OUR VISION
Flat World Partners is not part of the Impact Investing movement; we are an initiator of a ‘shift’. We are the tectonic plates shifting, creating a new investment landscape. We are an Upstart not a start-up. We are not disruptive, we are disrupting. Our goal is to build a global financial institution where profits meet purpose.
We believe in vision, values and respect. We believe in a partnership built on trust and a shared belief in a future where social purpose business and optimization of shareholder returns are not competing ideas. A vision where ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ drivers mean one in the same; where social capitalism is not juxtaposition. Where the ‘double bottom line’ doesn’t make for a red bottom line.
WHY ARE WE FLAT?
Columbus challenged the idea that the world was flat, but that view initiated travel; it changed our understanding of the world; exploration and geography. Friedman, believed the world had flattened, as Intranet became Internet, outsourcing pushed costs down, revenues up and information became more readily available; globalization was the new business model.
Flat World Partners views this moment as the next flattening; a technological flattening. An optimization of efficiency leveraging technological advances to create social change. Uberfication allows us to achieve more things whether it’s instant food delivery, laundry pickup or shipping from your home. We are a generation of time optimization, metrics and information absorption at a loss of knowing the difference between information, knowledge and wisdom.
We aim to flatten the silos and misconceptions that exist within impact investing. We want to allow technologies to alleviate the stresses that have been brought on by globalization and even the playing field. We will create and source new financial products that allow more capital to flow towards companies and funds creating change. These products allow for complete impact portfolios across liquidity, risk and return spectrums.
AS FOR OUR DEALS
We find and work with entrepreneurs and fund managers who are change makers, innovators, out-of-box thinkers; those that are changing the topography of their industries not just creating temporary weather patterns.
We are seeking deals that are efficiently and leanly run businesses; businesses that we believe are run by ‘social capitalists’. Businesses not just delivering an IRR but an ERR (external rate of return). Businesses that optimize capital allocation, understand that cash flow is tangible and valuation is perceivable. We are here to help these companies grow through accessing patient and value aligned capital. We are linking these companies with new and untapped distribution channels, revenue streams and partnerships. In turn, the companies build momentum by leveraging our network of portfolio companies, investors, white board thinkers and board members.
Flat World Partners strives to deliver on the promises we make. We promise to do our due diligence, to listen to what our clients want and to create products that meet these needs. We promise to work closely with our entrepreneurs; providing them with added value and insight without forcing them to cut corners, achieve quick exits or compromise their vision.
TO OUR INVESTORS
You are our partners. We want to strive to deliver the kind of results that you are seeking; that we can truly add value through research, and a deep knowledge of your impact portfolio requirements.
So challenge us. Challenge our beliefs, ask us the tough questions, the ones we are already asking ourselves every day as we build this business. You will ask us what our metrics are for impact, how do we define and track impact. We also put this question back to you. We have our definitions; working in collaboration with other organizations to come up with a singular system for impact valuation. We will track our results and yours, sharing in social successes.
We want to constantly be in flux; to make Flat World Partners better. We want to meet the needs of our advisory clients, our social entrepreneurs and our fund managers. We will always be forward thinking. We are your partners.
WALKING FORWARD
We will create our own mountains, move them and flatten them. We are not a conventional impact investor. We are a company creating an atmosphere of overcoming challenges and generating creativity. We are ‘focused objectivity’. We will be proud of the companies and funds we grow, the investors we work with and that both of these will have an even greater positive impact on the world.
Flat World Partners are visionaries. A corporate structure built for long-term success, sustainability and stability. We want Flat World Partners to become a significant and important impact investing institution and we understand this takes time. Impact investing has become a movement; Flat World Partners is creating a permanent shift, a ‘flattening’ of the investment universe.
We hope you join us on this journey, sharing with us successes and learning with us on the way. We are facing the right direction; so walk with us.
Anna-Marie Wascher
CEO | Co-Founder