Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)

What Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) does

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) is a Singapore-based impact investing platform founded in 2009 by Durreen Shahnaz with early support from the Rockefeller Foundation. It operates as a hybrid entity composed of Impact Investment Exchange (Asia) Pte Ltd, a for-profit operating company, and IIX Global Charitable Limited, a charitable arm, and is widely cited as the world's first social stock exchange. IIX runs with an exceptionally lean team of 1-10 employees while coordinating capital deployment across 86 countries and has tracked outcomes for 7.86 million beneficiaries historically.

IIX's core product suite centers on the Women's Livelihood Bond (WLB) series, a thematic debt instrument that aggregates portfolios of women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets, with WLB 7 priced at $92 million and underwritten by Nuveen, APG, IFC, FMO, Franklin Templeton, and Symbiotics. The firm also developed the Orange Bond Principles, a proprietary framework for gender-inclusive and sustainable debt, and launched the Orange Movement in 2022 with a stated target of mobilizing $10 billion by 2030. Distribution channels include listings on the Singapore Exchange and a 2026 memorandum of understanding with the Dhaka Stock Exchange to introduce Orange Bonds and Sukuk.

The business model combines transaction-based revenue from bond structuring and special-purpose-vehicle management fees on the for-profit side, with philanthropic grant-making routed through the charitable entity. Customer segments span institutional investors (DFIs, pension funds, asset managers), corporate issuers adopting the Orange Bond Principles (e.g., Garanti BBVA's $30 million issuance), and downstream MSME end-borrowers in markets including India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Recent direct investments (Namdev Finvest, Kaleidofin, VENTENY) and donor-funded grants (Rezycology with the Government of Canada) illustrate a hybrid capital-deployment approach that bundles impact verification, credit structuring, and catalytic capital into a single platform.

Name

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)

Legal name

Impact Investment Exchange (Asia) Pte Ltd

Website

https://iixfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) is a Singapore-based impact investing platform that structures and arranges thematic bonds, including the Women's Livelihood Bond series, for institutional investors and women-owned MSMEs across emerging markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Miscellaneous Intermediation (52391), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282), Asset-Backed Securities (6189)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Lens / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Funds (FSANAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG), Green, Social & Sustainability Bonds (GSS/SLB Fixed Income Strategies) (FSAAALAF), Private Sector & Blended Finance Arms (IFC-type) (BPADACAJ), Renewables & Energy Transition Funds (Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, CCUS) (FSANAEAD)

Keywords

• Gender-lens investing
• Impact bond issuance
• Social stock exchange
• Blended finance
• Sustainable finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Bond Issuance and Capital Markets: IIX structures and issues gender-lens bonds (Women's Livelihood Bond series) that are listed on exchanges like Singapore Exchange and Dhaka Stock Exchange. The bonds mobilize capital from institutional investors for women-focused enterprises, with IIX acting as arranger and manager of special purpose vehicles.
2. Philanthropic Grant-Making: IIX Foundation receives donations and grants to support grassroots women's empowerment programs across Asia, Africa, and North America, focusing on digital literacy, health, education, and emergency relief.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IIX structures, issues, and lists gender-lens impact bonds (Women's Livelihood Bond Series, Orange Bonds) on the Impact Exchange, the world's first social stock exchange, connecting institutional investors to women-focused enterprises in emerging Asia. The firm provides Orange Certification services for sustainable debt instruments and runs a WLB Readiness Program to build a pipeline of investable issuers. In parallel, its IIX Foundation arm delivers philanthropic grants to underserved women and marginalized communities.

Product overview

IIX operates as a multi-product impact investing ecosystem with its core Women's Livelihood Bond (WLB) Series as the flagship debt instrument, supplemented by Orange Bond framework and Orange Certification services for gender-lens investing. The IIX Foundation (IIX Global Charitable Limited) serves as the sister philanthropic organization managing the SHE IS MORE global youth art competition and direct grant-making programs. The ecosystem also includes the world's first Impact Exchange social stock exchange platform, all unified under the Orange Movement initiative targeting US$10 billion mobilization for gender equality and climate action by 2030.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Women's Livelihood Bond: Gender-lens bond series supporting women's economic participation and livelihoods across Asian markets
• Orange Bonds
• Orange Movement
• SHE IS MORE
• Orange Bond Principles
• Impact Partners
• Impact Forum
• IIX Impact Institute

Products and services

• Women's Livelihood Bond (WLB) Series Series of gender-lens impact bonds that channel institutional capital to women-led enterprises and underserved communities in emerging Asia via intermediated SDFs and MFIs; targeted at institutional investors, DFIs, and asset managers.
• Orange Bond Corporate sustainability-linked bond issued under the Orange Bond Principles, providing corporate issuers with a recognized gender-lens use-of-proceeds framework; for banks and corporations.
• Orange Certification Third-party certification service validating that a debt instrument meets the Orange Bond Principles gender-lens and sustainable criteria; for bond issuers, underwriters, and institutional investors.
• Impact Exchange Operating social stock exchange platform that lists and trades impact investments, including the WLB Series and Orange Bonds; for issuers and investors seeking a recognized venue for impact securities.
• IIX Global Charitable Foundation (IIX Foundation) Registered charitable foundation providing grants and programs supporting underserved women and marginalized communities; funded by philanthropic donations and grants.

Quantifiable outcome

• US$2 billion+ capital commitments unlocked through Women's Livelihood Bond series
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and core.

• Garanti BBVAminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 August 2026Issued $30 million sustainable bond aligned with IIX's Orange Bond Principles under BBVA Sustainable Debt Financing Framework, supporting women's entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.
• Dhaka Stock Exchange PLC (DSE)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 February 2026MoU signed to introduce and promote Orange capital instruments including Orange Bonds and Sukuk in Bangladesh's capital markets, positioning these thematic debt securities within the sustainable finance category under regulatory approvals.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrusted partner organization supporting IIX Foundation initiatives for women empowerment.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Root Capital: Impact lender providing credit to agricultural SMEs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Comparable in underwriting small enterprise debt in emerging markets and in aggregating impact reporting for institutional investors.
• Acumen: Impact investment pioneer deploying patient capital into early-stage social enterprises in Asia and Africa. Highly comparable to IIX in mission, MSME-level investing, and blended finance approach, though Acumen focuses on equity/venture rather than debt securities.
• BlueOrchard Finance: Impact investment manager and one of the earliest issuers of microfinance and SME debt notes listed on exchanges. Closely comparable to IIX on listing gender-/inclusion-themed debt instruments for institutional investors.
• responsAbility Investments: Swiss impact asset manager offering private debt and equity funds focused on financial inclusion, climate, and SME lending in emerging markets. Direct competitor in the same institutional thematic debt category as the WLB series.
• Oikocredit: Global cooperative and impact investor funding financial inclusion, agriculture, and renewable energy enterprises in developing countries. Comparable in member-funded structure and SME debt exposure across Asia and Africa.
• Symbiotics: Investment platform dedicated to inclusive finance, originating and arranging debt for microfinance and SME institutions in emerging markets. Already named as a backer in IIX's WLB 7 Namdev Finvest deal and a direct functional peer in MSME debt arrangement.
• Calvert Impact Capital: US-based impact investment intermediary raising community capital notes to fund nonprofits and social enterprises. Comparable in securitizing impact debt for institutional and retail investors, though with a US-centric deployment focus.

Broad incumbents

• Triodos Investment Management: European sustainable asset manager with broad fixed income, equity, and private debt offerings including impact and microfinance strategies. Larger, broader portfolio than IIX but overlapping in thematic debt for inclusive development.
• FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank): Dutch DFI providing debt and equity to private sector projects in emerging markets. Already a partner in IIX's WLB 7 transactions and a comparable institutional backer for gender-lens MSME lending in Asia.

Emerging players

• Kiva: Online crowdfunding platform enabling individuals to lend to underserved entrepreneurs globally. Adjacent peer sharing IIX's mission of capital access for the underserved, though operating at a much smaller individual-loan scale and via retail rather than institutional capital.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shujog
• Facebookfacebook.com/IIXglobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/impact-investment-exchange
• Instagraminstagram.com/iixglobal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments14 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)