Impact investing advisory firm Purpose Capital has hired a new chief executive, Upkar Arora.

The addition of Arora as CEO, and as an investor, will bolster the firm’s leadership, experience and investment capacity, Toronto-based Purpose Capital says in its announcement.

Prior to joining Purpose Capital, Arora founded Toronto-based boutique advisory firm Illumina Partners, which specialized in strategy, operations, mergers and acquistions and finance. He has also been involved with social finance for the past seven years, investing in community bonds, social impact bonds and renewable energy.

Arora is a chartered professional accountant, a chartered accountant, and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors, and has a master’s from the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance. He has also served on Waterloo’s board of governors, as a director of Metrolinx Inc. and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, among other things.

“The time was right to expand our capabilities and take our firm to the next level. The impact economy has grown in size and sophistication since we founded the firm in 2010, requiring us to bring in more seasoned leadership in order to evolve and enhance our contribution to the sector’s growth,” says Purpose Capital co-founder, Norm Tasevski, in a statement.

“Our team will continue to focus on our core strengths of market leadership in impact investing and quality service while accelerating our efforts to encourage new players in new markets to participate in the sector,” adds Arora.

Purpose Capital is not connected to, nor affiliated with, Toronto-based Purpose Investments Inc.