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Socially responsible investing has surged since the start of the pandemic. Investors poured into sustainable funds in 2020, more than doubling the total for 2019. Sustainable investments now total , more than a third of all global assets.

The numbers send a clear signal: Investors want companies to do more than just make money.

This trend isn鈥檛 entirely new. Many major companies among household names like , were already acknowledging this investor sentiment by tilting their business models toward sustainability before COVID-19.

But the pandemic has highlighted the scale of the social and environmental challenges we face, from food insecurity to accessibility of health care. It鈥檚 no longer enough for companies to mitigate problems. They must start driving solutions and measurable impact by finding creative ways to adjust core business to serve a greater social purpose.

In this effort, corporate impact funds are playing an increasing role in driving social innovation and seeding the success of diverse founders behind companies balancing profit with purpose.

These funds are tethering big business to the startup world. Operated by in-house investment teams, these funds, also referred to as corporate venture capital funds (CVCs), invest in emerging startups and growth-stage companies. They play an essential role in the investment and innovation ecosystem. Last year alone, CVCs invested more than $52 billion across more than 1,800 deals in the United States.

There is a clear opportunity to direct CVC funding toward social or environmental priorities by retooling the model to focus on sectors trying to solve big challenges, such as the transition to clean energy, gaps in educational and health care outcomes, and feeding our growing global population with tech-enabled agricultural solutions.

The past decade has seen a proliferation of mission-driven startups in these fields. Take AI startup , which is using geomapping to build highly accurate maps of sub-Saharan Africa that have helped health organizations deliver vaccines more effectively.

Or , a Washington-state company that diverts byproduct waste from sustainable fisheries to produce a nontoxic, low-cost biopolymer with applications in water treatment, textiles, agriculture and other industries.

There is no shortage of these kinds of social-impact companies, and some of the largest corporations globally have begun creating investment arms specifically to fund them, including , 1 and .

Critically, businesses can鈥檛 work alone in their efforts to drive meaningful social change. Rather, it requires coordination and cooperation at all levels.

Whatever the sector, the most vital change needed is one of mindset. A commitment to social purpose can鈥檛 be an afterthought.

The truth is that the advantages of adopting a purpose-driven model are clear. There鈥檚 a synergistic relationship between doing well in business and doing good in our communities. There are countless examples of socially responsible companies that deliver market-leading results in team engagement and customer outcomes, which in turn drive financial results and shareholder value. Share prices of ethical businesses already outperform benchmarks by 13.5 percent, and that gap will only grow.

The pandemic and the global economic downturn have engaged corporate attention and investment. Our ability to solve many global challenges depends on corporate willingness to prepare for a 鈥渘ew normal鈥� by building social and environmental responsibility into their business models now and taking steps to scale the solutions that can create a fairer, more sustainable economy later.

is managing partner at . 2

is vice president of impact, 3 and a member of the advisory board at TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good.

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