NESsT Venture Fund- Latin America Expansion

Milestones 2008-2009 

November 2009

Brazil Social Enterprise Competition Award Ceremony. At an awards ceremony attended by Brazilian businesspeople, donors and supporters, NESsT announced the winners of the 2009 NESsT Social Enterprise Competition to promote excellence in social enterprise development among local nonprofits in the areas of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The winning organizations are now part of the portfolio of the NESsT Venture Fund in Brazil and will receive continuous technical and financial assistance from

NESsT.

Bem TV of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro and Projeto Piabanha of Itaocara, Rio de Janeiro were awarded US$ 10,000 each to develop their “social enterprises” addressing social problems in the areas of education and youth, and economic development and the environment, respectively. 

 “Support from NESsT will enable Bem TV and Projeto Piabanha to extend economic and social benefits to communities in need across Rio de Janeiro, while strengthening their financial sustainability. We congratulate them both for their great business plans,” said Gonzalo San Martín, Enterprise Development Director, NESsT .

NESsT staff and local business advisors in Latin America screened the finalists against the four criteria that NESsT considers key in measuring social enterprise performance: 1) enterprise performance; 2) social impact; 3) organizational development; and 4) financial sustainability.

The competition was made possible thanks to the support of Banco Real and the Ashmore Foundation. The ceremony and reception was sponsored and hosted by PWC.

Bem TV and Projeto Piabanha winners of the 2009 NESsT Social Enterprise Competition. The 2009 Social Enterprise Competition is part of an ongoing process by NESsT to develop social enterprises in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe.

“We’ve been delighted to have had the competition in Brazil this year, allowing us to provide long-term support to contribute to the development of social enterprises in this region,” said Gonzalo San Martín, Enterprise Development Director, NESsT.

Bem TV teaches adolescents from low-income areas around the city of Niterói how to use communications media such as video and photography to mobilize and engage their communities in local development goals. With NESsT support, Bem TV will be able to continue to run its photography and video production company aimed at helping civil society organizations better communicate their programs and results.

Projeto Piabanha breeds small young native fish species to sell to large hydroelectric companies in the region of Itaocara for repopulating nearby waters affected by their resence. It also sells commercial fish species to local municipal governments who then donate the fish species to low-income community farmers, who are trained to breed them using sustainable breeding practices and then to sell them to the larger community. NESsT will help Projeto Piabanha further increase awareness of environmental issues in the region and contribute to mitigating the risk of extinction.

Last Update: Marzo 2010