About NESsT
NESsT is a global impact investing and venture philanthropy organization accelerating enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet.
A good job can change a life.
NESsT invests through two businesses: (1) an accelerator program that catalyzes impact-focused enterprises towards growth and investment readiness and (2) a suite of impact-first loan funds that provide patient debt financing to purpose-driven small and growing businesses.
Impact Investing:
NESsT’s accelerator program provides a proprietary pipeline for our loan funds.
The NESsT Lirio Fund invests in small and medium-sized enterprises that improve livelihoods while contributing to the bioeconomy and environmental conservation in the Andes Amazon. The Fund addresses the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the region, specifically meeting their need for patient capital and financial management support.
The NESsT Violet Fund invests in enterprises founded and/or led by LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more) entrepreneurs, and that create jobs and inclusive workspaces for the LGBTQIA+ community in Central and Eastern Europe.
Business Acceleration
NESsT’s acceleration program has been supporting early-stage social enterprises since 1997.
NESsT selects high-impact enterprises through rigorous due diligence that includes business planning and impact evaluation. Once enterprises enter the NESsT portfolio, we accompany these social enterprises with patient financial instruments that are appropriate for their stage of development as well as business assistance, positioning them to successfully launch, sustain, and replicate their impact.
Letter from the CEO
Since joining NESsT as Chief Executive Officer in November 2023, I have been deeply inspired by its culture of resilience and bravery: our team and the enterprises we work with are committed to serving communities and regions that have been marginalized or neglected, navigating markets and investing at scales often ignored by others.
Within these overlooked spaces, NESsT has consistently identified and catalyzed hundreds of high-potential enterprises that are using the tools of business to address the greatest challenges of our time. In 2023 alone, our acceleration portfolio of 66 enterprises created 27,182 dignified jobs in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, impacting over 345,260 people in these regions.
As I visit our portfolio enterprises what also captures my attention is the reliable performance of these high-impact companies. Supported by NESsT’s experienced, locally-based portfolio managers, these enterprises are proof that impact commitments can drive sustainable, long-term business success as they grow in scale and resilience.
For nearly three decades, NESsT has been a trailblazer in the field of impact investing and measurement, pioneering multiple initiatives that have shaped the development of the sector. Our more recent achievements include launching Central and Eastern Europe’s first impact fund dedicated to LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and being among
the first actors to offer long-term employment support to refugees after war broke out in Ukraine in 2022. We continue to strengthen our efforts in the Amazon and collaborate with partners to promote a definition of the bioeconomy that prioritizes the perspectives of local Indigenous communities.
I am proud to lead our remarkable team to advance NESsT’s legacy of innovation and social change.
Cheers to you, the NESsT community, and to our work ahead.
Kirsten Dueck NESsT CEO
Kirsten Dueck, NESsT CEO
WHAT WE DO
NESsT Programs
NESsT operates two businesses:
1. A core accelerator program that catalyzes earlystage enterprises towards investment readiness
2. Impact loan funds that provide debt financing to small and growing businesses
Olsztyn Food Bank, NESsT Portfolio
Business Acceleration
In 2023, NESsT’s core accelerator program catalyzed 66 enterprises.
What NESsT’s business assistance looks like:
NESsT portfolio managers meet with their portfolio on a bi-weekly basis to assess their progress and address any challenges they may encounter, providing ongoing training, mentorship, and capacity-building support to ensure that each enterprise has the tools to reach and measure their social and environmental impact and business goals.
More than 85% of NESsT’s staff is based in the countries of our portfolio, where they understand the context, build networks, and foster local ecosystems. Through its global teams, NESsT also connects portfolio enterprises to a broader community of mentors, peers, and investors.
Additionally, NESsT presents cross-cutting learning opportunities to its portfolio, including masterclasses on business topics relevant across sectors such as gender inclusion, digital transformation, risk management, supply chain resilience, and governance.
Impact Investing
NESsT consolidates blended financing from public and private investors into tailored financing instruments that meet the needs of growth-stage enterprises.
“As impact investors, we are committed to assisting high-potential enterprises that the market has previously overlooked. We recognize that these businesses require dedicated support—more technical assistance and concessional capital with return expectations aligned with the costs and risks they face in achieving positive impact.” — Chad Sachs, NESsT Chief Investment Officer
To mitigate risks for investors, NESsT funds tie investments to specific impact and business performance milestones. The team establishes necessary safeguards within the investment framework and assists the enterprises to reach these goals, ensuring their success in loan repayments and supporting them to graduate to commercial investors.
“We challenge our entrepreneurs to meet milestones, whether they are salesdriven, product-driven, or operationally driven. Then, we offer tools, capacity support, and mentoring to help enterprises meet those milestones so that we can give them the next investment.” — Nicole Etchart, NESsT Founder and Board Member
NESsT offers the full spectrum of integrated capital:
| Debt capital with flexible terms and collateral, offering longer repayment terms and more affordable interest rates than traditional commercial alternatives.
| Reinvestment of fund fees, net interest and dividends to further build the capacity of enterprises to better manage their financials including their cash flow and to continue to strengthen their governance.
| Grant capital and recoverable grant investments through NESsT’s acceleration program to prepare enterprises for loans and to ensure that they meet their impact goals and repay their loans
How enterprises benefit from the “tailored” approach:
NESsT adjusts the structuring of its loans, grants, and recoverable grants in a way that aligns with the enterprise’s business and impact objectives, risk tolerance, and cash flow needs.
Case Study: In Brazil, when guarana producer CooperSapó first joined the NESsT portfolio, the cooperative struggled with paying its farmers upfront for harvesting costs. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, NESsT expedited its loan disbursement, providing CooperSapó with capital before the harvesting season ended. This timely intervention allowed the cooperative to ensure the financial stability of its farmers.
WHY WE DO IT
Nicole Etchart, NESsT Founder and Board Member
The Power of SMEs
Everyone deserves an opportunity to earn a decent livelihood. NESsT firmly believes that locally-based social enterprises led by resilient entrepreneurs can make this possible.
At the heart of NESsT’s mission are the entrepreneurs who dare to reimagine possibilities within their local communities. These visionaries are crafting sustainable businesses that authentically reflect and address local needs, providing not just products and services, but dignified jobs and training opportunities.
Voices from NESsT’s entrepreneurs:
“I believe that entrepreneurship opens doors, as it has done for me. It is a path upon which we can thrive creatively and autonomously.” — Jorge Júnior, CEO and Founder of Trampay, NESsT Racial Equity Initiative Enterprise
“Social enterprises should be true reflections of the society in which they operate. In order to achieve this, we need to open up opportunities for the inclusion of diverse people who represent social groups that, historically, have faced greater challenges in accessing resources.” — Carlos Humberto da Silva Filho, CEO and Founder of Diaspora.Black, NESsT Racial Equity Initiative Enterprise
“We wanted to build a model of an organization that not just relies on subsidies, grants, and government support but is able to sustain its own operations and manage its budget effectively.” — Marek Borowski, President of Olsztyn Food
Bank, NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative Enterprise
“Through the sustainable collection and sale of non-timber products such as cumaru seeds, Amazon nuts, and copaiba oil, members of the cooperative can access much higher returns on the produce grown in our communities, which has raised our standard of living — housing has improved, meals have become more nutritious, and local families are enjoying an enhanced quality of life.
COOPAFLORA is much more than a cooperative, it is a driving force that empowers us and fills us with hope for a sustainable, prosperous future.” — Daiana Figueiredo da Silva, President of COOPAFLORA, NESsT Amazonia Initiative Enterprise
A Message from the Founder
For NESsT, the key player has always been the resilient and courageous entrepreneurs we support.
Over the past 27 years, I have worked with thousands of entrepreneurs who “have impact in their DNA.” These entrepreneurs have a deep understanding of sustainable and equitable practices. Their decisions consistently prioritize impact, creating a ripple effect of positive change throughout value chains. As persistent innovators and problem solvers, they have shown us that ventures committed to both financial and impact goals can thrive.
When NESsT first launched, we traveled extensively to onboard donors and investors around the world, seeking to raise the visibility of these remarkable entrepreneurs and their solutions. We set out to create the enabling conditions that entrepreneurs needed to take their initiatives to the next level, and, within the first 10 years, we published over 50 publications and 150 enterprise case studies, with All in the Same Boat: A Primer on Venture Philanthropy as a notable example.
A lot has changed since 1997 — the ecosystem has expanded, and we now have networks and peers we can turn to. There’s growing recognition among stakeholders of the importance of gender and racial equity, diversity, and sustainability, and we’ve seen many global actors reshape business models and policies accordingly. As we deepened our work in specific sectors, such as IT and the circular economy, we intentionally joined forces with diverse actors in the ecosystem to drive systemic change.
We have also witnessed a shift toward blended finance models where public and philanthropic funding takes the lead and mitigates risks for other investments, incentivizing more private investors to mobilize capital toward impact. Just this past year, we collaborated with our partners to launch a publication outlining the
perspectives of local bioeconomy enterprises that we have worked closely with in the Amazon basin. Our research explored how funders, particularly development finance institutions, can respond to local needs and contribute to the sustainable economic development of the Amazon basin, improving the targeting, efficacy, and efficiency of funding for local businesses in a way that prioritizes the lenses of local communities.
The challenge that still remains is: how can we ensure these global commitments and emerging changes are able to quickly transform into reliable, scalable action frameworks that are implemented globally? For the 700 million people living in poverty and for our threatened planet, every day is a battle for survival. We simply cannot afford to wait another 25 years to address these urgent problems.
I firmly believe that impact investors are key to this transformation. Although our sector isn’t yet large enough to effect change overnight, we are in a unique position to take risks and share proven practices that others can replicate. As impact investors, our role is to innovate, learn, and disseminate these lessons broadly, laying the groundwork for global adoption. NESsT sees this as key to its role as a systems change catalyst.
NESsT’s journey has taken me to many places, from Chile to Colombia and to much of Central Europe. Witnessing the resilience, energy, and dedication of entrepreneurs worldwide, and problem-solving and co-creating with colleagues and peers who see the glass as half full continues to fill me with hope and motivation every day.
Nicole Etchart NESsT Founder and Board Member
GLOBAL REACH AND IMPACT
© Bruno Kelly, ASSOAB, NESsT Portfolio
27 Years by the Numbers
$34M invested 1.7 MILLION million lives improved
245 enterprises accelerated and financed
112,866 formal jobs sustained for underserved communities average annual increase in enterprise sales
Global Reach and Impact
Alumni Spotlight: CIEDS
Centro Integrado de Estudos e Programas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CIEDS) is a Brazil-based NGO with more than 25 years of experience working with youth from low-income, disadvantaged backgrounds.
CIEDS joined the NESsT portfolio in 2018. NESsT’s first investment to CIEDS provided it with the resources to launch ‘Coletivo Aprendiz’ – a scalable, digital training program offering apprenticeship and internship opportunities to people from marginalized communities, including at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
With support from NESsT portfolio managers, CIEDS consolidated the program’s business model, grew its team, and began to offer training that meet the hiring needs of large companies in Rio de Janeiro in new, diverse sectors. From year one, ‘Coletivo Aprendiz’ reached breakeven, supporting annually more than 1,000 people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In 2021, NESsT extended a second recoverable grant to CIEDS, which it used to upgrade its systems, including its talent database and e-learning modules, and to deepen the impact generated by Coletivo Aprendiz.
With NESsT’s support, the second phase of Coletivo Aprendiz supported youth to define their career paths and secure full-time employment.
By the time it exited the NESsT portfolio in 2023, CIEDS’ work had impacted the lives of almost 6,600 young people and supported the creation of over 4,000 dignified jobs.
“It’s not always easy for NGOs to adopt a business mindset; however, with NESsT’s support, CIEDS made great headway in the direction of financial sustainability without losing sight of its impact. Additionally, the NGO’s repayment rate was 100%, which allowed us to support other early-stage enterprises in Brazil,” shared Renata Truzzi, NESsT Acceleration & Impact Director.
CIEDS, NESsT Alumnus
HOW NESST MEASURES IMPACT
© Bruno Kelly, ASSOAB, NESsT Portfolio
Impact Measurement
NESsT’s impact measurement and management methodology was developed based on over two decades of experience catalyzing small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets.
NESsT uses the Performance Management Tool (PMT) to track and measure the impact of its portfolio and their value chains. The PMT has been in use since 1999 and contains key social and environmental indicators that NESsT refines annually.
In 2016, NESsT updated its commitment to gender equity and inclusion, starting with its internal policies and procedures and extending these principles to the social businesses in the NESsT portfolio. This process captured gender dynamics across its portfolio and closed any identified gender gaps to enhance the financial and social inclusion of women.
In 2023, NESsT deepened its work in the Amazon, drawing key insights from Indigenous enterprises to refine its strategies for gender inclusion and regenerative agriculture specific to the region. These revisions were grounded in extensive desk research about the region’s geography,
population, and supply chains, and were further refined through repeated field visits and interviews with numerous local enterprises. From these experiences, NESsT updated its core environmental impact indicators, which it plans to roll out across its portfolio in 2024. A few examples include:
l Tons of CO2 air emissions avoided
l Number of hectares of protected areas under good management (i.e. parks, reserves, private protected areas)
l Number of hectares of land restored (i.e. deforested/ degraded)
l Number of hectares of landscapes under sustainable practices (i.e. organic certification, polyculture, agroforestry)
l Tons of non-biodegradable waste avoided
Impact beyond numbers
NESsT surveys the employees and suppliers of our portfolio in-person to gain qualitative insight into the impact its portfolio is generating.
“Analyzing impact only through numbers can obscure vital contextual details necessary for sound decision-making in investment and impact strategies. This issue is especially pronounced in socially and environmentally complex regions like the Amazon basin.” – Renata Truzzi, NESsT Acceleration and Impact Director
By conducting interviews and site visits, NESsT gains important background that complements the quantitative data we collect through the PMT.
One of the key impact indicators we measure for every enterprise is its ability to create jobs for marginalized communities. The one-on-one interviews allow us to assess the quality of the jobs created, examining whether people feel secure in their jobs and if the roles are actually moving people out of poverty. We also verify if our enterprises adhere to best practices concerning employee wellbeing, including the implementation of policies addressing harassment and discrimination, workplace safety, equitable
hiring, sexual harassment/bullying, and inclusive and equitable procurement process.
The interviews allow our teams to better assess the commitment of our portfolio companies to sustainable practices, including those related to water conservation, waste reduction, energy usage, habitat preservation, biodiversity protection, and engagement with Indigenous and traditional peoples.
Heca Coop, NESsT Portfolio
2023 NESST PROGRAMS
Programs
NESsT invests in emerging markets through two funds – the Lirio Fund and the Violet Fund – with a combined USD $14.7 million in assets under management.
In 2023, NESsT was named to the ImpactAssets 50 list of impact fund managers1 for the second consecutive year.
1 https://impactassets.org
NESsT Lirio Fund
In 2023, the NESsT Lirio Fund’s portfolio not only met but exceeded its impact and development goals. By year’s end, the enterprises within the fund portfolio had positively impacted 4,339 marginalized individuals and played a key role in the sustainable management or preservation of more than 32,000 hectares in rural Colombia and Peru.
To achieve this, the Lirio Fund firmly upheld its commitment to its impact-first strategy, maintaining low interest rates for local SMEs generating outsized impact despite increasing capital costs in the region over the past two years.
In addition to offering long-term patient financing, the Lirio Fund team provided extensive, tailored business assistance to its portfolio companies, supporting them to diversify their client base, manage liquidity forecasting, and navigate price volatility for agricultural products such as Amazon nuts, cacao, and Sacha Inchi. NESsT’s focused and consistent technical support in crosscutting business areas assisted its portfolio to fulfill their loan commitments and also prepared them to secure
larger, longer-term loans. Notably, three companies obtained repeat financing or loan increases from NESsT, contributing to an overall 27% growth in the total number of loans in 2023.
The NESsT Lirio Fund also implemented a series of operational enhancements that streamlined its processes and significantly improved the retention of qualified leads, attracting over 88 loan applications in the past year. Additionally, the fund continued to diversify its portfolio across industries and geographies, venturing into new sectors and making its first investment in the Colombian flower market.
The robust demand for capital among prospective enterprises, coupled with the strong performance of existing portfolio enterprises, enabled the NESsT Lirio Fund to fully deploy the funds raised in 2019 and 2020 and secure additional financing for ongoing growth. This expansion resulted in a 62% increase in assets under management, rising to $7.3 million. As the Lirio Fund’s approach gained traction, the team also successfully raised capital for an expansion into Brazil.
The Fund continues to innovate in the loan structure and type it provides to borrowers to meet them where they are, making adjustments to payment terms and timeline, repayment plans, credit types as needed. For example, the loans disbursed in 2023 range from long-term loans with extended payment periods to revolving loans that support working capital needs.
79%
5,926 hectares of land sustainably managed since inception
73,118 women-led business in 2023 lives improved since inception
LIRIO FUND SUMMARY
Assets Under Management
Loans Committed and Outstanding
Number of Loans
Number of Businesses in Loan Portfolio
Number of Businesses Receiving Business Services
Portfolio Business Farmers and Employees Reached
Percent Women Farmers and Employees Reached
Percent Women Led Businesses
HAs sustainably managed or protected (since inception)
Portfolio At-Risk over 180 Days
Net Write-Offs
Shanantina, NESsT Portfolio
Lirio Fund Portfolio Spotlight: Kulkao
In 2023 we provided a second loan to existing portfolio enterprise Kulkao based on its consistent loan repayments and solid growth trajectory.
Located in the jungle areas of central and eastern Peru, Kulkao sources cocoa from over 400 smallholder farmers living in the remote regions of the Amazon basin. Its products include cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and cocoa nibs that are sold to local and international markets such as Europe and North America.
Kulkao provides farmers with technical support on organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices while offering them a premium price for their organic products. In 2021, NESsT Lirio Fund provided Kulkao with a working capital loan to support the social enterprise’s sustainability practices, increase its organic production capacity, and strengthen its position in the cocoa industry in Peru.
Kulkao maintains close communication with farmers and conducts farm visits, during which its technical team oversees regular testing of farm lands and shares soil management lessons to keep quality and production
levels high.
To safeguard against the damage of non-organic pesticides and other chemicals, Kullkao carries out several stages of quality testing in its certified organic processing plant. Its quality control procedures guarantee traceability, allowing the social enterprise to pinpoint sources of contamination and work with farmers to improve their practices.
Kulkao was able to repay its first loan in full in accordance with the NESsT loan schedule. This was made possible by maintaining strong relationships with local farmers and developing a robust customer portfolio. Due to its success, in 2023, NESsT approved a second loan to Kulkao, supporting the social enterprise to continue to purchase cacao beans from local farmers committed to organic, sustainable practices.
The Meliñir team with equipment financed by NESsT
Kulkao, NESsT Portfolio
Kulkao, NESsT Portfolio
Lirio Fund’s Latest Investment: Cooperativa Agraria Sonomoro del Vraem (COAS)
Cooperativa Agraria Sonomoro del Vraem (COAS) supports local smallholder farmers to enhance and expand their cacao production while attaining coveted organic certification. By ensuring that the cacao meets stringent international standards, COAS not only commands premium prices for its members but also significantly enhances local livelihoods.
With access to a revolving credit line provided by the Lirio Fund, COAS has been able to consistently source cacao from local producers, extending its reach to benefit over 600 farmers in the years ahead. Moreover, the Lirio Fund extended a long-term loan to COAS for the construction of a new warehouse, featuring an extended repayment period spanning three years.
This tailored financing instrument not only increases COAS’ purchasing and processing capabilities but also enhances quality control measures, thereby securing stable income for its producers in the foreseeable future.
Currently, 30% of COAS’ members are women, and it has trained and supported close to 150 rural women
producers. Together with DEVIDA, the National Peruvian Commission for Development and Life without Drugs, COAS actively promotes the participation of women in cacao production. It runs community engagement campaigns to reach women cacao producers and provides technical training to women hired internally in processing and selection roles.
Meliñir products
NESsT plans to work alongside COAS to further its work in the area of gender equity, supporting the association to open a small plant to produce and sell cocoa derivatives primarily processed by women. NESsT’s investment will also allow COAS to continue providing new training to its members in areas such as regenerative agricultural practices for cacao trees.
The Meliñir team with equipment financed by NESsT
COAS, NESsT Portfolio
Impact Loan Funds
NESsT Violet Fund
The Violet Fund is the first impact fund supporting SMEs committed to LGBTQIA+ inclusion in Central & Eastern Europe.
For the LGBTQIA+ community in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, the journey toward equality is still one of significant cultural, legal, and political challenges.
According to the IGLA-Europe 2023 Rainbow Map, which ranks all 49 European countries based on laws and policies addressing the human rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals, many CEE countries are the lowest-scoring countries in the region.
Discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community is also visible in the workplace. Many LGBTQIA+ workers and job seekers are experiencing unfair treatment and exclusion from job opportunities. According to the 2019 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights of LGBTQIA+ surveyed individuals in the region, 21% felt discriminated against at work because of their sexual identity, gender, and/or orientation and 26% shared that they hide their identity as LGBTQIA+ at work.2
2 https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2020-lgbti-equality-1_ en.pdf
Launched with support from Dreilinden gGmbH, the NESsT Violet Fund supports enterprises in CEE countries that create quality jobs for LGBTQIA+ individuals and foster LGBTQIA+ inclusive work environments where all individuals feel valued, respected, and safe.
In 2023, the NESsT Violet Fund team raised awareness about labor inclusivity in regional events such as The 9th International East Meets West Conference, Gender Equal Investment Funds Conference, RDCC & Stonewell Roundtable, and Beyond Labels: Inaugural Inclusive Job Fairs in Poland. During the year, these outreach efforts generated a strong pipeline of high-impact enterprises in the region.
Upon closer examination of the impact potential of enterprises assessed during due diligence, our team discovered that larger-sized companies we were targeting tended to have competing social impact priorities.
To drive tangible change for LGBTQIA+ community members in CEE, we pivoted our strategy towards smaller enterprises strictly led or founded by LGBTQIA+ individuals, creating jobs and promoting products and
practices that benefit the community directly.
We also modified our funding instrument to offer smaller ticket sizes that matched the capacities of the smaller enterprises, expanding the range of the loans we offer to €25K – €400K.
Enterprises can use the investment for working capital, machinery, expanding existing business lines, refinancing existing debt, etc. Despite the updated investment focus, the Violet Fund continues to welcome companies that, in addition to working with LGBTQIA+ individuals, work with other marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities, atrisk youth, women, and people with disabilities.
NESsT Programs
Acceleration Program
In 2023, NESsT provided tailored financing and business assistance to 66 enterprises through its core accelerator program.
Enterprises in the NESsT portfolio are diverse across industries, geographies, and impact areas. In 2023, they supported refugees, migrants, and ethnic minorities to upskill to fill talent gaps in Poland and Romania, Indigenous entrepreneurs to amplify the voices of women in their communities and strengthen value chains of sustainably produced superfoods, Black entrepreneurs to promote dialogue and financial inclusion against racebased structural inequities, and LGBTQIA+ communities to address overt discrimination and determine their own careers.
Acceleration Program
Donor Spotlight: IKEA Social Entrepreneurship
In their 4th year of partnership, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have provided business guidance and tailored funding to 37 social enterprises, creating and maintaining 9,684 jobs in South America and Central and Eastern Europe. The impact of the portfolio extends across key themes including circularity, renewable materials, sustainable agriculture, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Since 2020, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have launched four accelerator programs in six countries. To date, the portfolio has supported 5,615 women to find jobs and trained 59,623 people from excluded communities across Peru, Chile, Colombia, Poland, and Romania.
In 2023, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship extended their partnership to invest in 22 new social
enterprises in South America, aiming to generate and sustain 2,500 dignified jobs for excluded communities in the region.
The extension of the program will build on the initial impact and learnings of the first accelerator program in the region, which invested in 17 social enterprises, and successfully sustained 1,500 jobs for excluded individuals. Among the enterprises within the first program, 41% are led by Indigenous individuals, women, and local community members.
Throughout their collaboration, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have continually refined their program design to better serve the needs of the marginalized communities they support.
All NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship accelerator programs provide entrepreneurs with tailored coaching, mentoring, and a series of in-depth business masterclasses. These resources help program participants widen their professional networks, enhance their knowledge and skills, and develop crucial soft
6 countries
9,684 jobs created or sustained for marginalized individuals
59,623 marginalized individuals trained
skills and leadership capabilities. Additionally, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship offers entrepreneurs access to its corporate networks and draws on the expertise and experiences of its employees through co-worker engagement initiatives.
One of the enterprises that has been in the NESsT - IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator program since 2021 is Agrosolidaria…
Heca Coop co-founders meeting with mentors
Portfolio Spotlight: Agrosolidaria Acceleration Program
Agrosolidaria’s story is remarkable for its rapid growth and high impact. Located in the Colombian Amazon, this superfoods association transformed into a commercial model that reached breakeven within three years of joining the NESsT portfolio, building strong partnerships with global corporations such as Natura.
Agrosolidaria produces agricultural products made from sustainably cultivated Amazonian plants, including Sacha Inchi, Castaño, Copoazu, Araza, and Açai.
The enterprise consists of 12 associations representing 250 small farming families living in the department of Caquetá. To create better income opportunities for local communities, Agrosolidaria opened a factory in 2018 to process raw materials collected by its farmers. When the pandemic started, Agrosolidaria’s retail channels were closed due to region-wide lockdowns.
Seeking support to overcome growth challenges, Agrosolidaria joined the NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator program in 2021. After assessing its model, NESsT provided Agrosolidaria its first recoverable grant capital.
Within the first year of joining the portfolio, Agrosolidaria launched its new brand with NESsT’s support. The brand, Utai, opened doors to opportunities with global cosmetic and food retailers, supermarket chains, and grocery stores. Notably, Agrosolidaria became a supplier to Natura, the world’s largest B Corp and the fourthlargest dedicated beauty company, who sought out Agrosolidaria’s Copoazu butter for its high quality and sustainable cultivation practices.
Transitioning the cooperative into a commercial model came with its challenges. During this critical period, the enterprise received robust support from the NESsT and IKEA networks and also benefited from the shared experiences and practices of other companies in the NESsT acceleration portfolio that have gone through similar journeys, such as Pomario.
Looking back on Agrosolidaria’s time in the portfolio, we see that the enterprise unwaveringly upheld its commitment to the well-being of its small producers even during challenging times, absorbing the logistical costs of sourcing from farmers situated in remote, underdeveloped forest areas. To date, Agrosolidaria has been able to pay its farmers 30% more for their raw materials due to its commercial success.
Agrosolidaria, NESsT Portfolio
Portfolio Spotlight: Empanacombi
Empanacombi produces high-quality empanadas and other artisanal foods that are sold in coffee shops and convenience stores throughout Peru. It also runs a catering business line, and delivers its products directly to customers.
The enterprise seeks to revolutionize disability inclusion in the food industry by creating equitable work environments where all employees, regardless of ability, can perform their jobs effectively.
“We don’t treat our employees differently. We expect the same work quality from all of our workers and instead focus on providing accessible work environments that allow everyone to do their best work,” shared its leadership team.
In the past four years, NESsT has supported Empanacombi to launch a training program that offers courses designed to provide individuals with mixed abilities skills training for a career in gastronomy services.
NESsT also assisted Empanacombi in launching its e-commerce platform during lockdowns, expanding their product offerings to include sweets, bread, and both
pre-packaged and frozen foods to better cater to online demand.
“The support we have received from NESsT has been both human and technical. NESsT lives inclusion alongside us. They are not afraid to put their hands in the fire. Having NESsT’s support has been essential for Empanacombi’s growth,” commented Cynthia Rodríguez, CEO and Co-Founder of Empanacombi.
Empanacombi, NESsT Portfolio
Jessica’s Story
Jessica is a deaf woman. She joined Empanacombi five years ago as a kitchen assistant. Today, she is Empanacombi’s head chef and supports the team in training new staff who are deaf or hard of hearing.
To facilitate communication among staff, Empanacombi has also trained their kitchen staff and chefs in sign language.
“We supported Jessica to recognize everything she was already doing and her potential for further advancement,” Cynthia, CEO and Co-Founder of Empanacombi, added. This encouragement helped Jessica envision a career path beyond entry-level roles, which are often the ceiling for many people with disabilities.
Incluyeme
Empanacombi, NESsT Portfolio
Acceleration Program
Portfolio Gatherings
In March 2023, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship visited several Chile-based social enterprises in the South America portfolio. As part of the visit, they worked with entrepreneurs to determine additional measures and strategies to support them in reaching their business and impact goals.
“This visit was the chance to share our experiences and vision for the future,”
— Nils Lindeen, CEO & Co-Founder of Savia.
Later in the year in Poland, NESsT hosted its first inperson event for its Poland and Romania accelerator program, bringing together portfolio social entrepreneurs from Europe, business mentors from IKEA and the NESsT Poland Program council, and NESsT portfolio managers.
“I feel like we have group wisdom that stays with us; we won’t forget the connections we formed.”
— Emilia Garska, Heca Coop
NESsT, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, and Savia
NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Poland and Romania Accelerator Program Mid-Term Portfolio Gathering
“Working together with social entrepreneurs with a passionate drive to create positive change brings forth new perspectives when we transition back into the corporate world. Witnessing their refreshing approaches demonstrates the transformative impact that can be achieved, ultimately shaping and influencing us all.” — Mentor Jarek Kowalski, Managing Director, IKEA Purchasing Services Romania.
NESsT Romania portfolio enterprise Atelierul de Pânză (ADP) produces upcycled textile products. During the enterprise spotlight sessions hosted at the portfolio gathering, ADP’s founders shared how the accelerator program has supported them to develop an online platform that promotes and sells sustainable products made by small marginalized producers or organizations working with excluded groups.
Incluyeme
Targ Pietruszkowy, NESsT Portfolio
Atelierul de Panza, NESsT Portfolio
Addressing growth challenges with NESsT and IKEA co-workers
As part of the gathering, social entrepreneurs had one-on-one strategy discussions with co-workers from IKEA and experts from the NESsT Poland Program Council to address the business challenges they face in their current stage of growth. Topics explored included:
Balancing profit and purpose: developing a business model that aligns financial goals with an impact-driven mission by securing sustainable revenue sources and effectively measuring social and environmental impact.
Shifting business models: global events such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine require social enterprises to adapt to disrupted supply chains. “We need help tapping into changing market behaviors,” remarked Mariusz Godlejewski from Fundacja Studio M6.
Securing external funding and knowing how to spend it in the best way : social businesses face difficulties in raising capital and many investments require commercial returns.
Sourcing and retaining talent: consciously hiring and accommodating marginalized groups and sustainably growing diverse, inclusive teams with strong retention rate in areas with talent shortage means investing time and money in training and essential wraparound services.
NESsT Portfolio entrepreneurs, IKEA co-worker and Poland Program Council member
Acceleration Program
Portfolio Spotlight: Targ Pietruszkowy Celebrates 10 years of Impact
Targ Pietruszkowy brings locally grown organic products directly to customers in Krakow, Poland through its biweekly agricultural markets and online store. Over the span of a decade, this organic market has become a valued pillar for residents of Krakow and its surrounding areas.
Targ Pietruszkowy held its first farmers market in Krakow, Poland in 2013, selling only organic food sourced from farmers within 150 km of the city. The first edition of the ‘Parsley Market’, as it is known in English, allowed ten local producers to sell to local customers.
“At the time, we didn’t look ten years into the future,” shared Alicja Kowalik, President of the Targ Pietruszkowy Foundation. “We simply wanted to offer the inhabitants of Podgórze and the whole of Krakow food of the highest quality from small family farms located near the city. And it worked!”
Over the span of a decade, the Targ Pietruszkowy organic market has become a valued pillar for residents of Krakow and its surrounding areas. In 2022, Targ Pietruszkowy supported close to 140 small-farm holders in Krakow and
its surrounding areas, almost half of whom were women. For many, selling their organically grown produce at Targ Pietruszkowy is their main source of income.
In addition to upholding strict organic-farming criteria for its exhibitors, the social enterprise fosters dialogues between producers and consumers to bridge the gap between farm and table. One of the ways it does this is by organizing trips to its exhibitor’s farms. These farm visits not only provide small producers with an additional form of income but also offer local customers the chance to learn where their food comes from.
“We’ve been selling fruit at Targ Pietruszkowy every Saturday for eight years. Seeing our customers and friends brings us immense joy, and we look forward to welcoming them to our farm,” commented Jan, Maria, and Adriana, small producers of the Chojecki farm.
In 2023, NESsT portfolio manager and IKEA co-worker supported the Targ team to map key action points to raise visibility of the business’s organic food products and expand the brand’s e-commerce segment. This strategy has already shown a 15% increase in sales compared to the previous year, in the midst of an economic crisis and high inflation. By Q1 2023, the social enterprise had already achieved 97% of its impact goals for the year.
Targ Pietruszkow, NESsT Portfolioy
NES s T
INITIATIVES
NESsT Initiatives
We support income generation and job creation across four initiatives:
• NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative
• NESsT Empowers
• NESsT Racial Equity Initiative
• NESsT Amazonia
NESsT Initiatives
NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative
Russia’s invasion into Ukraine in February 2022 forcefully uprooted millions of people from their homes, triggering the largest refugee crisis in the history of the region. By the end of 2023, millions of people still remained displaced.
NESsT was among the first group of actors to provide long-term support to refugees, recognizing that those who suddenly find themselves in a foreign country will soon urgently require support beyond basic humanitarian aid packages that come with an end date.
In June 2022, NESsT launched the Refugee Employment Initiative in partnership with IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and Cisco Foundation to invest in 15 sustainable enterprises that directly provide jobs or employment and skills training to refugees. The initiative aims to create 3,000 jobs and improve the lives of 5,000 refugees and migrants in the region.
By the end of 2023, the initiative was providing financing and technical business guidance to nine enterprises creating or sustaining jobs for refugees and migrants in Poland and Romania. Together, these enterprises have created 664 jobs for refugees and provided 1,736 refugees with skills development training and language courses. The initiative has also ensured additional wraparound services such as housing, childcare, education, and psychological support for 5,668 refugees and their families.
The importance of long-term employment support for refugees
“Most refugees live outside their countries for an average of 10–26 years. It’s a lifetime for some people, not just a shortterm proposition.”
–
Nicole Etchart, NESsT Founder and Board Member
The millions of people who were forced to flee their homes in Ukraine come from all walks of life. Before their lives were uprooted, they were chefs, students, dentists, farmers, researchers, IT professionals, and mothers in their home countries. Now, forced to rebuild their lives in a new country, they face considerable challenges in finding jobs that match their qualifications. For many, the main barriers are language, certification recognition, limited professional networks, or childcare responsibilities. In the first year of the war, the majority of employment uptake in neighboring host countries was concentrated in low-skilled jobs and part-time employment.
The first nine enterprises we welcomed into the
Refugee Employment Initiative operate in a wide range of sectors, including tech, hospitality, and food.
Before joining the NESsT portfolio, these companies had already helped hundreds of refugees find quality jobs, demonstrating strong commitment in adapting their models to support the displaced community. The majority of the enterprises in the portfolio also provide extensive training courses and wraparound services, supporting aspiring refugee workers to develop skills that can lead to more stable jobs.
By intentionally investing in a diverse portfolio, NESsT’s goal is to ensure that refugees’ specific skill sets and career needs are matched with commensurate opportunities. With their wide range of skill sets, these refugees are able to fill significant talent gaps in Poland and Romania, driving innovation, enhancing efficiency, and strengthening local economies.
Examples of Refugee Employment Initiative Portfolio Enterprises
NEBUCODE
Nebucode is a Poland-based software development company that creates innovative digital solutions for SMEs and corporations. With support from the Refugee Employment Initiative, Nebucode is launching NebuLab:Starters – a training platform that teaches digital skills and development, with an emphasis on placing graduates from marginalized backgrounds, including refugees, migrants and at-risk youth, into digital jobs.
Util Deco is one of the largest work integration enterprises in Romania. It runs a high-impact insertion program for marginalized groups with personalized career guidance and on-the-job training across its diverse business lines, which include archiving, production of textile protection equipment, coffee roasting, and digital printing.
UTIL DECO
Portfolio Spotlight: Box Elyte
Box Elyte provides dignified jobs and vocational training to marginalized groups at its production plant in Fibis, Romania, where it manufactures premium, eco-friendly cardboard boxes for chocolates and pastries. It currently employs 150 individuals from excluded groups, including migrants and refugees from Ukraine and Asia, as well as local women from low-income backgrounds and ethnic minorities.
The enterprise is committed to ensuring that its employees have access to full-time contracts, as well as other basic needs such as accommodation and transportation, in addition to language classes and specialized training courses.
Valeria’s Story:
“Working at Box Elyte has not only provided me with job security but also a sense of belonging. The team here truly understands my situation as a Ukrainian refugee, and they go above and beyond to ensure I have everything I need to thrive, from accommodation and transportation to support with paperwork.”
Valeria, Ukrainian refugee and Box Elyte employee
NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative
Portfolio Spotlight: Olsztyn Food Bank
Olsztyn Food Bank (OFB) supports refugee women to find jobs, offering professional culinary training, childcare during classes, psychological support, and language courses.
OFB’s mission is to save food from waste. The Polandbased enterprise donates food it saves from excess reserves to social organizations that provide resources for excluded communities. It also runs educational workshops on zero-waste cooking and provides placement and training for marginalized groups, including refugees.
One of the refugee women OFB supported is Anastasiia, a 20-year-old student from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Anastasiia and her family initially sought refuge in the basement of their home to escape the bombings. Later, she fled Ukraine with her mother and 10-year-old sister. For the first three months, they lived with a Polish family.
After one year in Poland, Anastasiia participated in a general culinary workshop hosted by Olsztyn Food Bank and was offered an opportunity to work in the kitchen at one of its businesses, the Kuźnia Społeczna
Restaurant, where Anastasiia successfully passed her 3-month trial period and secured a permanent contract. She loves cooking and is learning Polish from her work at the restaurant.
In addition to providing access to training and technical knowledge, Olsztyn Food Bank supports women to find quality, flexible jobs in the hospitality and catering sectors, especially mothers and those balancing caregiving responsibilities. The social enterprise also ensures women have childcare during classes, in addition to psychological support and language courses, and helps with CV creation and job matching.
One year into the NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative, OFB has connected 57 refugee women with the open job market, employing 2 of them and placing 55 in other regional businesses in the hotel, restaurant, and catering industry. Additionally, the enterprise provided job readiness training to 49 refugee women.
NESsT Initiative
NESsT Empowers
NESsT Empowers is an initiative that accelerates social enterprises supporting at-risk youth and women to find quality employment opportunities in high-growth industries..
The initiative also engages corporations that seek to deepen their commitments to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive digital economy. By encouraging collaboration across sectors, NESsT Empowers aims to address issues such as gender equity in tech and the need for family benefits in the workplace.
In 2023, the NESsT Empowers portfolio in Poland consisted of four companies that created 278 jobs for excluded communities and trained 2,620 excluded individuals. The total impact of the portfolio reached 8,269 people since it launched. NESsT Empowers supporters include Alstom Foundation, BNY, JPMorganChase, and State Street.
Mamo Pracuj Foundation, NESsT Portfolio
Portfolio Spotlight: Mamo Pracuj Foundation
For more than a decade, Mamo Pracuj Foundation has worked to strengthen women’s inclusion in the job market in Poland, supporting thousands of women, including mothers, young women, and refugees and migrants to develop their careers. The Foundation receives tailored support from NESsT through two of our flagship programs: NESsT Empowers and the NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative.
As part of the NESsT Empowers Initiative, the Foundation launched Talenti.pl – Women’s Talent Bank. The recruitment platform connects women job seekers with diversity-conscious employers, supporting them to stand out during the recruitment process and thrive in their roles long after hiring.
In 2023, Mamo Pracuj Foundation and Talenti.pl connected over 1,000 women to professional resources, including job counseling and coaching provided by career advisors and corporate volunteers. One initiative was a five-week mentoring program co-implemented with Alstom Foundation and Mamo Pracuj Foundation, with the support of NESsT. A participant shared:
“The mentoring program was extremely intensive. I practiced interviews with my mentor and gained more confidence with every meeting. I got a new job as a junior customer care specialist where I can acquire new skills and combine my work and family life.”
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Mamo Pracuj Foundation extended its job search support to Ukrainian women fleeing the war zone. With support from the NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative, Mamo Pracuj Foundation has provided close to 1,500 displaced women with skills training in addition to legal and psychological assistance. Additionally, it has linked over 500 women refugees with employers to enter recruitment processes for dignified jobs. One woman from Ukraine who participated in Mamo Pracuj Foundations’ Work in Tech program shared:
“I found my dream job thanks to the Mamo Pracuj Foundation. I now work in the IT department of one of the largest airlines in Europe. As an application support analyst, I support pilots and aircraft crew with the software tools they use daily.”
Mamo Pracuj Foundation, NESsT Portfolio
Career training and mentoring for women and youth in Poland
There are currently more than 70,000 children in the foster care system in Poland. NESsT portfolio enterprise Hearty Foundation is a social enterprise that supports youth in foster care to build fulfilling careers
In 2022, with support from NESsT, Hearty Foundation connected young adults within its programs with corporate volunteers from State Street who offered career planning guidance, supporting disadvantaged youth in Poland to enter the labor market.
In November and December 2023, State Street mentors ran five
workshops for youth at the State Street offices in Krakow. The sessions centered on equipping youth with the necessary skills for job interviews, supporting them to create CVs, and breaking down employer expectations.
After participating in the program, Hearty Foundation participants shared that they gained useful knowledge for interviews and insights about working in a corporate environment. Moreover, all participants said they felt prepared to enter a recruitment process – compared to only 20% before the workshops.
NESsT Racial Equity Initiative
The NESsT Racial Equity Initiative invests in social enterprises that create employment and income opportunities for Black people in Brazil. In 2023, enterprises in the Racial Equity portfolio sustained over 14,619 jobs, trained and up-skilled nearly 9,722 individuals — over half of whom are from Black communities — and positively impacted the lives of more than 62,442 people.
Supporters of the NESsT Racial Equity Initiative in 2023 include Citi Foundation, BNY, BlackRock, and Principal Foundation.
Providing financing to Black entrepreneurs in Brazil
“Without a doubt, the main challenge for Black people is gaining access to capital – above all initial capital. We need institutions to believe in us from the very beginning. We have the creativity, the execution, and the knowledge. What we really need is the funding.” – Jorge Júnior, CEO and CoFounder of Trampay
In 2022, 35%-45% of Black entrepreneurs in Brazil had unmet credit demands, with 32% experiencing credit denials without clear reasons.3 Moreover, Black-led SMEs typically faced higher interest rates compared to businesses led by non-Black individuals.
The NESsT Racial Equity Initiative seeks to address systemic race-based inequities by offering financial support, mentorship, and business assistance to impact-driven enterprises led by Black entrepreneurs. All enterprises receiving support from the Racial Equity Initiative work with people of African descent in Brazil, either in urban or rural areas, including Quilombolas, who consist of communities of Afro-descendants residing in rural territories.
One year of investing in Black-led enterprises in Brazil
The NESsT Racial Equity Initiative harnesses the expertise of its Brazilian portfolio managers and the insights of the Racial Equity Advisory Committee, which comprises of Black business leaders from diverse sectors. The team provides portfolio enterprises with comprehensive financial management resources, facilitates access to finance opportunities, and offers strategic guidance to the enterprises on engaging with potential investors.
The initiative also amplifies the stories of the portfolio, raising awareness about the financial challenges Black entrepreneurs face and spotlighting the successful, thriving businesses Black entrepreneurs are leading.
Since its inception in 2022, the Racial Equity portfolio has positively impacted the lives of more than 25,576 people. In 2023, the companies from the portfolio contributed to an average of 40% increase in the incomes of the low-income Black individuals (counting both employees and suppliers) and 134% increase in their sales revenues.
In June 2023, the NESsT Racial Equity Initiative celebrated its one-year milestone. Entrepreneurs from portfolio enterprises Maré de Sabores, Trampay,
Movimento Black Money, and Diaspora.Black joined the NESsT team in the celebration, along with representatives from Pacto de Promoção da Equidade Racial and the Racial Equity Advisory Committee.
Maré de Sabores Co-Founders
Portfolio Spotlight: Trampay
Trampay is a social enterprise improving the livelihoods of 300,000 gig workers in Brazil
In Brazil, 68% of gig-workers are Black. While the gig economy in Brazil offers critical income opportunities, it fails to provide employment safeguards for workers: companies employing gig workers are not obligated to offer wage protection, job security, or basic employment rights, such as sick pay and health insurance.
Having grown up watching his father make a living as a delivery driver, Jorge Júnior founded Trampay to create a fairer, safer gig economy for workers in Brazil. Trampay’s low-interest loans provide gig workers upfront cash that allow workers to cover essential living expenses such as food, rent, and healthcare. Trampay also operates a rest stop in an area with high delivery demand, providing a space for drivers to warm up meals, socialize, and rest after extended shifts.
“Trampay is built on three pillars. The first is to support our workers in terms of basic needs and well-being. The second pillar is income; we see employability and career development as pathways to economic empowerment. Third, and most importantly for us, is assisting our community to advance socially.”
— Jorge Júnior, CEO and Co-Founder of Trampay
Trampay Co-Founders
NESsT Amazonia
NESsT Amazonia is an initiative designed to conserve standing forests and strengthen local economies in the Amazon.
The initiative achieves this goal by accelerating businesses that contribute to sustainable value chains, applying forest management, agroforestry, and land restoration practices. Enterprises in the NESsT Amazonia portfolio include climate-smart solutions, Indigenous-led enterprises, and a diverse portfolio of SMEs that engage regularly and are in partnership with local communities.
Since 2015, NESsT has invested in and supported more than 52 high-impact small enterprises and cooperatives in the rainforest,
NESsT Amazonia’s supporters include Biodiversity Alliance, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Cisco Foundation, Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), Fondation Erol, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), MetLife Foundation, Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA), William Talbott Hillman Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
NESsT Initiative
NESsT Amazonia
Since NESsT Amazonia was created in 2015:
19,906
jobs created in the Pan-Amazonian region
6,197 jobs created in the Amazon were fulfilled by women
1,120 jobs created by Indigenous enterprises for local community members heactares of land conserved in the region 19.8 M
NESsT Amazonia
Unlocking the potential of bioeconomy SMEs in the Amazon
In recent years, superfoods native to the Amazon rainforest such as acai, Amazon nuts, or cacao, have garnered global attention for their high nutritional value and health benefits. However, the forest and its inhabitants are not capturing the value of this rise in demand. For example, the Brazilian Amazon, which contains 67% of the world’s tropical forest cover, only accounts for less than 0.2% of the USD 175 billion global markets for sustainable food products due to limited productive capacity and financing, among other reasons.4
NESsT has seen first hand the powerful, effective, and genuine solutions born from the local communities of the Amazon.
With its local teams, NESsT takes a comprehensive approach in understanding local contexts and the solutions that already exist within the communities. In 2023, the NESsT team conducted 40 in-person interviews with the leadership teams, employees, and smallholder farmers who are the suppliers, and community members of over a dozen bioeconomy enterprises within NESsT’s acceleration portfolio. The site visits build upon the detailed information NESsT already collected from each enterprise during its due diligence process and throughout its time in the NESsT portfolio. By observing firsthand the unique challenges
and opportunities local communities face, NESsT has been able to make more informed investment decisions and further adjust its business support services to local contexts. Additionally, this exposure has allowed NESsT to serve as a more effective link between local enterprises and external investors, bridging knowledge gaps and communication barriers.
In 2023, NESsT Amazonia formed strategic partnerships with global stakeholders such as foundations, development finance institutions, multilateral organizations, Indigenous organizations, and NGOs, and other impact funds to nurture a supportive funding landscape for the Amazon region, galvanizing the growth of local, environmentallyconscious enterprises that are bringing Amazonian products to global markets. These alliances address systemic challenges spanning equitable governance models, consolidating business ecosystems, supporting climate-smart solutions, doing so with a gender-lens to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, within traditionally men-led societies.
Asociación de Mujeres Organizadas Choco Warmis © Lenin Quevedo/WWF Perú
Supporting the growth of 29 Indigenous-Led Enterprises
From 2019 – 2023, NESsT worked in a joint effort with WWF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in a regional project called Amazon Indigenous Rights and Resources (AIRR), in alliance with Indigenous organizations including Coordinadora de la Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA), Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), Organización Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonia Colombiana (OPIAC), and Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (CONFENIAE).
As both the impact investor and project leader within the partnership, NESsT mapped 750 Indigenous enterprises and evaluated 15 value chains. Its open calls received 243 applications across four countries from organizations representing 49 Indigenous ethnicities. Of these candidates, NESsT and project partners selected 29: ten in Peru, six in Colombia, six in Ecuador, and seven in Brazil. The final portfolio of enterprises worked in a variety of sectors, such as handicraft, agro-industry, tourism, non-timber forest products, forest-derived food products, and natural medicines.
Over the span of four years, NESsT provided the 29 selected Indigenous enterprises with tailored
business mentoring, technical training, and financing, supporting them to expand into new markets and integrate their goods and services into established value chains.
Case Study: Developing sustainable business models
Comaiji is an Indigenous-led enterprise based in Colombia. During AIRR, NESsT supported Comaiji to develop its minimum viable product. This process involved documenting the production of seje oil, conducting extensive mapping of seje trees in the region, performing scientific analysis of the oil, and facilitating the distribution of samples to potential clients. With NESsT’s assistance, Comaiji was able to define its production processes and product specifications, which enabled it to better determine its production capacity, set appropriate pricing, forecast volumes, and devise strategies to ensure adherence to the quality control standards demanded by clients.
Asociación de Mujeres Cofánes de Dureno (SUKU) ©Joel Heim/ WWF Ecuador
NESsT Amazonia
Improving Gender Equity in Indigenous Communities
The AIRR portfolio maintained a strong commitment to gender balance – close to 50% of the entire portfolio had women on their leadership teams.
ABEX is an association committed to enhancing the quality of life for the Xikrin people in Pará, Brazil. In 2020, ABEX received a grant to produce protective masks featuring traditional Xikrin artwork, sparking significant interest among local women.
During the AIRR project, NESsT assisted ABEX to grow the mask project into a flourishing business of handpainted products, which allowed women to increase their income and autonomy. As part of the process, Xikrin women learned to operate sewing machines, crafting high-quality garments and accessories that were sold across the national market at fair prices.
Initially working with only eight women, the business has grown to support 233 Xikrin women across 22 villages, with women now making up more than 55% of ABEX’s membership. Despite this growth, women expressed concerns about their limited decisionmaking power within the organization in NESsT’s site visit interviews. To improve gender equity, ABEX and NESsT portfolio managers co-created an action plan to include more women in leadership roles, enhancing their representation and participation in organizational decisions.
With NESsT’s support, ABEX launched its first Women’s Committee in March 2023. And, later in the year, two women were elected to serve as vicetreasurer and as part of the association’s fiscal council.
“Women are happier since we started working with ABEX. We have more financial independence and no longer depend on our husbands. Our quality of life will continue to get better, especially when everyone is trained and taught how to sew, allowing us to increase production across the villages. Next, I would like to see training in good practices focused on sewing competencies and financial management for Xikrin women.”
— Ngrenhkarati Xikrin, Leader of Handicrafts and Babassu Oil Plant
Expanding NESsT’s Acceleration Program in the Amazon Basin
With the support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Moore Foundation, NESsT extended the acceleration work supporting Indigenous-led enterprises in the Amazon. This next phase focuses on providing tailored financing and business assistance to 15 enterprises and supporting the Indigenous federations to develop their own incubation and acceleration methodology.
As a first step, in 2023, three AIRR enterprises graduated into the NESsT core acceleration program to further scale their work.
One of the enteprises is BioIncos.
NESsT Amazonia
© Daniel Martínez / WWF Peru, Kemito Ene, NESsT Portfolio
Portfolio Spotlight: BioIncos
BioIncos sources wild fruits from Indigenous and local communities in the Amazon region of Colombia and transforms them into natural oils for use in the cosmetics industry. One of its main products is cacay (Caryodendron orinocense) oil – an oil rich in vitamins A, E, and F, which nourishes and repairs the skin and hair.
With NESsT’s support, BioIncos is developing two emerging value chains of wild-sourced oil in the Colombian Amazon – burití (Mauritia flexuosa) and seje (Oenocarpus bataua) – which have opposing harvesting seasons to cacay. BioIncos began collaborating with local collecting families to procure and manufacture these oils, ensuring local producers can access income when cacay is not harvested.
Today, BioIncos is one of the few producers of cacay oil in Colombia, sourcing from more than 170 suppliers, 100 of whom belong to the Inga, Pasto, and Embera Chamí Indigenous communities located in Villagarzón and Mocoa in the Amazon Piedmont of Putumayo. Additionally, it is building agroforestry models to plant 1,000 cacay trees in degraded areas of Indigenous territories to restore 20 hectares of land with high biodiversity value.
NESsT Amazonia
Systematizing Learnings for the Global Community
In 2023, NESsT also consolidated and systematized learnings from two separate research partnerships supported by C.S.Mott Foundation and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Specifically, IDRC supports regenerative agribusinesses and investment in the Amazon and Central America Dry Corridor through the Negocios Agroalimentarios Regenerativos (NAR) consortium consisting of 10 organizations, including NESsT. 3
Analyzing insights collected directly from bioeconomy enterprise in the Amazon, NESsT identified nine opportunities across two key areas for impact-focused public and private sector investors to improve the targeting, accessibility, efficacy, and efficiency of their investments in the Amazon region.
This vision represents a comprehensive strategy to empower Indigenous communities, safeguard their cultures, and foster a sustainable, inclusive economic growth model for the Amazon region. NESsT has plans to distribute this set of forward-facing recommendations in 2024.
3 www.regenerativo.org
© Daniel Martínez/ WWF Peru, AFIMAD, NESsT Portfolio
Amplifying Indigenous Voices in Key Climate Conversations
In June 2023, the NESsT team and portfolio enterprises attended the Panamazon Network for Bioeconomy Conference in Belém, Brazil – an event that brought together bioeconomy leaders from nine Amazonian countries. At the conference, NESsT Amazonia portfolio enterprises presented their bioeconomy solutions that improve livelihoods of traditional communities with conservation and regenerative practices to a room of 300 global actors, including decision makers and representatives from over 100 institutions such as the Uma Concertação pela Amazonia, Instituto SINCHI, IPAM, Visión Amazonía, World Bank, GEF, SPA, IADB, WWF, Conservation International, and WRI.
Insights drawn from this event were further integrated into a comprehensive plan presented at the UN General Assembly in 2023. Later, in September, at NYC Climate Week, NESsT was invited to collaborate with leaders from various sectors across the Amazon, including government representatives, Indigenous and traditional communities, investors, and local businesses, to launch the process to build the Panamazon Network for Bioeconomy.
Dedeco, ASCAMPA President
NESsT Amazonia
NESsT Portfolio Manager (left) with President of Coopaflora (right)
Emanoelle Cecim/WRI Brasil
Tech Investments Driving Improved Production Traceability for Amazonia Enterprises
In 2022, NESsT launched the Amazonia Tech project to provide access to technology to local communities living in the Amazon. To date, the tech enterprises in the portfolio have sustained the livelihoods of 1,856 suppliers – improving the lives of 16,194 people from local communities –and preserved over 2,400,000 hectares of land.
In 2023, with steadfast support from the Cisco Foundation, NESsT continued to grow its Amazonia Tech project, in which a cohort of tech-based entrepreneurs are applying their innovative services to other NESsT Amazonia enterprises seeking to digitize their processes.
NESsT also established a Technology Advisory Committee consisting of business and technical experts from academia, the private sector and public agencies, including Federal University of Pernambuco, Google, and eAmazonia. This experienced committee assists NESsT in assessing the performance of prospective enterprises and offers ongoing mentorship to the existing portfolio, providing critical insights into technology development, market trends, and innovation, among other areas.
Digital Integration for Rural Enterprises in the Amazon
The use of digital tools can help enterprises overcome geographical and logistical challenges often faced in rural areas, facilitating better access to information and markets.
NESsT Amazonia Tech enterprise Elysios delivers innovative software and hardware solutions designed to ensure traceability from the first mile of the supply chain. This technology is critical for documenting and tracking the initial stages of a product’s journey, from its origin in rural or remote areas to its entry into broader markets.
“Having robust traceability with clear data streamlines the certification process for enterprises, allowing them to more easily acquire organic, Fair Trade, or other sustainability certifications that provides consumers with assurance about the quality and origin of the products and ultimately leads to higher incomes for local producers.”
— Marissa Renaud, NESsT
Brazil Team
NESsT Amazonia
Elysios, NESsT Portfolio
Gender Inclusion
Since adopting a gender lens investing framework in 2018, NESsT has prioritized implementing gender equity and inclusion practices first and foremost within its team, launching internal trainings that address gender biases within the organization. In 2023, 60% of the NESsT team were women and the team achieved an average gender wage equity ratio of 104%.
As the next step, we focused on consolidating our learnings into gender classes for our enterprises, covering topics including establishing fair and equitable workplaces, developing incentives for gender inclusion, and communicating the business and impact case of gender lens investing to other stakeholders.
Five years into practice, we have also begun supporting our portfolio to develop action plans to further drive gender equity across their community. In Chile, we assisted waste recycling enterprise Bendito Residuo to develop gender and inclusion policies, and supported sustainable agriculture enterprise NG Seeds to appoint a woman to their board. In the Amazon, we collaborated with our portfolio to enhance the participation of women in business activities and governance discussions, working closely with local cooperatives like ATAIC to foster career development for women in biodiversity value chains. “NESsT provides ATAIC with gender lens training, assisting the cooperative to establish safe spaces for women to share information and promote leadership programs,” shares Cairo Bastos, NESsT Brazil Amazonia Initiative Program Manager
We have also worked with men-led enterprises in our portfolio to integrate more women into their
teams, setting up infrastructures to dismantle gender stereotypes and strengthen the financial autonomy of women. Our approach prioritizes building a dialogue of trust and co-creating with local communities, respecting local cultures and traditions.
To contribute to the dialogue about gender work globally, we have actively shared our learnings with peers and investor networks. At the ANDE “Metrics from the Ground Up” in Rio de Janeiro in 2023, we presented our updated gender metrics, highlighting the pivotal role that women play in sustaining food systems in the region. We showed case studies from the NESsT portfolio that demonstrated how women’s leadership is associated with reduced forest degradation as they often promote sustainable practices, participating in various value chain activities that enrich forest products, diversify food sources, and support forest management.
Today, NESsT is not only intentionally investing in companies with gender commitments, but also integrating gender considerations as a cross-cutting lens into our investment strategies and discussions about climate, poverty, racial equity, and diversity.
NESsT Portfolio Manager
Inclusion
Tracking gender inclusion performance
More than half of NESsT’s portfolio enterprises are owned or led by women; these initiatives are not only created to close gender gaps in the labor market, but also to support products or services that are designed to cover specific needs of women and girls.
59%
of NESsT portfolio enterprises have women on their leadership teams
10,535
of total jobs created by NESsT portfolio enterprises in 2023 are specifically for women
98%
gender wage equity on average across the entire portfolio
Gender Case Study: Ecocitex’s Resilient Recovery
Ecocitex is founded and led by entrepreneur Rosario Hevia. The Santiago-based enterprise recycles 69 tons of used, donated clothes every year. Ecocitex also operates a clothing donation program tailored for communities in need. They have collected over 1.2 tons of clothing since 2022, which has positively impacted the lives of 220 individuals annually.
In June 2023, Ecocitex lost its textile factory to a devastating fire, which destroyed its fabric recycling machines and stock of upcycled products. Immediately after the fire, NESsT portfolio managers and Ecocitex CEO Rosario Hevia met at the Ecocitex factory in Santiago, Chile to assess the damage left behind by the flames.
“In the fire, we lost everything—our facilities, machinery, inventory, and stores. But we rose again. Being prepared for both the best and worst scenarios and having a solid contingency plan in place is crucial. It’s equally important not to lose sight of your purpose and passion, as they will fuel your determination during crises. Finally, surrounding yourself with supportive advisors, collaborators, friends, and family is also key,” shared Rosario Hevia, Ecocitex CEO
With assistance from NESsT portfolio managers, Ecocitex quickly developed a contingency plan to produce and sell its recycled textile products to continue providing income to its employees, most of whom are women from underserved communities.
From July to September, Ecocitex established two point-of-sale outlets to sell its upcycled products and pre-owned items, and to collect used clothing. During this time, Ecocitex was able to reallocate tasks among its staff and ensure them a steady income.
NESsT opened a revolving line of credit to allow Ecocitex to continue paying its workers’ salaries, and provided the social enterprise with a recoverable grant to fund a third point-of-sale.
“We supported Ecocitex’s transition to a new format, addressing strategic issues such as financial models, supplier criteria, organizational roles, and day-today concerns like store layout. Ecocitex is now fully operational with a streamlined logistical model, serving a large customer base while staying true to its Circular Economy ethos,” shared Fabian Olivares, NESsT Chile Portfolio Manager.
NESsT Portfolio Manager (left) and Ecocitex CEO & Founder (right)
Ecocitex, NESsT Portfolio
VISION
NESsT’s Next Decade of Impact
In NESsT’s first era, we developed and refined our models; in this next chapter, we will focus on scaling this proven impact, bringing to the global stage the grassroots solutions that our entrepreneurs have been testing and consolidating for decades.
Expanding the pipeline of impact-focused SMEs:
NESsT’s investment strategy is guided by the needs of the marginalized groups we serve. We will continue to integrate cross-cutting investment lenses such as gender and racial equity and sustainability to identify enterprises working at the center of impact, fulfilling the vision of tomorrow in ways we’re already experiencing today.
Building scalable financing and business assistance frameworks:
Social enterprises in the validation and build-to-scale phases are uniquely positioned to drive innovation. During these stages, longer-term, tailored capacity and financial assistance are crucial for enterprises to further consolidate and scale their ideas. To better support our enterprises, we will continue to listen to and learn from them to update our investment strategy, accelerator program methodologies, and impact measurement and management solutions, building robust frameworks that can adapt to evolving global contexts.
Fostering appreciation for high-impact enterprises in the market:
To achieve this goal, we commit to harnessing the expertise of our local teams and engaging other ecosystem actors to deepen impact-driven innovation across key sectors, including the circular economy, information technology, artificial intelligence, green energy, sustainable agriculture, and hospitality sectors.
We will also expand our community of mentors, advisors, peers, and partners, which includes Indigenous federations, development finance institutions, global corporations, foundations, and investors, among others. Through knowledge sharing and collaboration, we aim to unlock the diverse benefits that investment capital can generate beyond conventional financial gains.
Our vision is of a future where everyone has agency to shape their own destinies. We see our investments promoting vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems, championing equitable and environmentally-conscious practices, and fostering the emergence of more first-time business leaders and working professionals.
Thank you for joining us at the center of impact.
The NESsT Team
COMMUNITY
Supporters
Ghislain Augier
Marian Beard
Marcy Bliss
Philip and Rosemary Collyer
Loïc Comolli
Peter Conklin
Karen and Dick Cook
Lee Davis
Mervyn Davies
Diyana Dobberteen
Kirsten Dueck
Nicole Etchart
Marzena Fick
Sérgio Honório de Freitas
Julian Garel-Jones
Edwin Gutierrez
2023 Supporters
Thank you for your belief in NESsT
Geoff Hamlin
Brett Hamsik
David Heard
Mark Hepsworth
Franz Humer
Joanne Irvine
Tim and Jennifer Kingston
Michael Lavelle
Rosemary Leith
Nicolás Melero
Nicolas Mendoza
Trang Nguyen
Luis Oganes
Manuel Orillac
Joe Palombo
Maxim Parr
Anamaria Pelegrini
Chad Sachs
Ian Sachs
Joseph Schull
Anthony Simond
Steve Smith
Lindsay Stuart
Nick Studer
István Szõke
Vlad Taralunge
Raja Hadji Touma
Kacee Van Horn
Max von und zu Liechtenstein
Brian Wardrop
2023 Board of Directors
NESST INC
Joamir Alves
Natasha Buchler
Mervyn Davies
Nicole Etchart
Nathalie Figueroa
Edwin Gutierrez
Geoff Hamlin
István Szõke
Brian Wardrop
David York
NESST UK
Loïc Comolli
Mervyn Davies
Joe Palombo
Olga Pascault
Claire Wilkinson
BRAZIL AMAZONIA TECH
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Bruno Kato
Andreza Leite de Alencar
Andrea Peçanha Travassos
Caroline Takita Levy
2023 Advisors
BRAZIL RACIAL EQUITY
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Adriana Alves
Carlos Alberto de Paula
Talita Matos
Marcia Silveira
POLAND ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Dorota Pieńkowska
Mirella Panek-Owsiańska
Boleslaw Rok
Legal Support
LAWYERS & LAW FIRMS
Dan Nakamura
Shearman & Sterling
Clara Pacce Pinto Serva, Tozzini
Freire
Edmundo Varas
FINANCIALS
SUPPORT & REVENUE
Private Contributions & Grants
Government Grants
In-Kind Contributions
Investment Returns
Foreign Currency Gain / Loss
Total Operating Revenue
$5,144,333
$239,504
$23,220
$393,666
($4,939)
$5,721,539
OPERATING EXPENSES
Program Services
General & Administrative Fundraising
Total Expenses
Increase in Net Assets
Net Assets Beginning of Year
Net Assets End of Year
$3,058,562
$354,193
$382,341
$3,795,096
$1,926,443
$4,523,984
$6,450,427
