Indigenous-led enterprises in the Amazon are building livelihoods in ways that keep forests standing, drawing on knowledge that has guided life in relation to nature for generations. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, Kichwa-led organization Ruku Kawsay is just one example of how this works in practice, ensuring stronger livelihoods and a standing forest through the traditional Amazonian farming system known as “chakra”.
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.
We’re delighted to release the NESsT 2025 Annual Report, highlighting a year defined by far-reaching impact and transformative growth. For nearly three decades, NESsT has worked at the nexus of people, profit, and the planet. In 2025, we reached a milestone that speaks to this mission: since its founding, NESsT has positively impacted the lives of over 4.7 million people from communities around the world.
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.
The Regional Indigenous Incubator for the Amazon is a pilot program that strengthens Indigenous-led enterprises driving social well-being and the conservation of Amazonian territories. It does so through an innovative governance and incubation model led directly by Indigenous organizations.
Meet Lida Medina, Indigenous entrepreneur from Vaupés, Colombia. For years, she and the women of her territory occupied a secondary place in community life, with most of their roles centred on domestic work and limited participation in public spaces. One day, she realized that the change she was waiting for needed to come from within, and so she proposed something radically different: What if the women of her community came together, formed an association, and took ownership of their futures?
Born in Putumayo, Colombia, BioIncos co-founder Yuli Rodríguez has pride in the territory that raised her and the opportunity to create dignified work among the biodiversity that exists there. When they first started BioIncos and began sourcing cacay from local communities to transform it into a natural oil, very few producers believed they had a valuable product that others would be willing to purchase. Read their story here.
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.
Beginning next week, NESsT will participate in COP30 Brazil, in Belém, Pará — a historic conference that will place the Amazon at the center of global climate discussions and mark the largest Indigenous presence ever recorded in UN negotiations. We will be there alongside entrepreneurs from our Amazon portfolio, bringing experiences born in the territories and showing that the most effective climate solutions come from those who live in and protect the forest.
In this article, Renata Truzzi, NESsT Chief Impact and Operations Officer, shares her reflections from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto, weaving together her own insights with voices and stories from the event, showing how collective action, ancestral knowledge, and community-led approaches have the potential to shape the future of impact investing.
NESsT recently expanded its executive team with the addition of Catalina Rodriguez Hohman as Chief Financial Officer. Catalina, who is based in Cali, Colombia, has over 15 years of financial experience in national and multinational companies including EY, Deloitte, Russell Bedford International, and most recently One Earth Future Foundation (OEF).
In this blog, we speak with bioeconomy entrepreneurs to better understand the challenges they face when applying for funding from multiple sources. Read it now to learn how complex application criteria and reporting demands impact their businesses and explore actionable recommendations for how the funding community can help ensure more equitable, inclusive access to financing.
