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.
NESsT CEO Chad Sachs shares his reflections on the GIIN Impact Forum that took place in Berlin, Germany, October 8-9, 2025.
NESsT and MetLife Foundation have forged a two-year alliance to strengthen the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Chile. This initiative aims to pave the way for a more inclusive and sustainable future by supporting social enterprises that create quality jobs, enhance financial inclusion, and promote environmentally responsible practices in underserved communities.
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.
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.
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.
NESsT announces today that Grzegorz Wach has been named NESsT Country Director of Poland, reflecting the impact investor’s expanding acceleration of social enterprises that create dignified jobs for individuals from excluded communities, including refugees, migrants, women, at-risk youth, the LGBTQIA+ community, and others facing systemic barriers to economic opportunity.
We spoke to our portfolio managers and entrepreneurs in the region to uncover the lessons learned and insights gained from three years of close-up acceleration and collaboration in the region catalyzing wide-ranging, innovative business models and supporting the financial independence and stability of people from diverse backgrounds.
This past February marks two years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
As of February 2024, an estimated 3.7 million people are still displaced within Ukraine’s borders, and 6.5 million refugees are in countries such as Poland and Romania. The reality is, although it has been two years since the crisis began, millions of refugees in the region still need support to find dignified work that allows them to feed their families.
Our portfolio enterprise Targ Pietruszkowy is celebrating a decade of creating a positive impact in its local community. Targ works with around 140 small-farm holders, almost half of whom are women. For many, selling their organically grown produce at Targ Pietruszkowy is their main source of income.
NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship co-created a three-year accelerator programme to support enterprises in Poland and Romania that expand employment opportunities. The selected enterprises will receive market access assistance and advice, tailored business mentoring, technical assistance, in addition to flexible financing. Meet the enterprises now:
