St. Petersburg, Florida—March 10, 2026—Impact investing trailblazer ImpactAssets has named NESsT to the 2026 IA 50 Fund Managers list, a publicly available database that highlights fund managers delivering demonstrable social and environmental impact, setting the standard for uncovering opportunities across private markets. This is the fourth time NESsT has been included in the IA 50, first as an Emerging Manager in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Launched in 2011, the IA 50 has grown into the most recognized and respected list of fund managers in the impact investing sector.
“Over the past 15 years, impact investing has evolved into a sophisticated global marketplace. The depth, scale and diversity represented in today’s IA 50 demonstrates that impact investing is now a core investment strategy — one that brings together a wide range of asset classes, geographies and investment themes to drive measurable change.”
NESsT's inclusion in the IA 50 confirms its impact in supporting dignified employment to underrepresented communities in South America and Central and Eastern Europe by bringing appropriate investment capital and business assistance to small and growing businesses while sustaining the planet.
NESsT catalyzes these growing businesses through two lines: 1 – Impact funds that provide debt financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and 2 – Accelerators that catalyze early-stage enterprises towards investment readiness.
The NESsT Lirio Fund was the organization’s first impact fund launched in 2019, designed to finance SMEs improving livelihoods and promoting sustainable land management in the Andes-Amazon basin. In 2024, the fund expanded its reach into Brazil.
Seven years later, the Lirio Fund has disbursed over $20 million USD through 37 loans. The current portfolio includes 21 companies across Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, and has reached close to 16,000 farmers and employees while sustainably managing over 1.5 million hectares of land.
NESsT is recognized by the Ministry of the Environment in Peru (MINAM), alongside a group of impact investors and organizations that drive biodiversity-based solutions in Peru.
Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Santa Ana is a coffee cooperative in Perené, Junín that works with around 170 coffee farmers, nearly half women who are heads of their households and over half are over the age of 45.
Impact investing trailblazer ImpactAssets has named NESsT to the 2026 IA 50 Fund Managers list, a publicly available database that highlights fund managers delivering demonstrable social and environmental impact, setting the standard for uncovering opportunities across private markets. This is the fourth time NESsT has been included in the IA 50, first as an Emerging Manager in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
NESsT is proud to announce that the Lirio Fund has surpassed $20 million USD in disbursements through 37 loans, which have contributed to over 1.5 million hectares of land preserved and 16,000 lives positively impacted.
Cooperativa Agraria Sonomoro del Vraem (COAS) joined the NESsT Lirio Fund in 2023 and has since received a revolving capital line of credit and a term loan to scale its cacao production, ensure steady income for its cacao producers, and strengthen its commitment to conserving local biodiversity. Based on the cooperative’s strong track record of sustainable operations in a volatile market, in 2025, NESsT renewed the cooperative’s revolving credit loan, ensuring it can continue to pay local producers for raw cacao while meeting the rising global demand for high-quality cacao.
In 2025, the NESsT Lirio Fund extended repeat loans to Greenbox and Cuencas del Huallaga, reflecting our continued commitment to these enterprises’ business models and impact. Operating in regions where farming families have few income livelihood options and often turn to illicit crops and environment-damaging monocultures to generate quick income, these enterprises offer sustainable livelihood alternatives through sustainable, organic agriculture and meaningful technical assistance.
For over 50 years, FCC has worked to improve the livelihoods of small farmers in an area of Colombia greatly affected by armed violence. The NESsT Lirio Fund extends a revolving working capital line to this long-standing federation of coffee growers, complementing the strategic support it receives as part of the NESsT Acceleration Portfolio.
In the first half of 2025, Lirio Fund enterprises Kulkao, Lagunas de los Condores, and Pebani received repeat loans from NESsT, reflecting our continued confidence in the enterprises’ business models and impact. Read to learn more about their continued impact and growth as part of our fund portfolio.
At COP16, NESsT reinforced its ongoing commitment to improving access to funding for locally-led bioeconomy initiatives in the Amazon. This work, including its plans to invest $6 million in seed-stage financing through 2025 to support these efforts, was recently featured in Carbon Pulse.
As part of its ongoing commitment to address the pressing challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Latin America, particularly in the Andes-Amazon region, the NESsT Lirio Fund is expanding its reach into Brazil. The fund is investing in small and medium-sized enterprises that create dignified income opportunities and improve local livelihoods while contributing to environmental conservation.
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.
The Violet Fund (CEE) and Lirio Fund (LatAm) are NESsT’s core impact funds in the two respective emerging markets, empowering social enterprises with capital and resources to solve critical social issues within marginalized communities.
The NESsT Lirio Fund is seeking applications from social enterprises that are addressing the root causes of poverty for communities in Latin America, with great emphasis on improving rural livelihoods and preserving land through sustainable practices.
INTERVIEW: Founded in the 1990s to support emerging civil society in eastern Europe, NESsT remains focused on helping high-impact organisations to grow and avoid grant dependency. We find out how the investor is going one step further to track its own impact – and how a new fund hopes to challenge LGBTQIA+ discrimination.
NESsT’s loan will help Pebani to purchase machinery and equipment and invest in marketing and commercial development, ultimately amplifying their presence in new markets. This loan will also support Pebani to obtain additional Fair Trade and Organic certifications, which will strengthen their international brand awareness in commercial events and global fairs.
NESsT’s loan will support Cedros Café with working capital to increase the number of farmers they can support – in the next two years, the enterprise plans to work with 400 associates. Cedros will also equip these smallholder farmers to double their production capacity, reaching 1,200 kilos per hectare while safeguarding their quality and certifications.
The NESsT Lirio Fund will support RONAP with a working capital line to expand its production, develop new Brazil nuts products, and increase sales channels. With NESsT’s flexible financing, the association will be able to strengthen its relationships with prospective and existing clients.
The NESsT Fund loan will increase Kulkao’s organic production capacity and improve the yield of more than 1,000 smallholder farmers living in the Peruvian rainforest, expanding the income possibilities for local indigenous communities in the buffer zone of the Cordillera Azul National Park, which covers more than 1.5 million hectares of land.
The NESsT Fund launches search to support social enterprises that improve the income opportunities, gender equity, and environmental standards of rural communities in Peru and Colombia.
NESsT is thrilled to welcome Shanantina to its portfolio as the NESsT Fund closes another investment in a pioneering social enterprise helping indigenous communities thrive in the Peruvian rainforest.
In August, NESsT welcomed Cooperativa Agroecológica de Café de Origen Selva Central (CAECOS) into its portfolio. The NESsT Fund is providing a working capital line to CAECOS, a cooperative of over 350 smallholder farmers from Junín, Peru that exports organic, free-trade coffee to Europe.
As spring emerges in the southern hemisphere, the NESsT Fund is actively looking for additional companies that want to raise debt capital in the $50K - $500K range. The Call for Applications, active as of October 2019, aims to select 5-10 investment companies in the next two months to offer debt funds.
The NESsT Violet Fund, the organization’s second impact fund, was launched in 2023 with a commitment to supporting inclusive workplaces and communities in Central and Eastern Europe. The Violet Fund has disbursed $448,000 USD to its portfolio companies, which report an average 82% of their workforces include people from underrepresented backgrounds.
International Pride Day is a moment of visibility and celebration, and a reminder that, in some contexts, dignity and inclusion are still not guaranteed in everyday life, including at work. In this blog, we look at why inclusive entrepreneurship matters for building fairer labor markets, and why supporting small and growing businesses is essential to expanding access to dignified work and strengthening more inclusive workplace cultures.
The NESsT Violet Fund is proud to welcome 100cznia, a community-based cultural and social enterprise in Gdánsk, northern Poland. Located on the grounds of a former shipyard, 100cznia has transformed an abandoned industrial site into a community space where culture, dignified work, and belonging come together. Over the years, it has grown into a hub for concerts, workshops, markets, open-air cinema, and creative events that attract more than 100,000 visitors annually.
After strengthening its model and impact over a decade, including participating in accelerator programs by NESsT and ERSTE Social Finance, social enterprise Jobful expands its support for jobseekers who are overlooked in the Romanian job market with an impact loan from the NESsT Violet Fund.
Impact investing trailblazer ImpactAssets has named NESsT to the 2026 IA 50 Fund Managers list, a publicly available database that highlights fund managers delivering demonstrable social and environmental impact, setting the standard for uncovering opportunities across private markets. This is the fourth time NESsT has been included in the IA 50, first as an Emerging Manager in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
By prioritizing privacy, autonomy, and collective governance, CoopTech Hub – an innovative tech cooperative that recently joined the NESsT Violet Fund – is supporting Polish organizations and communities to work together securely, transparently, and independently.
Small businesses often thrive on a friendly, family-like atmosphere. As they grow, maintaining that sense of closeness and shared purpose can become challenging. For 4 Starlings (4 Szpaki in Polish)—the first company in the NESsT Violet Fund portfolio—the solution lies in inclusion. By fostering a workplace where everyone’s voice is heard, 4 Starlings has managed to keep its authentic, connected culture even as the company expands.
As we kick off celebrations for Pride Month 2025, we’re revisiting the recent efforts of the NESsT Violet Fund that have helped drive our work to bring vital financial and technical support to enterprises that are advancing equality for the LGTBQIA+ community in Central & Eastern Europe.
The Violet Fund (CEE) and Lirio Fund (LatAm) are NESsT’s core impact funds in the two respective emerging markets, empowering social enterprises with capital and resources to solve critical social issues within marginalized communities.
INTERVIEW: Founded in the 1990s to support emerging civil society in eastern Europe, NESsT remains focused on helping high-impact organisations to grow and avoid grant dependency. We find out how the investor is going one step further to track its own impact – and how a new fund hopes to challenge LGBTQIA+ discrimination.
“Being recognized in the IA 50 solidifies the positive impact NESsT is making across Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. By using a range of lending products specifically designed for social enterprises, we support businesses to scale sustainably without compromising their social or environmental mission. Our focus on rural and underserved communities places us directly at the intersection of social and environmental impact, ensuring that investments address the root causes of poverty, inequality, and ecological degradation.”
Since 1997, NESsT has deployed $54 million USD in investments to over 500 social enterprises spanning 13 countries across Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. These investments have supported the creation of over 180,000 dignified jobs and over 4 million lives positively impacted.
About the ImpactAssets 50
ImpactAssets 50® (IA 50) is the definitive guide to impact investing fund managers globally. The publicly available database is composed of experienced and emerging private debt and equity impact investment fund managers committed to generating positive impact. The IA 50 2025 reflects the innovation and exponential growth of impact investing that the IA 50 has helped to spotlight over last 15 years.
The IA 50 is not an index or investable platform and does not constitute an offering or solicitation to buy or sell securities or a private placement, or recommend specific products. Nor is this an endorsement of any of the listed fund managers. It is not a replacement for due diligence. Additional details on the selection process are available here.