Draw me a Unicorn at Impact, the AgoraTech of Tech for Good France

Draw me a Unicorn... at Impact!

While the unicorns of French Tech have multiplied in recent months, how can we define the Impact Unicorn, a symbol of the success of another economy at the service of the common good?

The Impact France Movement, Ipsos and the Boston Consulting Group(BCG) are launching a vast project to identify the obstacles that need to be overcome to enable impact companies to develop and to bring out the champions of this economy of the future: the Impact Unicorns. The aim is to reinvent the models of business success and to generate debate around the traditional criteria used to quantify unicorns as well as new criteria characteristic of impact businesses.

The Unicorn of tomorrow, myth or economic reality?

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Following a vote by the participants and a debate between the speakers, the criterion of positive social and environmental impact was the most popular for defining the contours of a Unicorn with impact. It could therefore be defined as a company that brings a disruptive innovation for a major social and ecological impact.

Three ways have been proposed to measure this impact: 

• The means used
• The impact on beneficiaries
• The economic value of the impact (understood as the avoided cost to society)

After discussions, the tool for measuring "avoided costs" has largely emerged as the most relevant for defining the Unicorn for impact. The methods for measuring these avoided costs (to be considered in a differentiated manner for each Sustainable Development Goal) are to be developed in the coming months in conjunction with impact entrepreneurs, funders and the BCG. 

Secondly, the criterion of economic valuation has also been identified as a major factor in defining the future framework of the impact unicorn. It is now a question of finding the right level of economic valuation for this new unicorn model. 

To help us move from theory to practice on this topic, you can take the survey on the barriers to impact enterprise development.

See you at ChangeNOW for an exclusive presentation of our findings and the start of the Unicorns with Impact. 

Watch the replay of the event below: