Creating an impact marketplace for health
According to the latest Sizing the Impact Investing Market report released by the Global Impact Investing Network (the GIIN), global impact investing has reached $1.571 trillion USD in assets allocated to driving solutions forward to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which, as we’ve published previously, map directly to Social Drivers of Health (SDOH). Within that $1.571 trillion, our observation is that the phrase “health impact investments” primarily refers to the demand side, i.e. investments in healthcare startups focused on innovations such as devices, telemedicine, access solutions, and new pharmaceuticals. What it doesn’t refer to yet is the supply side, i.e. health asset owners - health systems, plans, global purchasing organizations, health foundations, and other health-focused investors - making investments in SDOH.
Based on our work with such health asset owners, we at Multiplier Advisors think health impact investing should include both, as well as the infrastructure and connective tissue needed to smooth transactions between supply and demand. We’re curious as to why health impact investors have not made their mark as critical influencers in the impact investing market, despite being in strong financial health and having billions of dollars in assets under management.
This curiosity has led us to articulate a set of three big questions that we will be exploring in 2025 with the goal of helping health impact investing scale to advance health and wellbeing in communities:
Who are the health impact marketplace stakeholders?
What would be needed to scale a health impact marketplace?
How much capital could be unlocked for how much health impact?
Who are the health impact marketplace stakeholders?
An early step to understanding the opportunity is to map and segment the key health impact marketplace stakeholders and outline their roles and goals. For example, we expect that stakeholder segments include health asset owners, large employers, policymakers, intermediaries, investees, and beneficiaries. We expect that each segment has its own theory of change for engaging in an impact marketplace. We want to understand these different segments and their respective assumptions and theories of change and identify common goals and outcomes. We will then be better able to articulate a business and mission case for leveraging a greater portion of their assets for health-related investment.
What would a health impact marketplace need to scale?
A second early step is to explore the determining factors for scaling a health impact marketplace. Clearly what exists today has not brought health impact investors along - we want to know why. Is it simply that the case has not been made, or do health impact investors need to see an impact market infrastructure that is different from the existing impact investing market? If the latter, is it sufficient to adapt existing frameworks foundational to the “mainstream” impact investing market - such as the 9 Operating Principles of Impact Management and the 5 Dimensions of Impact - to a health lens; or, do health impact investors want to pioneer specifically tailored frameworks that resonate and align with health goals?
We also want to explore what connective tissue is needed to facilitate an efficient marketplace. Should we consistently apply SDOH or other health-specific frameworks such as Vital Conditions to describe health impact investing motivations and goals? We know from our work with our clients that continued technical assistance and knowledge building is needed across the healthcare industry. We’ll be keeping an eye out for other levers needed to support scale.
How much capital could be unlocked for how much health impact?
Lastly, to set the stage, sizing the market will be important and we like the idea of creating a report that mirrors some of what we see in the GIIN report mentioned above: total assets that could be unlocked, areas and scale of impact, key influencers, and market opportunities related to health investing specifically. We also want to think beyond capital to the broader range of assets health systems and others have to deploy for impact (see the Whole River Paradigm). As we’ve seen elsewhere in impact investing, measurement is a continued question. What kind of metric set is useful for this market, and can we identify common measures shared across stakeholders?
Conclusion
The idea of an impact market for health has been explored before in different ways. With shifting market trends and a post-pandemic environment, there’s a renewed interest and opportunity in the role health industry actors can play to spur impact investments.
This is a collaborative journey and we invite you to join us in our shared vision to create the marketplace where health investors, intermediaries, and entrepreneurs scale capital solutions that advance equity, health, and wellbeing. We’ll update you on what we learn along the way and we welcome your insights - please find us on LinkedIn or email us at contact@multiplieradvisors.com to share your thoughts or relevant resources.
