Mobilizing capital for responsible innovation: the role of social finance in supporting innovative projects

Abstract

The literature on Responsible Innovation (RI) has not yet fully addressed the role played by social finance (SF) in supporting projects and organizations engaged in the production of innovations that tackle grand societal challenges. This study addresses this gap by empirically examining how SF investors select potential investees and the principles they judge important in SF. Our findings show that SF investors apply a combination of criteria to select investment projects where entrepreneurial motivations, environmental, social and governance commitments, and the nature of the impacts being generated align with their portfolio's mission. Though not all SF investors in our sample had knowledge about the concept of responsibility, they nonetheless mobilized a broad set of principles that are closely aligned with the aims and practices of RI. More research is needed to clarify the type of resources SF use to support RI and the conditions under which these resources are provided.