B Lab and Acumen announce today that PULSE is being incorporated into B Analytics. B Analytics is now the only fully integrated data and technology platform that enables investors to measure, benchmark, and report on the impact of their portfolios using their own custom impact metrics as well as comprehensive and comparable GIIRS Ratings, all built on the IRIS catalog.

PULSE was developed by Acumen in 2006 to help impact investors to collect, manage, and report on impact portfolio data. Merging PULSE into the B Analytics platform will give users greater ability to customize the platform for their own measurement needs. B Analytics will now support users’ ability to collect custom data - either standard IRIS metrics or metrics that are completely custom to the users’ organizations.

Clara Barby, the Head of Impact at Bridges Ventures commented, “This exciting merger creates a ‘one-stop-shop’ for impact investors to collect, analyze and report the data that matters most to them, while also benchmarking their performance with the wider market. The resulting combination of customization and standardization should make it a great resource for the impact investing industry.”

“The need for systems of measurement in the work we do has never been greater,” said Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen. “As our industry continues to grow and evolve, so too should the systems we use to monitor our work and the impact we’re having. It’s incredibly exciting to see this type of progress and think about the potential learnings we will uncover.”

B Analytics is a flexible data platform for measuring, benchmarking, and reporting on impact. B Analytics hosts the world’s largest database of verified social & environmental performance data for private companies (1100+ companies). It is also the exclusive source of impact data on Certified B Corporations and GIIRS Rated companies and funds.

“This is a welcome advance for the field,” stated Tony Berkley, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Director, Mission Driven Investing. “As an early supporter of both PULSE and GIIRS, we at the Kellogg Foundation applaud the leadership of B Lab and Acumen in consolidating these tools so as to better serve the measurement needs of impact investors.”

For the past 4 years, PULSE has been managed by App-X. App-X is a Certified B Corporation and the leading provider of flexible, web-based software solutions for alternative asset fund managers, institutional investors and impact investors. Under the new relationship between Acumen, B Lab and App-X, PULSE will no longer be available as a standalone product for new users since B Lab will be integrating the key features of PULSE into the B Analytics platform. However, the relationship allows existing customers to continue using their PULSE implementations and remain fully supported by App-X. The PULSE integration has already begun, and new features will be rolled out in B Analytics over the next six months.

About B Lab and B Analytics
B Lab is a not-for-profit dedicated to building a new sector of the economy that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. In pursuit of this vision, B Lab focuses on (i) developing B Analytics, a customizable platform for measuring, benchmarking, and reporting on impact, (ii) establishing social and environmental performance standards for certifying B Corporations, and (iii) promoting a new corporate form for profit-based companies providing a public benefit. For more information, visit www.b-analytics.net, www.bcorporation.net and www.benefitcorp.net.

About Acumen
Acumen is a not-for-profit working to change the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. We invest patient capital in business models that deliver critical goods and services to the world’s poor, improving the lives of millions. Since 2001, Acumen has invested more than $83 million in 73 companies across South Asia and Africa. We are also working to build a global community of emerging leaders that believe in creating a more inclusive world through the tools of both business and philanthropy. Please visit acumen.org for more information.

B Lab

B Lab

B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement to redefine success in business. It's vision is that one day all companies will compete not only to be the best in the world, but best for the world.

B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiatives: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations who lead this movement and make it easier to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing; 2) passing benefit corporation legislation to create a new kind of corporation legally required to create value for society, not just shareholders; 3) helping investors invest for impact through use of the B Analytics data platform; and 4) helping businesses measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance through use of the B Impact Assessment as a free powerful educational tool.

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