Impact investing is investing in for-profit companies to generate both financial returns and social impact. The theory is that impact investing can increase the capital available to a company, allowing it to create more positive social outcomes than would otherwise have occurred.

For impact investing to do good, it has to provide a company with more capital than it would have otherwise received. This condition is easier to meet when the investment is *concessionary* (sacrifices some level of financial return against the market rate) or occurs in a private market where other investors are unable or unwilling to invest.^[1]

Impact investing is one form of socially responsible investing.