FLIT.ie Empowering Women to Financial Security

An Impact business is one which seeks to deliver a social good, as it's main reason for existence.

This doesn't mean that the business can't make a profit, rather that extracting a profit is not its primary motivation. All well and good, but how is the business to survive if if cannot make money? But yes, it CAN make money, and it can develop into a solid growth business

In implementing FLIT I had an initial desire to build a business which is self supporting, but which does not seek to extract large or non-transparent amounts from its customers. During the TechStars startup weekend, March 2024, our team wrestled with this concept to understand what it truly means, and subsequently, how this could be implemented in practice. By 24th March, we had settled on ‘non profit extracting’

Meaning:

• The primary mission of FLIT is to improve financial outcomes for females in Ireland
• Founders, Employees, and associates must be paid a fair and equitable wage
• FLIT will be run as a profit-making business
• Profits will be initially re-invested in the business to extend a freemium model
• Profits will also be aligned with a donation model, to provide matched funding for clients not in a position to pay (pay-it-forward)

With these principles in mind, the challenge becomes how to choose a legal structure and format for the FLIT organisation which supports these principles and attracts appropriate funding and supports. Ireland has a healthy startup infrastructure with supports from Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, AwakenHub and AwakenAngels and other funding bodies, but this is geared largely towards startups committed to an incremental growth, scaling and export path. I recognise that FLIT.ie will need to be a solution focussed on the legal and financial structures of Ireland,

Legal Structure	Advantages	Disadvantages
Charitable body	Well understood & recognised model; Eligible for philanthropic and international ESG funding (e.g. Amazon's ESG fund)	High level of governance - board of directors; risk of founder losing control; ineligible for VC funding; ineligible for Enterprise ireland supports
CLG Company Limited by Guarantee	Recognised in Ireland (but not necessarily overseas); Eligible for SOME philanthropic supports (depends on funds); Possibly eligible for some Impact-led VC funding; Rules changed recently to make CLGs more attractive to stakeholder investors by reducing Impact ownership requirement to 51% and that 49% can be owned by other/ outside shareholders	Company charter must clearly commit that if the company were to wind down/ be sold, then its assets must be passed to a similar CLG or Charitable body.
Incorporate as PLC/ Ltd company	Allows most flexibility for founder to seek partnerships to attain growth goals. Committment to mission and values can be implemented via company policies and practices. Can seek funding from LEO, EI, Angel funding, VC as appropriate.	Ineligable for most charitable and philanthropic funding. Could be difficult to get alignment and credibility with Impact partners. Mission statement could be derailed if focus becomes growth-at-all-costs

We don't have to make the choice for FLIT just yet - currently in no-mans-land - feasibility assessment by a sole trader...

We would like to make the best structural choice for incorporation by Q1 2025, and are taking advice... please contact us if you have any guidance