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Featured
Walking the Talk in Impact Investing: Lessons in Making Real-World Change by NESsT's Chief Impact & Operations Director
Blog, Opinion
Walking the Talk in Impact Investing: Lessons in Making Real-World Change by NESsT's Chief Impact & Operations Director
Blog, Opinion

In this article, NESsT Chief Impact and Operations Officer Renata Truzzi shares her lessons in walking the talk in impact investing – from measurable impact through rigorously-measured investments and running accelerator programs that prioritize locally-led businesses to prioritizing DEI-driven decision making – an approach that has allowed NESsT to create thousands of dignified jobs and improve millions of lives worldwide. 

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Blog, Opinion
The Future is Ancestral and Collective: Reflections and Voices from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto
Amazonia, Colombia
The Future is Ancestral and Collective: Reflections and Voices from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto
Amazonia, Colombia

In this article, Renata Truzzi, NESsT Chief Impact and Operations Officer, shares her reflections from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto, weaving together her own insights with voices and stories from the event, showing how collective action, ancestral knowledge, and community-led approaches have the potential to shape the future of impact investing.

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Amazonia, Colombia
NESsT Welcomes Catalina Rodriguez Hohman as Chief Financial Officer, Expanding Leadership Team
Blog, News, Colombia
NESsT Welcomes Catalina Rodriguez Hohman as Chief Financial Officer, Expanding Leadership Team
Blog, News, Colombia

NESsT recently expanded its executive team with the addition of Catalina Rodriguez Hohman as Chief Financial Officer. Catalina, who is based in Cali, Colombia, has over 15 years of financial experience in national and multinational companies including EY, Deloitte, Russell Bedford International, and most recently One Earth Future Foundation (OEF). 

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Blog, News, Colombia
The NESsT Lirio Fund Renews Support for Three Enterprises Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods in the Peruvian Amazon
NESsT Lirio Fund
The NESsT Lirio Fund Renews Support for Three Enterprises Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods in the Peruvian Amazon
NESsT Lirio Fund

In the first half of 2025, Lirio Fund enterprises Kulkao, Lagunas de los Condores, and Pebani received repeat loans from NESsT, reflecting our continued confidence in the enterprises’ business models and impact. Read to learn more about their continued impact and growth as part of our fund portfolio.

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NESsT Lirio Fund
NESsT in Colombia: Over 5 Years of Impact in the Country
Colombia, News
NESsT in Colombia: Over 5 Years of Impact in the Country
Colombia, News

In July 2025, NESsT formally established its legal presence in Colombia with the opening of a new office. While we've accelerated diverse impact-driven enterprises based in Colombia for 5 years, this milestone enables us to deepen our local involvement in the region.  

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Colombia, News
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Amazon Bioeconomy Blog Series

Featured
Blended Finance: Unlocking Funding for Sustainable Businesses in the Amazon
Blended Finance: Unlocking Funding for Sustainable Businesses in the Amazon

When structured effectively, blended finance can connect entrepreneurs who need support with investors who care about impact. To make this model easier to understand, NESsT has created an infographic that clearly shows how blended finance works in practice and highlights its role in the Amazon impact ecosystem. This visual tool breaks down complex financial ideas into simple language, making it valuable for entrepreneurs, policymakers, partners, and anyone interested in advancing the Amazon bioeconomy through innovative financing. 

Technology Meets Traditional Knowledge in the Amazon’s Socio-Bioeconomy
Tech, Women, Indigenous Peoples
Technology Meets Traditional Knowledge in the Amazon’s Socio-Bioeconomy
Tech, Women, Indigenous Peoples

Many community-based enterprises in emerging sustainable socio-bioeconomy value chains lack the means and infrastructure to adopt digital monitoring and communication tools to track forest conservation and improve their production processes. With support from Cisco Foundation, in 2021, NESsT launched a search for early-stage technology enterprises that provide sustainable livelihoods to underserved communities and regenerate the environment. Read more about the initiative learnings here.

Tech, Women, Indigenous Peoples
For the Socio-bioeconomy to Thrive, Women Must be Recognized as Key Players
Women, Brazil, Amazonia
For the Socio-bioeconomy to Thrive, Women Must be Recognized as Key Players
Women, Brazil, Amazonia

Our work on the ground in Brazil’s Amazon region has consistently shown that increasing women's participation is critical for the socio-bioeconomy to become a robust and sustainable national development strategy. 

Women, Brazil, Amazonia
How Streamlining Funding Application and Reporting Criteria can Improve Financing Accessibility for Grassroots Initiatives in the Amazon
Amazonia
How Streamlining Funding Application and Reporting Criteria can Improve Financing Accessibility for Grassroots Initiatives in the Amazon
Amazonia

In this blog, we speak with bioeconomy entrepreneurs to better understand the challenges they face when applying for funding from multiple sources. Read it now to learn how complex application criteria and reporting demands impact their businesses and explore actionable recommendations for how the funding community can help ensure more equitable, inclusive access to financing. 

Amazonia
Why an Inclusive Definition of the Bioeconomy Matters for Financing Amazon Enterprises
Amazonia
Why an Inclusive Definition of the Bioeconomy Matters for Financing Amazon Enterprises
Amazonia

NESsT’s recent study and extensive research identifies that the term ‘bioeconomy’ is often broadly interpreted by bioeconomy funders and global policymakers, sometimes straying far from a vision of environmental stewardship. We interviewed Indigenous leaders and entrepreneurs as part of ongoing efforts to deepen our understanding of their perspectives, vision and expectations of the bioeconomy as not just as an economic model, but as a way of life rooted deeply in ancestral tradition.  

Amazonia
The Methods Behind NESsT’s Study to Bring Local Perspectives to Bioeconomy Financing Discussions
Amazonia, bioeconomy
The Methods Behind NESsT’s Study to Bring Local Perspectives to Bioeconomy Financing Discussions
Amazonia, bioeconomy

This blog delves into the methodology behind NESsT’s publication to improve the targeting, accessibility, efficacy, and efficiency of investments in the Amazon bioeconomy; it homes in on NESsT’s firm intention to bring local voices to global discussions around Amazon bioeconomy funding and explores how NESsT anchored the publication in authentic narratives and diverse Amazonian contexts while tailoring the message for the international financing community.

Amazonia, bioeconomy

Gender Lens Blog Series

Featured
NESsT Measures the Baseline of Gender Lens Policies in its Portfolio
NESsT Measures the Baseline of Gender Lens Policies in its Portfolio

NESsT presents the results of our new gendered metrics and focus group discussions with portfolio company employees, suppliers, and/or distributors.

How NESsT Uses Focus Groups in its Impact Measurement
How NESsT Uses Focus Groups in its Impact Measurement

As part of its company review process, NESsT conducts annual/biannual focus group discussions with employees. Here are our learnings.

10 Learnings from NESsT's Gender Lens Investing Advisory Board
10 Learnings from NESsT's Gender Lens Investing Advisory Board

These 10 learnings will help you to design an experience for your Gender Lens Investing Advisory Board that is both productive and actionable.

Reviewing Early Stage Fund Practices that Incorporate Gender Lens Investing
Reviewing Early Stage Fund Practices that Incorporate Gender Lens Investing

In order to understand how other early-stage impact investing funds are incorporating gender lens investing into their portfolios, NESsT reviewed the activities of four main funds: Calvert Impact Capital, Root Capital, Alpha Mundi, and Acumen.

Incorporating Gender Equality for Vulnerable Populations
Incorporating Gender Equality for Vulnerable Populations

Women and girls with disabilities who are members of marginalized ethnic or racial groups or part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community often face "double discrimination" in the workplace based on their gender and disability status. The exclusion and violence against women and girls with disabilities have heavy social consequences and hinder economic development.

Español

Featured
NESsT y Mujeres Empresarias impulsan alianza estratégica para fortalecer el liderazgo de mujeres en los negocios
NESsT y Mujeres Empresarias impulsan alianza estratégica para fortalecer el liderazgo de mujeres en los negocios

NESsT y Mujeres Empresarias (ME) anuncian una alianza estratégica destinada a acelerar emprendimientos liderados por mujeres en Chile, con el objetivo de promover empresas sustentables que generen impacto económico y social, y que puedan crecer con el intercambio de conocimiento y experiencias de otros países en esta materia.  

NESsT en Colombia: Más de 5 años de impacto en el país
NESsT en Colombia: Más de 5 años de impacto en el país

En julio de 2025, NESsT formalizó su presencia legal en Colombia con la apertura de una nueva oficina. Si bien llevamos más de 5 años acompañando el crecimiento de empresas de impacto en el país, este paso nos permite fortalecer nuestra presencia local y seguir contribuyendo de forma más directa al desarrollo sostenible de la región.

NESsT anuncia alianza con Conexsus, el BID Lab, y el Green Climate Fund para fortalecer emprendimientos comunitarios de la sociobioeconomía en toda la región Panamazónica
NESsT anuncia alianza con Conexsus, el BID Lab, y el Green Climate Fund para fortalecer emprendimientos comunitarios de la sociobioeconomía en toda la región Panamazónica

NESsT anuncia hoy una nueva alianza con el Instituto Conexiones Sostenibles (Conexsus), el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID Lab) y el Green Climate Fund (GCF) en el proyecto AmazonBeEco, una iniciativa de apoyo a la sociobioeconomía en la región Amazónica.

NESsT anuncia alianza con Suecia para transformar la cadena de valor verde de Sudamérica
NESsT anuncia alianza con Suecia para transformar la cadena de valor verde de Sudamérica

Suecia se une como donante al programa de aceleración consolidado de NESsT en Sudamérica, lo que permitirá ampliar el apoyo a más emprendimientos y profundizar su presencia en Colombia y Perú, además de extender sus esfuerzos a Brasil.

Alejandra Ramírez y Mauricio Verkooijen son nombrados Directores de NESsT en Colombia y Perú
Alejandra Ramírez y Mauricio Verkooijen son nombrados Directores de NESsT en Colombia y Perú

NESsT anuncia avances significativos en su liderazgo en dos de sus mercados sudamericanos, impulsados por crecientes oportunidades para dirigir recursos financieros y capacidad estratégica hacia empresas con impacto social.

Fortaleciendo capacidades para gestionar una incubadora Amazónica
Fortaleciendo capacidades para gestionar una incubadora Amazónica

En 2023, NESsT y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) firmaron una alianza para impulsar el trabajo de aceleración de NESsT dirigido a empresas indígenas de la cuenca Amazónica. Uno de los principales enfoques del programa piloto es intercambiar y fortalecer el conocimiento y la experiencia directa de organizaciones indígenas alrededor del emprendedurismo, así como de metodologías para incubar y acelerar emprendimientos indígenas en la Amazonia.

Un modelo de gobernanza asociativo para el desarrollo de la economía indígena de la Cuenca Amazónica
Un modelo de gobernanza asociativo para el desarrollo de la economía indígena de la Cuenca Amazónica

Desde el 2023, NESsT impulsa el programa piloto “Incubadora de Empresas Indígenas en Bioeconomía para la Región Amazónica” donde, de la mano con COICA y organizaciones indígenas nacionales de Perú, Ecuador y Colombia, buscan pilotear y sentar las bases para un modelo de gobernanza para la implementación de incubadoras de emprendimientos indígenas gestionadas por estas mismas organizaciones desde sus propios territorios.

Português

Featured
Financiando o Futuro da Amazônia: Como Ativar a Sociobioeconomia com Crédito e Políticas Públicas
Financiando o Futuro da Amazônia: Como Ativar a Sociobioeconomia com Crédito e Políticas Públicas

Hoje, muito pouco do crédito ofertado nas instituições chega a quem protege a floresta. Se governos e organismos multilaterais trabalharem em sinergia para mudar este cenário, negócios sustentáveis podem prosperar — e a Amazônia também. 

NESsT no BAS 2025: fortalecendo a bioeconomia amazônica com comunidades no centro das soluções
NESsT no BAS 2025: fortalecendo a bioeconomia amazônica com comunidades no centro das soluções

Manaus sediou, nos dias 30 e 31 de julho, a segunda edição do Bioeconomy Amazon Summit (BAS 2025). O encontro, promovido pelo Pacto Global da ONU – Rede Brasil e pela gestora de venture capital KPTL, reuniu mais de dois mil participantes, entre autoridades públicas, investidores, empreendedores e lideranças comunitárias da região. O objetivo foi discutir alternativas sustentáveis para o desenvolvimento da Amazônia, com foco na bioeconomia, na inovação e no fortalecimento de cadeias produtivas baseadas na floresta.

O futuro é ancestral* e coletivo: Reflexões e vozes do Impact Minds 2025 pela Latimpacto
O futuro é ancestral* e coletivo: Reflexões e vozes do Impact Minds 2025 pela Latimpacto

Neste artigo, Renata Truzzi, diretora de impacto e operações da NESsT, compartilha suas reflexões sobre o Impact Minds: Collective Makers 2025, da Latimpacto, combinando suas próprias ideias com vozes e histórias do evento, mostrando como a ação coletiva, o conhecimento ancestral e as abordagens lideradas pela comunidade estão moldando o futuro do investimento de impacto.

Quando empreender é resistir: como a inclusão financeira fortalece vidas e territórios
Quando empreender é resistir: como a inclusão financeira fortalece vidas e territórios

No Brasil, milhões de pessoas negras empreendem não por escolha, mas por necessidade. Mesmo assim, transformam territórios, geram renda e abrem caminhos para outras pessoas. Em um cenário de desigualdade de gênero estrutural, a situação é ainda mais difícil para as mulheres, que acumulam obstáculos a serem superados em suas trajetórias. Neste julho das Pretas, a NESsT Brasil reafirma seu compromisso com a equidade racial e com o fortalecimento de negócios que constroem futuros mais justos. 

Finanças Mistas: Destravando Recursos para Negócios Sustentáveis na Amazônia
Finanças Mistas: Destravando Recursos para Negócios Sustentáveis na Amazônia

Finanças Mistas ou Blended Finance: como a combinação de capital público, privado e filantrópico pode destravar recursos para projetos de impacto em territórios vulnerabilizados.  

Polski

Featured
NESsT startuje z nowym naborem do Violet Fund. Wesprze firmy, które chcą rozwijać swój biznes i jednocześnie wspierać różnorodność
Aktualności
NESsT startuje z nowym naborem do Violet Fund. Wesprze firmy, które chcą rozwijać swój biznes i jednocześnie wspierać różnorodność
Aktualności

Do 4 milionów złotych pożyczki mogą otrzymać polskie małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa oraz organizacje pozarządowe z działalnością biznesową na tworzenie bezpiecznych i przyjaznych miejsc pracy dla osób LGBTQIA+ jak i innych grup niedostatecznie reprezentowanych. Rusza nabór do Violet Fund - unikalnego funduszu międzynarodowej organizacji NESsT łączącego finansowanie rozwoju biznesu z mentoringiem ukierunkowanym na wspieranie tworzenia inkluzywnych miejsc pracy.

Aktualności
Co czyni firmę prawdziwie impaktową? Ekoinbud pokazuje, że są to stabilne miejsca pracy
Co czyni firmę prawdziwie impaktową? Ekoinbud pokazuje, że są to stabilne miejsca pracy

W powszechnym wyobrażeniu przedsiębiorczość społeczna kojarzy się głównie z urodzonymi społecznikami, którzy zakładają spółdzielnie przypominające bardziej fundacje niż typowe firmy. Rzeczywistość bywa jednak różna – nawet pozornie tradycyjne przedsiębiorstwo budowlane może mieć znaczący pozytywny wpływ na otoczenie. Znakomitym przykładem takiego zjawiska jest gdański Ekoinbud, którego ludzie pokazują prawdziwą zmianę społeczną realizującą się w codziennej działalności biznesowej tego przedsiębiorstwa.

Sklep socjalny, który działa – lekcje od spółdzielni ARTE
Sklep socjalny, który działa – lekcje od spółdzielni ARTE

Idea tworzenia sklepów socjalnych, gdzie ceny celowo utrzymywane są poniżej wartości rynkowych, tak by ułatwić dostęp do podstawowych artykułów osobom najuboższym, dotarła do Polski w drugiej dekadzie XXI w. Jednak dotąd powstało ich zaledwie kilka, głównie w dużych miastach. Na tym tle ciekawie wygląda sukces sklepu socjalnego w 30-tysięcznej Bielawie uruchomionego w 2021 r. przy wsparciu NESsT. Oto jak Wielobranżowa Spółdzielnia Socjalna ARTE dzięki swojej wielobranżowości, a także przedsiębiorczości, poradziła sobie z tym niełatwym zadaniem.