MIINT engages a network of student-led MBA teams at prominent business schools across the world in impact investing competition.

This Saturday, April 18, Bridges Impact+ and the Wharton Social Impact Initiative hosted the fourth annual MIINT competition — an international training program for business and graduate students interested in impact investing. The competition welcomed over 100 participants, judges and guests to the University of Pennsylvania campus. After a full day of pitches and deliberation, student teams from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley took the top awards.

Run by Bridges Impact+, the advisory arm of specialist fund manager Bridges Ventures, and the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training (MIINT) is a year-long program dedicated to training and connecting the next generation of impact investors. Under the program, students from top business schools in the U.S. and Europe learn to source and diligence impact investments, and then compete at a live pitch event.

An investment committee engaged in two rounds of lively and spirited deliberations to select the best investments. These judges brought a diverse range of experience in venture capital, private equity, angel and impact investing.

The investment committee selected the following winners:

1. Best Impact Investment: Kellogg School of Management, presenting Infiniteach.
Infiniteach is a seed stage education company which offers tablet-based learning applications that provide teachers and parents with customized solutions for children with autism. The company’s learning platform teaches a variety of academic, social, communication, and daily living skills and captures real-time student data. The first prize included an opportunity for a $50,000 investment in Infiniteach.

2. Runner-Up Best Impact Investment: Wharton Social Venture Fund, presenting Care at Hand, Inc.
Care at Hand, Inc. is a smart survey platform that predicts and prevents re-hospitalizations using observations of non-clinical workers. A research study showed that their patent-pending technology can reduce readmissions by 39.6% and save net $2.57 for every $1.00 invested. The runner-up award included an opportunity for a $25,000 investment.

3. Best Diligence: Haas School of Business presenting eMoneyPool.
This winning pitch introduced eMoneyPool, a technology platform that brings traditional money pool structures online to help users create and join pools, safely transfer funds, and work towards accessing and building credit.

The potential $50,000 and $25,000 impact investments to the winning teams are supported by the Moelis Family Foundation and Liquidnet for Good.

“Demand for impact investing content is huge on campuses around the world,” says Jacob Gray, Senior Director of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative. “Our goal in co-producing the MIINT is to provide the best experiential education available in the field of impact investment. And we believe this kind of experience should be open to many students from many universities.”

The MIINT Program simulates a traditional early-stage investment fund and trains students on how to source, analyze, and conduct due diligence on early-stage companies that create positive social or environmental impact at the same time that they offer attractive investment opportunities.

“Opportunities for practical experience in impact investing are rare. The MIINT process gives students a chance to interact with real CEOs of real companies as if they were investors,” says Brian Trelstad, a partner at Bridges Ventures.

Student teams, comprised of approximately 200 MBA students, have been participating throughout the academic year, culminating at the final competition on April 18. This year also included the competition’s first European entrant, from ESSEC Business School in Paris.

“MIINT has been one of the most rewarding experiences we have had,” says the Kellogg MIINT team, following their win. “From learning the fundamentals of impact investing, to going through the process of sourcing and conducting due diligence on social enterprises, it was an opportunity to truly play the role of an impact investor.”

This year’s competition represented teams from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, Columbia Business School, David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, Darden School of Business at University of Virginia, Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, ESSEC Business School, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

For more information about MIINT, visit themiint.org.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Bridges Impact+
Bridges Impact+ is the advisory arm of Bridges Ventures LLP (“Bridges Ventures”), a specialist fund manager that uses an impact-driven investment approach to create superior returns for both investors and society as a whole. Bridges Impact+ seeks to promote the growth of the sustainable and impact investment sector by offering practitioner-led advisory services based on Bridges Ventures’ 12 year experience of investing for financial returns and positive impact.

About Wharton Social Impact Initiative
Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) is a hub for social impact activities, information, and resources at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Established in 2009, WSII harnesses the knowledge and creativity of the Wharton community to investigate, create, and implement solutions to enduring social problems. It supports faculty, students, and alumni in the drive to use business knowledge and practices to enhance the greater good of the local community, the nation, and the world. For more information, visit socialimpact.wharton.upenn.edu.