Examining Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy development in early stage-venture capital firms.

How a company today contributes to the environmental and social well-being of society is becoming a more important part of their business activities. Many large companies have an environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy which guides them on making their business activities contribute to environmental and social sustainability of the planet. But what about businesses that are just starting up? They are more worried about their ability to make enough money to survive. However, when they are able to attract funding to help them grow there is an opportunity for certain financing companies, known as startup-venture finance firms, to influence the startup business to add an ESG policy to help make their product more environmentally and socially friendly. This project will research a Toronto-based startup-venture finance company to determine if they have an acceptable ESG policy themselves and how that might influence the startup companies they have invested in.

Faculty Supervisor:

Philip Walsh

Student:

Mike Newell

Partner:

ScaleUP Ventures Inc.

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

University:

Ryerson University

Program: