Dynamo Energy Hub’s Community Director, Natalia Sharova interviewed Michele Demers, CEO and Founder of Boundless, and Dynamo Energy Hub Member. Natalia asked Michele about her sustainability-focused business, exciting projects they work on, and key cleantech and sustainability trends she is watching right now. Check out the interview below to learn more about how Boundless drives capital to promising and environmentally responsible startups.

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Natalia Sharova: Could you tell us a little bit about Boundless Impact Investing and its mission?

Michele Demers: Boundless is an independent industry research and impact assessment firm that helps private investors, funds, and companies do technical diligence on emerging technologies. Our clients are mainly comprised of family offices and private investment firms who are looking for help to maximize the social and environmental impact of their portfolios.

We have a community of 60+ clients that include investors and cleantech companies. For investors, we conduct due diligence and consider environmental impacts of the companies they invest in. Simultaneously, we help cleantech companies to gain traction among potential customers and investors.

We are especially proud of our climate impact assessment tool, which we use to conduct independent, data-driven analysis that is customized for specific companies. By looking at the environmental footprint of a company or product, investors are better informed to make smarter and more accurate decisions

This is definitely where the finance world is moving today with more investors taking into consideration climate risks and the environmental footprint of companies. You’re the Founder of Boundless. How did you start it and what prompted you to focus on this field?

My vision for Boundless is that our quantitative and scientifically rigorous data collection and analysis enables capital to move more quickly and intelligently to technologies with real potential to become game changers. Normally, investment due diligence only emphasizes financial factors of a company or technology. But we are moving toward a carbon priced world, and thus it’s increasingly important to incorporate environmental factors into investment decisions and look at how those factors could impact the growth and success of a technology.

Was there some specific challenge that urged you to start Boundless?

Impact investing is a relatively new field, the shiny new thing that everyone is talking about, and I believe there is a pretty critical need for more independent research and analysis so investors can discover real “impact opportunities.” There’s too much pay to play in the world of finance, and I wanted to develop more objective ways of identifying future market winners. Currently, raters are getting paid by the companies that they are rating and it’s obviously problematic.

Private investors should be able to rely on independent, verified, and rigorous data and analytics.