment gap: Fundsurfer is a funding and investment company based in Bristol & London.
• Trillion is the Fundsurfer Impact Investment arm – see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGXajmpR9oA
• The Trillion & Fundsurfer teams & partners are based in HK, LA, SF, NY, Bristol, London, Berlin, Singapore and Johannesburg.

At Fundsurfer and Trillion we see bridging the multi-trillion-dollar funding gap for impact investment as the greatest challenge of the 21st century. We believe that we have to rise up out of the pandemic and come together to tackle the issues we face, together, with renewed focus and determination.

Challenge: When researching and assessing the true capital needs to be required globally, we could see that the current approaches being taken to bridge the impact funding gap are fragmented, siloed and unscalable. In terms of having any hope of actually achieving the UN SDG targets, it was clear that we are in deep trouble if drastic action is not taken. 2021 can be a turning point for impact investment.

So the not so inconspicuous elephant in the room is the impact investment funding gap, the multiple trillions of dollars we need to find every single year – this is it, the big challenge.

Collectively, we have to have far more ambition and move faster when deploying private and institutional capital. We can think big and aim impossibly high, that is one way we can look to turn this around.

If we are currently projected to miss every single one of the UN SDGs targets alongside failing to hit any of the Renewable Energy & Climate Goals then what are we going to do about that? Drifting another ten years away with piecemeal efforts and inaction is not going to end well, for any of us.

The Trillion and Fundsurfer teams have spent 18 months engaging with our investors and many of the top 100 wealthiest families, investment banks and investor groups around the world to discuss and assess their positions on impact. We have taken the time and effort to develop a deep understanding of their needs, framework, criteria and specific requirements for our private and institutional investor partners to be able to deploy capital faster.

We have built out a broad global coalition consisting of experienced investors, entrepreneurs, advisors, partners and experts. Working together, anything is possible – we believe that, however, we will have to get beyond the constraints of working in competition – it is ultimately self-defeating when we are trying to deliver on the same goals.

Head of UN Environment, Erik Solheim, said: “the extraordinary surge in solar investment, around the world, shows how much can be achieved when we commit to growth without harming the environment. By investing in renewables, countries can power new communities, improving the lives and livelihoods of the people who live in them, and at the same time cleaning up the air they breathe.”

Now is the time. We encourage any potential investor, partner, developer or city/ country representative to contact us directly and discuss how we can work together to bridge the funding gap, for everyone.

There is simply no time left to lose.