Our Approach
Our approach builds on the groundwork laid by the impact community over the last three decades, and incorporates knowledge gained from the global investment portfolio of The Rise Fund, creating a world where capital is connected to evidence.
Where Evidence and Capital Converge
Y Analytics is an independent organization where evidence and capital converge for the public good. It uses research-based approaches to help companies and investors better understand their impact – both positive and negative – which attracts new funding towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, increases the efficiency and reach of every dollar spent, and ultimately drives global progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive future.
A Research-Based Approach
Building on the groundwork laid by the impact community over the last three decades and the knowledge gained from the global investment portfolio of The Rise Fund, Y Analytics uses the vast body of available academic research to inform a deeper understanding of what creates impact. Y Analytics builds tools and provides services that allow companies and investors to use that research in day-to-day investment decisions. Through its work, Y Analytics drives the process of identifying new pathways to creating impact and filling gaps in the research field.
Y Analytics Provides Two Key Services:
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Value Creation – Helping business leaders make more effective, evidence-based decisions using a rigorous approach of estimating the net impact in economic terms that a company or an investment creates across any of several impact pathways.
- Creation, Advancement, and Stewardship of Methodologies – Building mechanisms to bridge the divide between research communities and capital allocation decision makers, and actively sharing approaches and learnings with the public to help advance the field.
How Y Analytics Connects Evidence to Impact:
- Research-based definitions of impact, as opposed to intuition-based
- Operational approach that can be used in real-time and at scale
- Net impact-oriented approach that takes into account positive and negative outcomes
- Valuation-based, to allow for comparison across industries and contexts
- Closed loop assurance – enabled by clarity of ex ante underwriting and ex post evaluations
- Work, learn, share approach to ensure continuous improvement of methodologies
Why This Work Matters
Billions of people are left behind in a growing global economy, and billions more face the risks of a rapidly-changing environment. That is why creating long-term inclusive economic growth and expanding environmental sustainability are defining issues. Addressing these twin challenges demands trillions of dollars of new investment, and we must ensure that every dollar is spent effectively in pursuit of impact.
No single institution can address these daunting obstacles alone; there is an annual $2.5 trillion investment gap which needs to be bridged to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Together, the cumulative power of the investing, business, entrepreneurial and research communities can bring much needed private-sector resources to solve these growing challenges.
To encourage institutions to put this capital to work in pursuit of impact, they must be able to efficiently channel existing capital and create confidence that resources are driving real, measurable impact.