De-Risking VC Investing for Outstanding ROI : An Interdisciplinary Approach Toward the Integration of People, Planet and Profit

This paper makes the case for Integral Investing as a sustainable model for early stage investing. It argues that more sustainable de-risking tools could shift mainstream VC investing toward delivering higher financial returns and integral sustainability. It introduces the Theta Model as a de-risking process that integrates financial criteria with Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria, but also with behavioral, cultural, and individual assessment metrics. First, traditional Venture Capital practice and performance are compared with current developments toward more sustainable investing practices including impact investing. Then, the Theta Model is introduced as an evolutionary-based investment model rooted in Wilber's Integral Theory. The paper shows how the model has been successfully applied in integral due diligence and what were the causes for its outstanding ROI. The paper closes by sharing the lessons learned from positive and negative investment examples and by offering a discussion on how all stakeholders from entrepreneurs to investors could benefit from such integral sustainability metrics in the future