Authentic impact requires confronting a fundamental reality: capital markets, by design, do not naturally serve those who cannot afford market rates. To reach where conventional finance cannot, Arivan Capital must accept that social return often inversely correlates with financial extraction.
Arivan Capital adopts an “impact-first” mandate to provide clarity and intentionality in our capital deployment. For us, this means prioritising transactions that deliver maximum benefit to marginalised communities, even when this necessitates risk-return profiles that commercial investors would reject.
Our philosophy aligns with the distinction articulated by sector pioneers: impact-first investing seeks the highest possible social impact whilst preserving capital with modest financial returns. This fundamentally differs from return-first investing, which optimises for financial performance with impact as a secondary consideration, and from traditional philanthropy, which seeks impact without capital preservation.
Seeks maximum risk-adjusted financial returns without regard for externalities.
Seeks market-rate financial returns alongside incidental or secondary social benefits.
Prioritises social outcomes, accepting concessionary returns or elevated risk to preserve capital whilst serving high-need populations.
Accepts significant financial trade-offs to unlock markets, de-risk future investment or demonstrate new models.
Deploys grant capital for pure social impact with no expectation of repayment.
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This framework acknowledges a critical reality often overlooked in mainstream impact discourse: that serving the most underserved populations often requires capital that behaves differently than commercial funds. Whilst market-rate returns are achievable in certain impact sectors, deep poverty and systemic inequality rarely offer commercially attractive margins. Increasing returns to investors in these contexts typically requires extracting value from beneficiaries who can least afford it.
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Initially, we anticipated that market-rate impact investments would form the core of our strategy. However, experience demonstrated that such investments often failed to reach the communities we aimed to serve, skimming the surface of social problems rather than addressing root causes. Consequently, we have committed to migrating our entire portfolio towards impact-first and catalytic approaches. This evolution reflects our conviction that true impact requires capital that is patient, flexible and subordinate to the needs of the problems it seeks to solve.
We reject the notion that impact-first investing implies “soft” due diligence. Arivan Capital applies the same analytical rigour to a community solar cooperative as we do to a blue-chip equity holding. Our investment committee translates traditional financial disciplines including, credit analysis, cash flow modelling, collateral assessment and legal structuring, into the impact context. This ensures that when we accept concessionary returns, it is a deliberate, mathematically modelled strategic choice, not the result of lax investment discipline. We leverage our traditional wealth management background to structure complex blended finance deals, often bringing a level of technical financial sophistication that is rare in the non-profit and social enterprise sectors.
Arivan Capital tests its impact-first thesis across four distinct yet interconnected sectors, community development, climate resilience, financial inclusion and sustainable agriculture. We deploy the specific form of capital that each problem demands rather than forcing opportunities to fit a predetermined asset class.
The following case studies illustrate this flexibility in practice, showcasing a hybrid portfolio where investments generate financial returns through patient equity and concessional debt.
The housing crisis in the UK is structurally entrenched, driven by policy failures that treat shelter as a financial asset rather than a human right. Arivan Capital recognised that investment capital alone cannot solve homelessness when the underlying regulatory environment exacerbates instability. Consequently, we deployed philanthropic grant funding to a national organisation challenging these systemic inequities.
[ The Intervention ]
We provided multi-year core funding to a leading housing justice charity operating emergency accommodation networks and campaigning for policy reform. Unlike project-specific grants that restrict organisational agility, our unrestricted funding allowed the partner to respond rapidly to legislative changes and expanding need. This capital supported their dual-track approach of immediate relief through night shelters and permanent supportive housing, combined with high-level advocacy to influence government housing strategy.
[ The Impact Outcome ]
Our funding enabled the organisation to sustain operations for over 3,000 emergency beds whilst simultaneously launching a successful legal challenge against punitive vagrancy laws. This demonstrates the necessity of philanthropic capital in the impact ecosystem. Whilst we invest in affordable housing developments elsewhere in our portfolio, only grant funding could support the advocacy work required to change the rules of the game itself.
The transition to renewable energy frequently replicates the extractive models of the fossil fuel era, with large corporations capturing value whilst local communities bear the infrastructure burden. Arivan Capital sought to prove that energy generation can build community wealth. We deployed patient investment capital into a cooperative model that places asset ownership directly in the hands of local residents, generating significant financial returns whilst ensuring economic benefits circulate within the community.
[ The Intervention ]
Arivan Capital acquired shares in a community energy cooperative installing solar infrastructure across educational facilities and public buildings in the UK. This investment provided the upfront liquidity required to purchase and install panels, structured as withdrawable shares that offer a projected 5% annual return. Unlike commercial private equity that demands rapid exits, our capital remains committed for the asset’s operational life, allowing the cooperative to prioritise reinvestment over aggressive margin expansion.
[ The Impact Outcome ]
The project now generates over 1.8 GWh of clean electricity annually, reducing carbon emissions by 930 tonnes whilst cutting energy bills for partner schools. Beyond the modest financial return to our portfolio, the cooperative’s surplus revenue funds a dedicated community benefit pot supporting fuel poverty relief and climate education.
Smallholder farmers in the Global South are systematically excluded from formal banking, forcing them to sell crops at harvest lows to predatory intermediaries for immediate cash. Arivan Capital recognised that breaking this cycle demands infrastructure financing that allows cooperatives to aggregate, store and process their own produce. We invested via a specialised lending society to finance physical assets in West Africa, accepting currency risk and longer repayment terms to unlock value for producers.
The transition to regenerative agriculture is blocked not just by a lack of capital, but by a policy environment that subsidises industrial monocultures and enables labour exploitation. Arivan Capital identified that investing in individual farms would be insufficient without addressing the structural power imbalances in the food system. We therefore deployed philanthropic grants to an organisation fighting for the legislative and social conditions necessary for ecological farming to survive.
[ The Intervention ]
We deployed debt capital through a UK-based cooperative lending society to finance the construction of two central warehouse facilities for a cocoa farming union in Ivory Coast. This investment was structured as a low-interest loan tailored to the agricultural cycle, allowing repayment from harvest premiums rather than fixed monthly schedules that ignore seasonal cash flows. By channelling funds through a shared interest model, we accepted a modest risk-adjusted return that institutional lenders deemed insufficient, prioritising the capital’s utility for the borrower.
[ The Impact Outcome ]
The new warehouses now serve over 3,500 farming families, enabling them to store cocoa beans until prices are optimal and sell directly to international fair-trade buyers. This infrastructure has increased farmer incomes by approximately 22% by bypassing middlemen, funding village-level investments in water sanitation and schools.
The transition to regenerative agriculture is blocked not just by a lack of capital, but by a policy environment that subsidises industrial monocultures and enables labour exploitation. Arivan Capital identified that investing in individual farms would be insufficient without addressing the structural power imbalances in the food system. We therefore deployed philanthropic grants to an organisation fighting for the legislative and social conditions necessary for ecological farming to survive.
[ The Intervention ]
Arivan Capital provided core grant funding to a membership organisation advocating for small-scale, agroecological farmers and land-based workers in the UK. Recognising that advocacy is often underfunded relative to direct service delivery, our support was unrestricted, enabling the partner to campaign for fair agricultural subsidies, defend the rights of seasonal migrant labourers and challenge corporate consolidation of seed systems. This capital supported their legal and policy teams to represent the interests of smallholders in post-Brexit agricultural frameworks.
[ The Impact Outcome ]
Our funding empowered the organisation to secure critical protections for seasonal workers and influence the design of new environmental land management schemes to better reward small-scale producers. By funding the “connective tissue” of the food movement, networks, legal defence and policy research, Arivan Capital’s grant leveraged outcomes far beyond what the money could have achieved in direct farm investment. This allocation underscores our conviction that philanthropic capital is essential for clearing the path so that future impact investments can eventually flourish in a fairer market.
Arivan Capital actively shares its due diligence methodologies, impact measurement frameworks and lessons learned with other family offices and foundations seeking to move capital towards impact-first strategies. We welcome dialogue with peers and policymakers committed to redefining the purpose of wealth.
Building the Field Together
Arivan Capital engages with impact measurement specialists, philanthropic advisors and organisations developing innovative financing structures that align financial sustainability with social outcomes. Arivan Capital values dialogue with practitioners advancing the field of impact-first capital deployment.