UnitE Investments is a boutique investment firm founded in 1999 and based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Our business model emphasizes seeking investment opportunities where our capital can make a positive impact by supporting organizations engaged in creating meaningful change. We believe in investing in ventures that align with our values and have the potential to contribute to positive social, environmental and economic outcomes. By actively seeking out such opportunities, we aim to generate both financial returns and societal benefits creating a win-win situation for all stakeholders. We also recognize that meaningful change can take root from the efforts of individuals and organizations that are engaged outside of the business paradigm and so our ‘investmemts’ also include support of activities with no expectation of financial returns.
We understand investing is only one means by which to achieve our positive impact objectives, thus we employ a continuum of approaches from lesser to greater impact with the ongoing objective of transitioning to higher levels of impact.
• Traditional Investing: Managed for financial return with basic ESG considerations.
• Low-to-Mid Impact Investing: Seeking solid financial returns alongside demonstrable, though not necessarily transformative impact.
• High Impact Investing: Prioritizing potentially transformational, often early-stage ventures where impact goals may outweigh immediate financial return expectations.
• Philanthropy: Supporting high-impact initiatives with no expectation of financial return.
For our high-impact investments, we adhere to the following principles:
• Direct Investment Structure: Our primary focus is on direct investments in ventures.
• Impact Prioritization: We decidedly favor opportunities demonstrating strong, verifiable, and scalable impact.
• Rigorous Due Diligence: We conduct detailed due diligence before committing to any investment. This rigorous process encompasses impact potential, technical feasibility, operational capabilities, team assessment, and other critical factors.
• Early-Stage Investing: We primarily invest in early-stage ventures (typically Seed to Pre-Series A rounds) where our capital and strategic engagement can make a significant difference.
Exploratory Interests & Research Unit E is committed to continuous learning and exploration:
• Environmental: We have an interest in investments in sustainable food packaging, plant-based meat alternatives, marine conservation and wildfire control.
• AI Safety (Philosophical & Research Interest): We hold a strong philosophical interest in AI safety, believing its trajectory, if not carefully guided, could pose substantial societal risks in the very near, medium and long term. We are dedicated to research, dialogue, and identifying like-minded organizations and groups working to ensure beneficial AI development.
Geographic Considerations:
While our current focus is primarily North America, we have made investments in Africa and Europe and are open to compelling impact ventures globally.