Month Long Investor Roadshow Concludes with Highlight at BYU

Matt and Laura Davis, partners of RENEW and founding angel investors of the Impact Angel Network, recently completed a month-long investor roadshow that spanned coast to coast, from Boston and New York to San Francisco and Portland.

One of the highlights of the trip was RENEW’s time with the students and faculty members of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Laura and Matt met with many bright and driven individuals from the Physics and Astronomy Department and the Ballard Center for Economic Self Reliance - it was truly an impressive group! The partners especially enjoyed having lunch with the students, hosted by the Physics and Astronomy Department, hearing about their current degrees and their plans for pursuing careers. Matt and Laura had many memorable conversations and one-on-ones with the faculty members, as well.

Part of Matt’s day at BYU included a colloquium on the rise of and need for impact investing in emerging economies. Matt’s presentation started out with some personal stories on how he, as a physics student himself, became involved in the world of international development and investment. Matt then went on to further explain how small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many African countries are experiencing a deep financing constraint, which in turn creates a “missing middle” in the economy. This is a pressing issue, as SMEs tend to be the engines of growth, create jobs, provide local goods and services, and generate tax revenue. Luckily, a solution exists in the form of impact investing.

Matt wrapped up the presentation by explaining how there is a world of opportunities for physics students, especially in finance-based positions, and that by leveraging their scientific backgrounds, they can in turn tackle global problems in completely new ways.