Definitions used in this report
Outputs (KPIs)
The direct, quantifiable results of a company’s products and services: users reached, transactions processed, tons monitored, etc. Outputs tell us what the company delivers, not whether it creates change.
Outcomes (KPIs and Positive Notes)
The changes experienced by stakeholders as a consequence of outputs. Outcomes capture what actually shifts in people’s lives or environmental systems — improved health access, reduced emissions, increased income. Both quantitative and qualitative, outcomes are where impact becomes visible.
Impact
The full effect of a business activity on stakeholders and the environment — positive or negative, intended or unintended, potential or realized. Following the IMP framework, we treat impact as the broadest category that encompasses both outputs and outcomes, and requires attribution and counterfactual reasoning to assess properly.
ESG
Environmental and social sustainability, corporate governance, and business integrity across operations. ESG is a risk management lens focused on how a company operates, distinct from impact, which measures what changes a company creates.
Positive Ventures has proudly been a B Corp-certified company since 2017. After completing our first recertification in 2021, we are now undergoing our second recertification process. The B Impact Assessment serves as a crucial tool for us to continuously evaluate and enhance our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.
Impact Partnerships
Positive Ventures was one of 37 sustainable and impact funds to participate in BlueMark’s Fund ID pilot assessment. This evaluation measured our fund’s impact approach across four key pillars: strategy, governance, management, and reporting.
We’re excited about this initiative's potential to boost accountability, comparability, and credibility in the impact investing space, helping us refine our impact management practices and raise industry standards.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center focused on reducing poverty by using scientific evidence to guide policy. With a network of over 1,000 researchers worldwide, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to address key issues in the fight against poverty.
In 2024, Positive Ventures collaborated with the J-PAL team to refine our Theory of Change (ToC), revisiting our long-term outcomes and impacts. As a result, we introduced two key Portfolio Impact Metrics—Impacted Lives and CO2e—which are directly aligned with the final outcomes of our ToC.
Frameworks & Partners
Our investment process is anchored in institutional frameworks: Impact Management Project (Impact Frontiers) for the five-dimensions framework; IRIS+ by GIIN for KPI definition and benchmarking; UN SDGs for thematic coherence; B Impact Assessment and VentureESG's Emerging Markets Framework for ESG due diligence; J-PAL methodology for Teory of Change and Impact Frontiers for portfolio-level reporting norms.