Evaluating the Impact of Hillside Harvest

In fall 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team had just finished their last round of due diligence on the BIPOC-founded premium hot sauce company Hillside Harvest. They thought the business had a fine performance, showing potential to grow into a successful business. However, the company’s limited scope—selling hot sauce—made the students question how they should think about impact and whether Hillside Harvest was the right company for them to fund. The team pondered: What exactly qualified as impact? Was it enough for the HBS Impact Fund to invest in a Black-owned business, or did the business need to be explicitly mission-driven?