News

Investing for impact, where the primary goal is social impact, looks set to grow far more slowly than demand for such finance – unless we make some major changes. Chris West identifies five...

A new series exploring, celebrating and asking honest questions about investing for impact – featuring some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in the impact space

It’s time to set the boundaries of impact investing and say arrivederci to those who are failing to support genuinely new solutions to pressing social issues, argues Italy’s leading venture...

By Lonneke Roza and Karoline Heitmann Almost 94 per cent of the biggest European companies offer their employees company time to volunteer[1], but too often the conversation about employee...

by Priscilla Boiardi and Alessia Gianoncelli Systems change calls for more collaboration among public, private and civil society actors. But how can you collaborate if you’re not transparent about...

OPES-LCEF is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated individual with deep experience in impact investment to become its new Investment Director. The position has two primary functions – managing...

Tommy Hilfiger is pleased to announce that year two applications for the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge are now open. The global program aims to support entrepreneurial start-up and...

Recognising that challenging times call for creative solutions, MDIF today announced the launch of Emerging Media Opportunity Fund I (EMOF), the first private equity fund for independent media in...

Are you a Social Entrepreneur? Then the Social Innovation Tournament is for you! The Social Innovation recognises and supports the best European social entrepreneurs. It is organised in a different...

First impact assessment of Erste Group’s Social Banking activities: 14,000 new jobs created across CEE for people who were left behind ● More than 2,500 starting entrepreneurs received business...

Impetus-PEF CEO Andy Ratcliffe uses their 5th anniversary to share reflections on building impact.

Press Release Brussels, 6th November 2018 European venture philanthropists and social investors are living up to the expectations of supporting real social innovation by investing...

With the aim of shaping and developing transformative leaders and organizations, Cottino Impact Campus' (ICC) mission is to foster the culture of Impact through an innovative, multidisciplinary and...

We are happy to inform you that the application process for the European Venture Philanthropy (EVPA) Impact Ambassadors is now open! 

We are proud to announce a partnership with, Dentons, one of our members offering all EVPA community the chance to benefit from pro bono legal advice. Dentons is the worlds largest law firm today,...

Karuna Foundation has developed the Inspire2Care model, which helps local governments and poor communities to organise long-lasting quality healthcare and include children and adults with a...

Award honours Erste Group’s innovative Social Banking programme for “becoming a lifeline for many in the region” Erste has disbursed over EUR 140 mn in loans to starting entrepreneurs, rural...

Strengthening the supply and demand side of capital and creating a new fund to develop full spectrum financial support are two of the main recommendations in the recent report ‘Driving Progress...

Rome, 29 May 2018: A few days after the presentation of the legislative proposals of the EU Commission for the implementation of the Sustainable Finance Action Plan, Sefea Impact SGR - currently the...

Deal signed under the framework of the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)

Manage Your Grants More Effectively with a Member-Only Optimy Discount!

Social investor Cordaid Investment Management today announced that it has welcomed Hann Verheijen as its new Managing Director as of June 2018. For the majority of his career, Hann has worked in...

On 17th May, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Seán Kyne T.D. announced the Irish Government’s commitment to match private philanthropic donations raised by...

On Monday, 28 May over 150 key representatives from politics, philanthropy and civil society came together in Brussels to discuss ways to increase cooperation in the sector and to strengthen...

The philanthropy sector and policymakers will gather on 28 May in Brussels for the first-ever “Philanthropy Scrum”, a high-level exchange focusing on identifying the challenges for philanthropy...

The nonprofit foundation EspeRare receives rights to launch late stage clinical development ofER-004 (EDI200), a recombinant Ectodysplasin-A1 protein, in view of marketing authorization.The study...

Madrid, on May 16th, 2018. Spanish Securities & Exchange Commission (CNMV) has given the authorization to the constitution of Creas Impacto fund, the first self-managed and focused on impact...

The European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) and Center for Private Wealth and Sustainable Finance brought together 15 established impact funds with 25 family offices and ultra-high-net-worth...

The European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) announces that Bernard Uyttendaele is leaving his role as CEO of EVPA to pursue other opportunities. A search for a new Chief Executive Officer...

Our colleague Martin Vogelsang took part in the Zero Project Conference in Vienna. The conference is one of the most important platforms where the most innovative and effective solutions are...

Elodie Nocquet head of the ESG at  Investisseurs & Partenaires was a key speaker at the EVPA Training Academy's first installment of Impact Measurement and Management. We asked her several...

The European Commission (EC) is currently developing the new Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2019-2024. In this context, on 12 March 2018, the EC organised a workshop to explore...

Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) today announced final close of  Media Finance I (MDIF I ), a $6-million impact fund investing in independent news media in select emerging and frontier...

Leonora Buckland and Mar Corobes both researchers at ESADE Business School published the report, titled “, ‘Gender Lens Investing: An opportunity for European Social Enterprise Ecosystem’. We...

The EVPA Training Academy’s Impact Measurement and Management Training launched on 15-16 March. Leading up to the course, key speaker,  Annica Johansson, Global Impact Manager at Reach for...

ERSTE Foundation, The European Foundation Centre (EFC) and the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) launched the ROMANI exhibition on 6 March at 16:30 in the galleria of Philanthropy...

Our member Bolsa Social started the year with very good news for people who rely on them. Nostoc Biotech is a Madrid start-up of bioagriculture. They manufacture and distribute biofertilizers and...

Innovative approach for inclusion in Nepal  Globally there are many initiatives to make the world a better place for people with a disability, but the social sector often lacks sufficient knowledge...

EVPA is launching a new research initiative on Impact Strategies.  An impact strategy represents the way in which a venture philanthropy/social investment organisation (VP/SI organisation) codifies...

BonVenture Management Gmbh have made many succesful investments in 2017, generating social impact and enabling social enterprises to grow expotentially. The investments range in different...

Leonora Buckland researcher at ESADE Business School and Xavier Pont co-founder of Ship2b recently published a  report, titled “Harnessing Technology for Exponential Social Impact”. We...

Veit Bötsch Head of Finance and Controlling, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt stopped shortly and gave some advice to new VP’s and SI’s. He outlined opportunities and gave insights on the...

Capital 4 Development Partners is a fund management company dedicated to manage impact funds that aim to improve the lives of poor and marginalised people in developing countries through SME...

What do you think  is the added value that EVPA Annual Conference brings for you? I have been attending, speaking at and organising social innovation and social investment conferences for the last...

EVPA is deeply saddened by the loss of Carl-August Graf von Kospoth, CEO of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt.  He was a prominent figure in the social investment space, making impact investing a...

Capria, a global impact investing firm advancing and investing in the next generation of impact fund managers in emerging markets, announces its 5th Investment Cycle. Capria provides flexible...

In the next 10 years, 5 mln EUR will be deployed for pre-seed and early stage financing for social enterprises in the Western Balkan region through the Mozaik Impact Fund, an initiative launched by...

DON’T MISS OUT!  Nominations for the 2018 Womanity Award can be made until Tuesday 31 October.    

The Association for German Foundations joined EVPA last year, but you have participated at several conferences in the past years, what was for you the added value of our conference?...

Is your bank, foundation or trust looking to invest in social impact? Then you should check out Social Business Angel Hedda Pahlson-Moller’s advice on how to get started! Hedda Pahlson-Moller is...

SpareBank 1 Foundation Østfold Akershus has developed a new model to ensure maximum social impact from their contributions. The new model is called Proactive Grants. CEO, Just Erik Næss, explains...

The Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED) Macedonia has been playing an important role in creating successful business stories through networking, know-how business...

The Low Carbon Enterprise Fund (LCEF) and the OPES Impact Fund have agreed to merge. The new Fund (OPES-LCEF) will focus its activities primarily on India and East Africa, providing finance,...

IKARE has been a member of EVPA since 2007 and you have participated at several conferences over the past few years, what was for you the added value of our conference? What are you looking forward...

The application process for EVPA Student Fellows for the EVPA Annual Conference is now open! This initiative is a chance for you to participate at the 13th EVPA Annual Conference, taking place...

Big Society Capital is supporting an exciting new Wayra accelerator programme, providing startups with up to £70,000 in cash and support. In the UK, low-incomes households pay more for everyday...

The Foundation Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED) Macedonia is a part of the CEED Global Network, which is an US based organisation with offices in several countries...

FASE has been a member of EVPA since 2015 and you have participated at several conferences in the past few years, what was for you the added value of our conference? What are you looking forward to...

The Czech Private Equity and Venture Capital Association offers alternative sources of funding. They are oriented for innovative projects with rapid growth potential, especially firms with...

The Social Value UK joined EVPA in 2014, and you have participated at several conferences in the past years, what was for you the added value of our conference? What are you looking forward to this...

Fondazione CRT and United Nations Industrial Development Organization are launching the 4th edition of the Entrepreneurs for Social Change (E4SC) project.

 Peter Heller, Founder and Executive Director of Canopus Foundation 

Interview with Sam Salisbury, Investment Principal of Ignite Social Enterprise, part of the EVPA Corporate Initative

Katinka Greve Leiner, Director of Ferd Social Entrepreneurs and EVPA Board Member 

Discussion with Steven Serneels,  Impact Investor SI2 Fund, EVPA board member, and Chairman of the EVPA Corporate Task Group

The “Social enterprises and the social economy going forward” report, adopted in October 2016, is a capstone of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship (GECES).

The European Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have just published a call for expression of interest to reinforce the institutional capacity of financial intermediaries in the...

New York, November 16, 2016: Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) today announced the launch of MDIF Media Finance I, a blended-value loan fund for independent news media companies in select...

Incorpora is a highly successful programme creating sustainable employment developed and launched by “la Caixa” Foundation in Spain in 2006.

We’re proud that social investment and venture philanthropy is of interest to more and more organisations. In the past two months seven new members joined EVPA. 

The sixth and largest edition of Startup Weekend finished recently. About 80 participants along with 22 mentors developed developed new innovate and breakthrough ideas. Young enthusiastic,...

PRESS RELEASE Bratislava, 1 December 2016 The European Commission Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship (or GECES[1]) issues key report of recommendations to all...

The European Commission has surveyed the market for feedback on the EuSEF Regulation’s implementation. EVPA contributed to several of these consultations, highlighting the challenges VP...

From the 31st of March to the 31st of July 2016, the European Commission is collecting input from entrepreneurs, start-ups and other stakeholders on how to improve the start-up ecosystem in Europe...

The European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) welcomes Bernard Uyttendaele as its new Chief Executive. He will bring his broad experience to EVPA as it moves into its next phase of development.

The opportunities for solving social issues in Asia through venture philanthropy (VP) and social investing (SI) are huge. While private social funders in Asia are keen to make a positive social...

The EVPA team was delighted to be able to join 600 social investors in Asia at the AVPN conference. We talked strategies and financing tools to support the social sector and networked towards...

As Europe moves to put the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) into action, alarming reports on global warming, desertification, water shortages and environmental migration continue.

A new leadership, a new strategy and the building of two new branches. Exciting times are ahead for EVPA’s Knowledge Centre. 

As our world becomes more concerned with the social and environmental impact of companies, the call for transparency on companies’ performance is increasing. Equally, Europe’s investors are...

Providing affordable & accessible energy to rural populations in Devergy

Over the past two years, EVPA member Jazi Foundation financed the new country pilots of the One Acre Fund in Malawi and Uganda, involving 1000 smallholder farmer families each.

Belgium based EVPA member Kampani has made its first investment. It concerns a Fairtrade certified Burundian coffee exporter called COCOCA, a Union of smallholder cooperatives, representing 27.000...

Impact venture fund HERi Africa has co-invested $13m in Madagascar based Bionexx, a company producing the active ingredients of a new generation anti-malaria medicine.

The EVPA member DIVA Ventures has welcomed as co-founders biotechnology company Novozymes and global science based Royal DSM. The announcement was made last week at the United Nations HQ in New...

After four outstanding years together, our CEO, Kurt Peleman has decided that the time of change has arrived. Therefore, we thank him for his extensive contribution and wish him good luck in his...

As 2016 is rapidly progressing, Europe still finds herself in the difficult position of managing an unprecedented inflow of people, many of them vulnerable individuals seeking international...

After six years of setting up and running the Knowledge Centre, over two years of being formally responsible for EVPA’s policy activities and becoming a cornerstone of its management team, our...

EVPA is launching its latest research publication today! “Impact measurement in practice: in-depth case studies” highlights the experiences of two EVPA Members at the forefront of social impact...

This month we are highlighting one of the case studies from our report “A practical guide to planning and executing and impactful exit”. This article focuses on the exit of EVPA Member Ferd...

The latest EVPA Report “A Practical Guide to Venture Philanthropy and Social Impact Investment” is now available for download.

Over 2015, EVPA is producing a number of factsheets detailing venture philanthropy and social investment activities in countries around Europe. The below article is based on our recently...

EVPA and the Bodossaki Foundation hosted a joint event on 15 December 2015 in Athens, attracting more than 100 civil society organizations and representatives of charitable foundations, companies and...

The latest EVPA Report ‘A practical guide to adding value through non-financial support’ is now available for download. The guide is the result of several months of research by our Knowledge...

Over 2015, EVPA is producing a number of factsheets detailing venture philanthropy and social investment activities in countries around Europe. The below article is based on our recently...

The OECD and the European Commission have launched an inclusive and social entrepreneurship project that intends to shed light on social enterprise creation and development in EU Member States and...