Change and impact
Driving change, improving health. That is Noaber's mission. We periodically examine our success in doing so, both for our programs and investments.
Driving change, improving health is Noaber's mission. It reflects our goal (improving health) to facilitate healthy and active living and thereby optimize quality of life for people, as well as the initiating and activating role Noaber plays (driving change). We enable new initiatives and then actively support them until others can and want to take over. Long term sustainability and development are paramount in this process.
The impact investments from Noaber Ventures are an instrument to help realize this mission. Noaber Ventures invests in companies, organizations and funds that make a meaningful contribution to people's health and pursue our Quadruple Aim in addition to generating a financial return.
Our main interest is in investing in young companies that are active in (as yet) non-institutionalized fields. This implies that the preconditions for a market (regulation, reimbursement, incorporation into protocols and guidelines, work processes, reimbursement, etc.) are not yet fully in place and investments must be made in order to create these preconditions.
Health care systems are under pressure from an aging society burdened by decades of unhealthy lifestyle choices. These challenges are compounded by a shortage of healthcare personnel.
Keeping everyone healthy for as long as possible at the lowest possible cost. This is our dream. In our vision, extending the period in which we lead healthy lives, or as healthy as possible, is the key to ensuring sustainable, affordable and accessible health care. We put everything we have into pushing through the necessary groundbreaking changes that no one else is focusing on. This requires a healthy dose of guts, creativity, active involvement and entrepreneurship. We believe that no challenge is too big and every change starts with a first step, no matter how small.
We define health according to Machteld Huber's concept of positive health: people's ability to adapt and take charge of their own lives in the face of the physical, emotional and social challenges of life.
We currently spend 90-95% of healthcare costs on curative care. But the need for curative care is often the result of years of incremental steps in an unhealthy lifestyle combined with an aging body, which then reduces the quality of life.
The challenges in healthcare are clear, but the solutions are complicated. Our health care systems are highly regulated with tight budgets, overburdened staff and diffused processes of decision making. Innovation that drives systemic change is therefore difficult and require long term thinking and actions.
We need visionary leaders who can initiate and support change in the complex world of healthcare to make this happen. Noaber is here to help these frontrunners with a donation through our programs or an investment in a new innovative company.
We have the knowledge, the network, the creativity and the guts to bring about systemic change. Where the established order fails and where traditional forms of financing are inadequate, we look for new ways and technologies and make new, strategic connections between people and organizations with a common vision. Together we tackle social challenges that have a very real chance of failing. But what if they succeed? That mindset is exactly why the world needs "Noabers:" neighbors promoting groundbreaking changes for an inclusive, healthy society.
When it comes to improving health, we focus on four impact aspects (the Quadruple Aim). Improving health, reducing healthcare costs per capita, improving the healthcare experience of patients, and the work experience of healthcare professionals.
To measure the extent to which we contribute to change, we examine eight different aspects: organizational development, organizational positioning, market development, embedding in (regular) funding, embedding in (working) protocols, system innovation, system improvement and scientific positioning.
Our impact framework is based on the Quadruple Aim. Quadruple Aim is an approach developed to optimize the performance of health systems. It provides insight into the direct impact of investments in relation to Noaber's mission (intentionality). It also looks at the extent to which Noaber's contribution/funding makes a difference (added value). Noaber's added value lies in its focus on early-stage propositions in developing market segments that therefore have a higher risk profile and are less likely to be financed by traditional investors.
Impact monitoring
For investments, Critical Performance Indicators (CPIs) regarding intentionality are agreed upon that are in line with the Quadruple Aim framework. The selected CPIs are (1) quantitative, (2) available on a continuous basis from the primary process and (3) can be influenced by the management of the company. Added value is primarily considered in (follow-up) funding.
Impact management
The impact framework is part of and integrated into the total investment process of decision making, management and exit.
Impact report 2022