Booth Team Wins Second Place at UNC Invest for Impact Competition

A team of Booth students earned second place in the 11th annual Invest for Impact competition at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill on Friday, February 16.

The Booth team was comprised of first-year students Kelly de Klerk, Charles Cole, and Luis Sanchez Navarro, second-year student Christine Groesbeck, and evening program student Ashray Reddy. 

“Speaking with one of the judges, we differentiated ourselves by having a detailed and coherent analysis of how the growth of the business would translate into a defined set of social impact metrics,” Charles Cole said. “I appreciated having the opportunity to engage with social entrepreneurs actively raising their next series of funding. It was great to push them on their assumptions and hear firsthand how they planned to overcome potential roadblocks and scale their business.”

UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School developed the national Invest 4 Impact competition to give students exposure to the field of impact investing.

Before advancing to the finals, the Booth team received guidance from the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, Booth’s destination for people committed to tackling social and environmental problems. Team members participated in a workshop with one of the center’s impact investors in residence, Brian Axelrad, ’09, chief investment officer of Beyond Capital Fund.

This year’s competition focused on assessing, financing, and measuring impact.

Teams of graduate students from across the country assessed the business plans of three impact-focused entrepreneurs currently seeking funding to arrive at a single investment recommendation.  Teams conducted due diligence, explored potential investment mechanisms, and presented their final recommendation to a panel of judges.