Why we do it
High-impact enterprises need patient, flexible capital with return expectations aligned with the costs and risks they face in achieving positive social changes.
Typical micro-finance loans go up to only $5,000, below financing need of small and medium enterprises.
Loans from financial institutions and private lenders, including friends and family, are expensive, offer little flexibility and limit ability to raise follow-on investments.
Impact investments in South America are above what small enterprises can absorb and business assistance rarely available alongside lending capital.
An Investment Vehicle for Socially-Minded Investors
Meets Funding Needs
Competitive interest rates and terms that are more flexible than traditional sources of capital, allowing entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth in a sustainable manner.
Strong Impact Framework
Collects employee-level metrics shared annually with investors.
Key Metric Examples:
Vulnerability | Workers operating in the informal economy and earning less than minimum wage.
Employment | Job creation impacting between 100 and 500 vulnerable individuals.
Earnings | Increase of 25% to 50% in employees' incomes.
Environment | Hectares of land sustainably managed.
Business Assistance Facility (BAF)
The NESsT Fund manages a Business Assistance Facility (BAF) to prepare enterprises for loans and to ensure that they meet their goals and repay their loans.
Client Acquisition
Business Operations
Impact Measurements
Financial Management
FUND INVESTMENTS
Blog Updates
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. Due to its success, in 2023, NESsT approved a second revolving loan to Kulkao, supporting the social enterprise to continue to purchase cacao beans from local farmers committed to organic, sustainable practices.
Flower producer Cattleya manages employs 350 individuals, primarily from the nearby rural towns of Suesca and Sesquilé, providing them with a stable source of income, fair wages, well-being services, and professional development opportunities. Over 50% of Cattleya’s workforce are women who are the primary earners of their families.
The NESsT’s Lirio Fund’s investment will provide working capital to Cuencas on an as-needed basis, supporting the social enterprise to increase the number of cacao suppliers it sources from and boost its organic cacao production capacity.
In 2022, the Lirio Fund made its first investment in Colombia, welcoming Pomario, a social enterprise that sells organic produce and provides jobs to rural communities.
The NESsT Lirio Fund is named Environmental Fund of the Year, Latin America by Environmental Finance. The Lirio Fund provides debt capital to high-impact enterprises that are advancing job creation for individuals most in need and accelerating environmental conservation in the Andes-Amazon.
Cooperativa Cafetalera Laguna de los Cóndores sources coffee from almost 460 smallholder farmers operating in the region, working to alleviate their severe financial strains and ensure coffee producers earn a living income. NESsT’s revolving investment will support Laguna to reach and sign contracts with more producers over the next two years, with funding provided on an as-needed basis for working capital needs.