A very big thank you to Zhai Yun (Nat) Tan from The Edge Malaysia for featuring Bintang Capital Partners in the publication’s annual ESG magazine – what an incredible honour!
In the November 2023 issue, Johan Rozali-Wathooth, Adelene Low, and Ee Rong Song shared insights into Bintang’s journey in becoming Southeast Asia's first B Corp certified private equity firm.
Bintang’s B Corp certification is the launchpad for our collective dream of building an impact-led investment ecosystem in Southeast Asia: a day we have anticipated since Bintang was first founded.
At the heart of our approach lies Bintang’s ambitious goal of creating 150 B Corps by 2050 (“150 by ‘50”) as expressed through our Triple-I Strategy (“Investing in Impact & Innovation”).
B Corps are businesses which are independently verified by B Lab to have met the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
By building a network of B Corps, Bintang hopes to drive the adoption of sustainable business practices across Southeast Asia.
We strongly believe that the demand for sustainability-focused companies in Southeast Asia is poised to experience exponential growth.
Investors are increasingly demanding that their investee companies adhere to higher ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards, and as a result companies who are able to demonstrate a strong commitment towards sustainability will become increasingly attractive.
A recent report by B Lab Global’s Insights team (https://shorturl.at/abovA) found that B Corp certified companies are more likely to experience growth in their workforce and revenue compared to their uncertified peers:
Between 2019-2021, B Corps globally were more likely to experience an increase in revenue compared to uncertified peers.
Focusing on East & Southeast Asian companies, 70.8% of B Corps saw revenues increase between 2019-2020 (vs 45.5% for uncertified peers). Between 2020-2021, the figures were 76.0% vs 44.1%, respectively.
Across all global regions, B Corps are 1.62x more likely to have increased their talent force by more than 25% over the last 12 months compared to uncertified peers.
The interview with The Edge delves into the Bintang team’s “whys” (each of us has a unique reason for pursuing this collective dream), how we plan to achieve it through impact investing, as well as how entrepreneurs in this region have responded to the idea of B Corp certification.
Please do read the article – Nat captured our thoughts beautifully!
