Integral Venture Investing: An Inclusive and Sustainable Model for Investing in Our Future

Abstract

This paper makes the case for Integral Ventures as an example for integral sustainability in Venture Capital. It is a contribution to the current financial crisis from the perspective of high-risk venture financing as a specific asset class. Part 1 sets the scene by presenting the global context in which current crises occur from the financial, social, and environmental perspectives. It introduces the concept of exponential growth to explain the mathematical complexity behind current problems and why it is difficult for most people to understand them until it could be too late to respond. Part 2 summarizes current developments toward sustainable finances, banking, reporting, and investing. It introduces Integral Investing as the application of Wilber’s Integral Model in investing and makes the case for its value add. In Part 3, we show how Integral Investing is being applied in Venture Capital in an effort to help make to make this particular asset class integrally sustainable.

Keywords: Integral Investing, Impact Investing, Sustainable and Responsible Investing, Venture Capital, Sustainability, AQAL, Ken Wilber