LIMA, Peru—October 7, 2025—(Originally published to BUSINESS WIRE in Spanish)— NESsT announces the launch of a business assistance program under the Amazon Eco Bio Business Facility (EBBF Amazonia), where it will serve as an innovation partner. Led by Profonanpe — Peru’s private environmental fund — in partnership with Peru’s Ministry of the Environment and financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the project’s aim is to generate tangible climate impact by investing in eco and bio-businesses that sustainably manage and conserve Peruvian forests.
As part of this program, NESsT will support 40 eco and bio-businesses to strengthen their business, social, and environmental management over three and a half years through a structured and tailored technical assistance process. In addition, NESsT will provide technical and strategic support to the EBBF Amazonia Management Unit for investment monitoring, the establishment and operation of an investors’ roundtable, and for Profonanpe’s integration of business advisory services for eco- and bio-businesses.
EBBF Amazonia will provide support via partially-refundable financing and business assistance to eco and bio-businesses in the Peruvian Amazon, specifically in Amazonas, San Martín, Cusco, Puno, Loreto, and Madre de Dios – areas at risk of deforestation – and across sustainable sectors including agroforestry, timber and non-timber forest products, eco-tourism, and wildlife conservation.
The program will unfold in four consecutive phases, with annual evaluations to ensure performance, impact, and accountability. Twenty of the selected enterprises will receive six additional months of tailored technical assistance from NESsT, focused specifically on enhancing financial management, building market readiness and secure financing through mechanisms adapted to their region and stage of development. Following the six months of technical assistance, eligible eco- and bio-businesses can receive between $50,000 and $150,000 in partially repayable grants through financing provided by EBBF Amazonia.
“Our work in the Amazon builds on ten years of experience accelerating enterprises that protect biodiversity while creating sustainable livelihoods,” said Mauricio Verkooijen, NESsT Country Director, Peru. “By working alongside Profonanpe, we are helping eco and bio-businesses to strengthen their capacity to generate economic, social, and environmental benefits for the Amazon region and its communities of Indigenous and local peoples.”
With the first phase of the business assistance program already underway, NESsT will conduct visits to the first 16 program participants, offering virtual and in-person training modules and context-specific technical advice to meet high environmental and social standards, ensuring long-term impact and sustainability. With Profonanpe’s support, NESsT is contributing to aligning conservation goals with economic opportunities, advancing Peru's broader environmental and climate commitments.
Within the country’s national REDD+ framework, EBBF Amazonia is strengthening forest conservation through the development of tools for better monitoring of forest degradation and creating sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
About NESsT
NESsT invests in enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet. Since its founding in 1997, NESsT has invested over $41M and trained and supported over 37,000 entrepreneurs across 50 countries. It has accelerated and financed more than 300 enterprises, in total sustaining more than 129,000 formal jobs and improving the lives of 3.4 million people from under-represented communities around the world.
About Profonanpe
Profonanpe, Peru’s environmental fund, is a private, non-profit institution specialized in securing, managing, and channeling financial resources for the implementation of programs and projects that contribute to biodiversity conservation and to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It mobilizes and manages funds and projects collaboratively, generating positive impacts on both the environment and people.
Contact
Michele Crater Aguilar
Associate Director of Communications, NESsT Global
Yuliana Castro
Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager, Profonanpe