Investing in Social Impact

Responsibility is something you have to decide to take. We at Ferd have chosen to take responsibility for strengthening social entrepreneurs in Norway and for sharing how we as a social investor can help.

We do this because we have seen how a single committed and purposeful person can be crucial to creating social change for themselves and many others.

We at Ferd want to contribute to such positive social impact. We do this by supporting social entrepreneurs and social impact companies using our dedicated employees, our network and our strong financial position. We find skilled and interesting companies and invest time and money in their development.

“Giving people a chance to achieve their potential will always be a good investment.”

Social Innovation That Makes a Difference

We have, for example, helped to build companies that employ people who do not have other employment prospects, as well as companies that provide young people with crucial learning opportunities and belief in their own abilities and future. In addition, we use our financial and structural knowledge to set up new forms of collaboration and agreements, and this contributes to new solutions that deliver better social results being tested and established.

An important part of our work has been to highlight the impact and significance of social entrepreneurs’ innovative solutions for vulnerable target groups. We advocate for more people, in both the private and public sectors, to test and promote new solutions that have better social results. Because doing so is a matter of urgency for the people who are struggling, and because society loses out a great deal from failing to include them in society. Giving people a chance to achieve their potential will always be a good investment.

Our New Strategy

Moving forward, we will focus on addressing two key social challenges: reducing school dropout rates and increasing workforce participation among vulnerable groups. These are areas where we have extensive experience and recognize as critical for fostering a more inclusive and sustainable society.

We will tackle these societal challenges in two ways:

Social Innovation

We support new solutions that generate improved social outcomes, including systemic change. Our activities, initiatives, and investments are directed toward efforts with documented social impact, focusing on three main areas:

  • Companies or initiatives that create sustainable social effects, where we can provide support or investment. This typically involves early-stage efforts with a high tolerance for risk.
  • Impact contracts, where we invest in achieving specific social outcomes and are reimbursed based on the success of those outcomes.
  • Geographically targeted initiatives, where we concentrate resources in a specific area to break patterns or create significant new social effects. Our Oslo initiative is an example of such an effort.

Social Impact Investments

We leverage our commercial expertise and tools to drive social impact through social impact investments. These investments aim to deliver financial returns alongside measurable social benefits. We focus on three key areas:

  • Social funds, which are increasingly being established across Europe. Here, our investment is spread across multiple initiatives that yield both social and financial returns.
  • Direct investments in more mature companies, where we can contribute to scaling their impact.
  • Impact contracts, where we invest in achieving specific social outcomes and receive financial returns based on the success of these outcomes.

Through these impact investments, we can also address social challenges beyond education and workforce participation. Collectively, this approach allows us to use the full range of tools and resources at Ferd’s disposal to maximize social impact.

Our History and Role

Johan H. Andresen was the first Norwegian investor to become involved in social entrepreneurship, and also one of the first people to use the term in Norway. As far back as the mid 2000s, he provided support to a number of recently started companies, and he set up Ferd Social Entrepreneurs as a new business area at Ferd in 2009. Ferd Social Entrepreneurs is one of five business areas at Ferd AS.

We are what is known as an ‘impact-first’ investor. This means that we provide support and develop innovative solutions to social challenges, and can take risks that others in the market either cannot or do not want to take – with the aim of having the biggest possible social impact. We frequently collaborate with other investors that are committed to social impact, in order to create even more positive change together.

Read more about our investments and on how we work with the companies in our portfolio.