Beyond Greenwashing: Setareh Heshmat’s Guide to Authentic ESG Leadership

 

The ESG Era Is Here — But Authenticity Is Missing

Over the last decade, ESG — Environmental, Social, and Governance — has transformed from a niche concept into a global financial imperative. From boardrooms to billion-dollar funds, nearly every company now claims to operate with sustainability in mind. But according to Setareh Heshmat, not all ESG is created equal — and much of it isn’t real.

“We’ve entered a phase where saying you're ‘green’ is more valuable than actually being green,” says Heshmat, ESG Investment Director at a major Singapore-based venture capital firm. “We’re drowning in sustainability jargon while the planet continues to heat up.”

As one of Southeast Asia’s most respected ESG strategists, Heshmat is calling for a new phase: authentic ESG leadership. Not marketing. Not reporting theater. But transparent, accountable, data-driven impact — rooted in long-term thinking and moral clarity.

What Greenwashing Looks Like in 2025

Greenwashing has evolved. It’s no longer just false advertising or vague sustainability pledges. Today, it shows up in more subtle — and dangerous — forms:

• ESG scores inflated by self-reported data

• Carbon offsets used to delay real emissions reductions

• Social impact funds with no community consultation

• Board diversity measured in numbers, not influence or equity

• Slick sustainability reports that mask labor violations or extractive supply chains

“You can’t fix climate collapse or systemic inequality with branding,” Heshmat warns. “But many firms are trying exactly that.”

Setareh’s Framework: The Five Principles of Authentic ESG Leadership

After years working across impact investing, ESG due diligence, and corporate sustainability consulting, Setareh developed a framework she now teaches to founders, boards, and fund managers. She calls it ESG-A — short for Ethics, Systems, Ground Truth, Accountability, and Action.

1. Ethics First

“ESG starts with intention,” she says. “If your goal is compliance, you’re already behind.” True ESG begins with ethical clarity: What kind of world is your business helping create?

2. Systems Thinking

Sustainability isn’t a department — it’s a system-level responsibility. From supply chains to product design, executive pay to data privacy, ESG should inform every strategic decision.

3. Ground Truth

She insists on “truth from the ground.” Not just dashboards and spreadsheets — but stories, audits, and community feedback that reflect how a company truly operates.

4. Accountability

Impact goals must be enforceable. Setareh includes ESG KPIs in term sheets, makes founder bonuses conditional on impact delivery, and supports third-party verification. “If it’s not tied to incentives, it’s just PR,” she says.

5. Action Over Optics

Authentic ESG leadership means doing the work before announcing it. “If you have a great headline but no operating plan, you’re not leading — you’re lobbying.”

Case in Point: ESG in Setareh’s Portfolio

In her role as ESG Director, Setareh has worked with over 50 startups in Southeast Asia. Here’s how she applies her framework:

• A Malaysian clean logistics company was required to publish a public carbon ledger — updated monthly — before funding was disbursed.

• An Indonesian agritech platform integrated farmer feedback loops into its impact reporting — turning ESG from a top-down to bottom-up model.

• A Vietnamese AI firm developing flood prediction tech tied its Series A tranche to deploying the tool in two at-risk provinces within 18 months.

These aren’t conditions of distrust — they’re infrastructures of belief, designed to protect both mission and capital.

Why Leaders Struggle With Authentic ESG

According to Heshmat, many founders and executives want to be authentic — but feel constrained by:

• Pressure from investors to meet near-term financial milestones

• Lack of ESG expertise within their teams

• Overwhelm from fragmented standards and frameworks

• Fear of admitting imperfection

Her message is clear: “You don’t have to be perfect — you just have to be honest, and accountable to progress.”

The Cost of Inauthenticity

The financial risk of greenwashing is growing. Regulatory bodies in the EU, U.S., and now Asia-Pacific are beginning to crack down with audits, fines, and investor backlash.

But Heshmat argues the bigger risk is cultural and reputational. “Consumers, employees, and even LPs are smarter now. They can tell when you’re faking it. And they’ll walk away.”

Training the Next Generation of ESG Leaders

Through her blog, mentorship work, and speaking engagements, Setareh is cultivating a new kind of ESG leader — one that’s:

• Data-driven but ethically anchored

• Comfortable with complexity and transparency

• Willing to say “we got it wrong” and course-correct

• Inclusive by design, not posturing

• Systems-aware and action-oriented

She also regularly hosts workshops and roundtables for climate founders, corporate sustainability heads, and fund managers seeking to operationalize authenticity in their ESG journey.

Final Thoughts: ESG as Leadership, Not Optics

For Setareh, ESG is not a buzzword — it’s a reflection of character, of leadership, and of responsibility to future generations.

“Anyone can write a sustainability report,” she says. “But real ESG leadership means doing the hard, slow, unsexy work — especially when no one’s watching.”

As companies continue to navigate ESG commitments under increasing scrutiny, voices like Setareh Heshmat’s are shaping what it truly means to lead with integrity in a time of crisis.

Setareh Heshmat Explores How Women Are Shaping Impact Investing

 As the global finance sector reckons with calls for greater equity, transparency, and sustainability, women are quietly but powerfully transforming the world of impact investing. At the forefront of this shift is Setareh Heshmat, ESG investment director and sustainability thought leader based in Singapore.

In this feature, Setareh explores how female investors, founders, and fund managers are reshaping not just who gets funded — but how capital behaves.

The Gender Investment Gap — and Why It Matters

“For decades, women were largely excluded from major investment decisions,” Heshmat says. “Even today, less than 3% of global venture capital goes to women-led startups. That’s not just unjust — it’s bad economics.”

She points to multiple studies showing that female-led companies tend to outperform their peers on capital efficiency, social impact, and team diversity. Yet, systemic bias continues to restrict access to capital.

“Impact investing gives us a unique opportunity to rewrite the playbook,” she adds.

Women as Catalysts for Sustainable Capital

Setareh highlights a growing body of research that shows female investors are more likely to prioritize environmental and social impact in their portfolios. In her own experience managing ESG investments, women founders are also more likely to embed purpose into business models — not treat it as an afterthought.

“When we invest in a woman-led climate startup, we often find that ESG alignment is baked into their DNA — from supply chains to hiring practices to community engagement.”

In her portfolio, 40% of current investments are women-led — a figure significantly above the industry average.

Rethinking Risk Through a Gender Lens

Heshmat also challenges traditional risk frameworks, which she argues are biased against women and underrepresented founders.

“The term ‘track record’ often disadvantages founders who’ve been shut out of elite institutions or legacy networks. But if you redefine risk to include resilience, lived experience, and stakeholder engagement — suddenly, women-led ventures emerge as extremely investable.”

She’s advocated for changes in due diligence processes, urging VCs and LPs to adopt gender-sensitive evaluation tools, especially when investing in emerging markets.

Mentorship and Ecosystem Building

Beyond capital deployment, Setareh is deeply involved in building a more inclusive investment ecosystem. She mentors women-led startups across ASEAN and is a founding advisor to a regional initiative called Women Impact Asia, which connects female investors, founders, and policymakers.

“Representation isn’t enough,” she says. “We need structural support — accelerators, co-investment networks, public-private partnerships that actively shift power dynamics.”

In 2024, she helped launch a microfund in collaboration with women-led NGOs in Indonesia and Vietnam, offering seed funding to early-stage ventures in climate resilience, ethical fashion, and digital literacy.

A Personal Perspective

For Heshmat, this mission is personal. “Early in my career, I was often the only woman in the room. I had to fight twice as hard to prove my competence — and still got passed over for deals I sourced.”

Rather than leave the system, she decided to change it from within. Now, as a decision-maker herself, she ensures that her investment committee applies a diversity and inclusion lens at every stage.

“I can’t fix all of finance,” she says with a smile. “But I can change how we do things — and inspire others to do the same.”

What’s Next: Building a New Archetype

Setareh believes the future of impact investing will be female-led — but not in the traditional mold.

“We’re not trying to replicate the old models with different faces. We’re building a new archetype of investor — one that balances logic and empathy, ambition and community, performance and purpose.”

She’s currently working on a book that weaves data, stories, and field experiences from across Southeast Asia, aiming to offer a practical guide for women entering the impact finance space.

Key Takeaways from Setareh Heshmat:

• Representation without redistribution is cosmetic. True change needs capital, control, and credit shifting toward women.

• Impact investing isn’t soft — it’s strategic. Women-led businesses are outperformers when given equitable support.

• Mentorship is infrastructure. Networks, role models, and visibility change outcomes as much as capital does.

Final Thought:
“We don’t just want a seat at the table,” Heshmat concludes. “We want to redesign the table — sustainably, equitably, and boldly.”

Setareh Heshmat on the Future of Sustainable Venture Capital

 

In a world increasingly defined by climate urgency and social inequality, traditional venture capital models are being challenged—and reimagined. Leading this paradigm shift in Southeast Asia is Setareh Heshmat, the Director of ESG Investments at one of Singapore’s foremost venture capital firms. With over a decade of experience in impact finance, Heshmat has become a prominent voice in redefining how capital can serve not just profit, but purpose.

A Vision Rooted in Ethics and Impact

Born and raised in Singapore to a culturally rich Persian-Singaporean family, Setareh Heshmat was immersed in the worlds of business and academia from an early age. Her father, a real estate developer, and her mother, a professor of cultural studies, instilled in her both strategic acumen and a deep understanding of social context. That foundation laid the groundwork for her unique approach to finance—where every investment must align with long-term environmental and social goals.

“Capital isn't neutral,” she often says. “It shapes the future. So we need to ensure it’s building the right one.”

Her current role involves managing a portfolio of climate-conscious and ethically driven startups across Southeast Asia. These include ventures in renewable energy, circular economy, sustainable agriculture, and ethical fintech.

The ESG Shift: More Than a Trend

Heshmat believes ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing is more than a regulatory checkbox—it’s a complete reframing of risk and value.

“In emerging markets, especially in Southeast Asia, ESG isn’t just about compliance,” she explains. “It’s about resilience. Businesses that embed sustainability from day one are more adaptable and ultimately more profitable over time.”

She’s particularly bullish on climate tech, green logistics, and inclusive finance, noting that these areas present both untapped economic potential and urgent global need.

Balancing Data and Intuition

What sets Heshmat apart is her rare ability to blend financial analytics with intuitive leadership. As a CFA charterholder with advanced data analytics training from MIT, she’s fluent in numbers—but her decisions are often shaped by narrative and ethics as much as data.

“When evaluating startups, I look at founder integrity, supply chain transparency, and scalability. But I also listen—really listen—to what motivates the team. Are they mission-driven, or just market-chasing?”

Her approach has helped multiple startups scale without compromising their values, even in highly competitive sectors.

The Next Frontier: A Fund of Her Own

Looking ahead, Setareh Heshmat is preparing to launch her own impact-focused investment fund—with a twist. The fund will prioritize female-led ventures and underrepresented founders in Southeast Asia, a region where access to capital remains heavily gendered.

“I’ve seen brilliant women with game-changing ideas sidelined simply because they don’t fit the traditional mold. That needs to change.”

She envisions the fund as more than capital—it will be a community of mentorship, leadership training, and strategic scaling.

A Model for the Future

In a sector still dominated by short-termism, Setareh Heshmat represents a new kind of investor—one who understands that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive. With her blog recently launched to share insights and founder stories, she hopes to inspire the next generation of conscious investors and purpose-driven entrepreneurs.

“Sustainable venture capital isn’t just the future—it’s already happening. The question is, who’s brave enough to lead it?”

Inside the Green Mind: Setareh Heshmat’s Playbook for Purpose-Driven Venture Capital

 

In a world where capital has long been synonymous with cold efficiency and bottom-line thinking, Setareh Heshmat is building something different — something radically intentional. As the Director of ESG Investments at a leading venture capital firm in Singapore, she has carved out a niche that marries ethical vision with financial acumen. Her portfolio is a dynamic mix of climate tech startups, sustainable consumer brands, and impact-driven fintech disruptors. But beneath the surface of deal sheets and pitch decks lies a deeper strategy — a philosophy she calls “purpose-driven venture capital.”

Setareh’s approach doesn’t start with a term sheet; it starts with values. She believes that the most successful startups of the next decade won’t just be agile — they’ll be accountable. In her words, “We’re not in the business of chasing the next unicorn. We’re in the business of building resilient ecosystems. And that means investing in founders who see sustainability not as a marketing tool, but as their company’s operating system.”

Her journey to this mindset wasn’t accidental. Raised in a household where global affairs and ethical discourse were everyday conversations — her mother, a university professor in cultural studies, and her father, a real estate developer who shifted to green infrastructure in the early 2000s — Setareh was primed early for a life of bold ideas grounded in real-world impact. After earning a Bachelor’s in International Business & Finance from the National University of Singapore and a Master’s in Finance & Sustainability from INSEAD, she immersed herself in the world of impact investing. From the beginning, she gravitated toward startups operating on the fringes of traditional venture capital — clean energy in underserved communities, AI-powered supply chains that tracked ethical labor, blockchain tools for environmental monitoring.

In her day-to-day, Setareh doesn’t just evaluate a company’s market size or growth potential. She dives into how they measure environmental impact, how diverse their leadership is, and whether their governance structures are future-proof. She’s known for asking hard questions: “Who’s holding your company accountable when no one’s watching?” or “If you scale 10x, what happens to your carbon footprint?” These aren’t traps — they’re entry points to deeper conversations. And more often than not, they’re what help her identify founders who are building something with lasting integrity.

Setareh’s style of investing is not about policing ideals; it’s about partnership. She embeds herself in the journey of every founder she backs — helping them craft ESG dashboards, navigate B-Corp certifications, or prepare for high-stakes negotiations with investors who may not speak the same sustainability language. Her background in data analytics allows her to bring precision to impact metrics, but she’s also unafraid to lead with intuition. “I’ve walked away from very promising deals simply because something didn’t feel aligned. You learn to trust that gut check — especially when you’ve seen how messy the back end of ‘greenwashing’ can get.”

Her network is sprawling — from climate scientists in Jakarta to female fintech leaders in Ho Chi Minh City. But what ties it all together is her commitment to Southeast Asia’s unique intersection of biodiversity, rapid development, and innovation potential. She’s vocal about the need for localized ESG frameworks, pushing back against Western-centric models that fail to account for the region’s complexity. “Sustainability in Manila looks different from sustainability in Munich — and our investing models need to reflect that nuance.”

Beyond the boardroom, Setareh’s leadership style is deeply personal. She mentors young women navigating the world of finance, speaks at international summits on ethical investing, and still finds time to document her thoughts on a private blog where she writes candidly about the emotional dimensions of money, leadership, and trust. Recently, she’s begun drafting the blueprint for her own sustainable fund — one that will center female entrepreneurs building climate-resilient businesses across Southeast Asia. “It’s not just about funding women — it’s about backing a new kind of leadership. One that’s collaborative, conscious, and rooted in long-term thinking.”

In a field often driven by hype and fast exits, Setareh Heshmat stands apart — not just as a strategist, but as a steward of a different kind of growth. Her playbook for purpose-driven venture capital is not just a framework — it’s a philosophy. One that sees finance not as the enemy of change, but as one of its most powerful levers.

As she puts it, “Smart money doesn’t just follow trends. It anticipates the future — and right now, the future is green, inclusive, and intentional.”

Setareh Heshmat’s Mission to Empower Female Entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia

 In the world of finance and venture capital, women remain significantly underrepresented. Despite the growing number of female entrepreneurs, access to funding and resources remains a challenge. Setareh Heshmat, Director of ESG Investments at a leading Singapore-based venture capital firm, is determined to change that. Her mission is clear: to empower female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia by ensuring they receive the financial backing and strategic mentorship needed to scale their businesses.

Championing Women in Business

With a background in finance and sustainability, Setareh has spent years navigating the complexities of impact investing. Her extensive experience in evaluating startups, particularly those focused on sustainability and ethical business practices, has made her a formidable force in the venture capital world. However, she has also witnessed firsthand the gender disparities that exist in the industry.

Studies have shown that women-led startups receive significantly less venture funding than their male counterparts, despite generating higher returns on investment. Setareh believes that this gap is not due to a lack of talent or capability but rather to structural barriers that hinder women from accessing crucial funding opportunities.

A Vision for Change

Setareh’s vision is to create a more inclusive investment landscape by prioritizing female-led startups in her ESG-focused portfolio. She actively seeks out businesses founded by women, particularly in the fields of sustainable technology, ethical consumer goods, and impact-driven fintech. Through her leadership, she has introduced initiatives that provide female entrepreneurs with:

• Access to Capital: She ensures that a significant portion of her firm’s investments go towards startups led by women, recognizing their potential to drive innovation and social change.

• Mentorship and Strategic Guidance: Understanding the challenges women face in business, she personally mentors female founders, helping them navigate fundraising, scaling, and sustainable growth.

• Networking and Visibility: By leveraging her industry connections, Setareh introduces female entrepreneurs to key investors, policymakers, and business leaders who can help propel their ventures forward.

Leading by Example

Beyond her investment role, Setareh is an active advocate for gender equality in business. She speaks at industry conferences, writes thought leadership pieces on ethical investing, and collaborates with organizations that support women in entrepreneurship. She also mentors young female professionals who aspire to enter the finance and venture capital space, ensuring that the next generation of women is better equipped to lead.

The Road Ahead

Setareh Heshmat’s journey is one of breaking barriers and challenging norms. By championing female entrepreneurs and advocating for a more inclusive financial ecosystem, she is not only changing the face of venture capital but also paving the way for a new era of impact-driven, gender-inclusive investment.

As she continues to push forward, one thing is certain—her work is not just about funding businesses; it’s about reshaping the future of entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia.