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October 18, 2023
Advancing the frontier of Transformative Investment: the DT Lab opens
The Deep Transitions team and partners gathered to officially open the Deep Transitions Lab. This was an exciting occasion that brought together years of work and our overarching vision. The lab aims to shift investment away from innovations that reinforce our current unsustainable systems and instead, redirect investment towards multiple systems change. Ultimately, trying to help the world develop according to just and sustainable principles.
Becoming a Deep Transitions Lab partner means being a frontrunner in investing in systems change. Many sustainability-oriented investors understand now that to address the polycrisis of the world they need to change course. The big question is how. Grounded in cutting edge academic research on how system change happens, the lab with its partners will gain practical experience, demonstrate how to implement transformative investment, and share the learnings with the wider community. The lab opening was an opportunity for our partners to get to know each other and learn more about the ambitious research programme. Partners were able to meet one another, exchange thoughts and ideas as well as where they were on their journey with DT and their own experiments.
Building bridges across the investment and academic communities
“Investment needs to reinvent itself: it needs to move from ESG and impact investing to transformative investment. The DT Lab will advance this frontier, working with the lab partners on how to implement this type of investment in practice. Including, setting up a learning process among the partners and with the wider investment community and through developing an academically-grounded evidence base. This is a long-term partnership, building bridges across the investment and academic communities.”
– Johan Schot, Principal Investigator and Founder
In November 2022, Schot initiated a collaboration between historians, sustainability transitions scholars, futurists and a cohort of 16 public and private investors from around the world. The group published a Transformative Investment Philosophy proposing new principles, tools and metrics for financing long-term system change and a deep transition towards sustainability. Using the Transformative Investment Philosophy, the lab aims to establish a niche in the finance industry and contribute to its scaling.
The DT Lab stands as testament that change is possible
“Who says the investment system can't undergo a transformation? Our partners are at the forefront, driving deep transitions in various systems like education, mobility, health, energy, and food. It's evident that we can transition to a sustainable and equitable world, but it requires the creation of empathetic communities ready to tackle the complexity of current challenges and embark on experimentation to forge transformative pathways. The DT Lab stands as a tangible testament that change is possible.”
– Diana Velsco, Experiment Lead
The work programme of the Deep Transitions Lab consists of three core elements that jointly contribute to its mission: experimentation, research and learning. These allow us to experiment with partners building practical skills and knowledge, create a training and outreach programme that unites our Community of Practice, and form a research programme that develops tools and metrics to feed into experimentation. Learn more about the lab and our three core elements.
Introducing a selection of our partners
Baillie Gifford
Baillie Gifford is an asset management firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating back to 1908, Baillie Gifford is known for its investment philosophy that emphasises active, research-driven strategies and a focus on innovative, growth-oriented companies. They have been with us on the Deep Transitions journey since the beginning, with the generous support of James Anderson and the firm making our research work possible. We are thrilled that they will also be with us for this upcoming phase. The Deep Transitions Lab will work primarily with Baillie Gifford’s Positive Change Fund, a socially responsible investment vehicle that aims to generate financial returns while also making a positive impact on society and the environment.
HolistiQ (Lombard Odier / Systemiq)
The Lombard Odier Group is a leading sustainable wealth and asset manager with over 225 years experience. Systemiq aims to accelerate the transformation of key economic systems, including energy, food and nature, materials, the built environment and finance. In June 2023, Lombard Odier announced a new sustainable investing venture with the creation of holistiQ Investment Partners , in partnership with systems change firm Systemiq. Together, they have created holistiQ, which is focused solely on sustainable, large-scale investments that will help navigate investors through the transition to a net-zero, sustainable economy.
The Good Investors
The Good Investors is an investment collective of family offices, as well as a fund. Operating internationally, The Good Investors' main focus is investing in and managing investments that catalyse systems change. By focusing strategically on tomorrow’s business models and supporting inevitable societal changes, The Good Investors hope to generate superior financial returns in the long term and catalyse others to follow suit.
Mirova Sunfunder
SunFunder provides innovative debt financing for solar enterprises working in emerging and frontier markets and collaborates with major debt fund investors around the world to unlock capital for solar energy projects. By 2020, SunFunder had unlocked over USD 150 million in capital for solar, working with global investment institutions such as DFC, Swedfund, Bank of America and Calvert Impact Capital. In June 2022, SunFunder joined forces with impact investing leader Mirova. They are currently focused on scaling up clean energy and climate investments in Africa, Asia and other emerging markets around the globe. Jointly, Mirova Sunfunder will join the Deep Transitions Lab.
TransCap
The TransCap Initiative is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder collaboration whose mission is to build the field of systemic investing, a new approach to funding systems transformation that emphasises the strategic deployment of multiple forms of capital under a transformative theory of change. Operating in the spirit of open innovation, the TCI works in strategic partnerships with other organisations to develop the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of systemic investing, run prototypes in different systemic contexts, and build a global community of practice. Its work aims at generating impact in those systems that matter most for human prosperity, such as cities, landscapes, and coastal zones, as well as energy, food, and industrial systems.
Caspian
Caspian Debt is a catalytic debt provider to startups, social enterprises and financial institutions working towards positive social and environmental impact and has disbursed over USD 370 million, across more than 250 companies in India. It is the first Indian financial institution to be a signatory to the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and has been recognised as a 2X Flagship Fund for its track record in gender lens investing. Caspian Debt is a part of the Caspian Group that is a Certified B Corporation and has a 19 year track record of investing equity and debt into impact creating businesses.
Follow the progress of the lab on our blog, website and LinkedIn.
