Session 3 / September 25, 2023, 14:00 – 15:30 CEST

DIVERSITY BEYOND GENDER: WHERE FUNDERS HAVE BLIND SPOTS: This myth-busting session explored how to truly create a more diverse fundraising environment for impact entrepreneurs. While the DEI topic has stirred a wave of new investment practices, they seem to have barely scratched the surface. Therefore, we handed the mic to those who experienced first-hand the biases and blind spots that funders still have. And we discussed solutions to the diversity dilemma by picking the brains and creativity of diversity pioneers and peers in the impact space. We are grateful for our fantastic speakers: Leanne Mair, Founder and Managing Director of Benefactum Consulting, Pablo Santaeufemia, CEO and Co-Founder of Bridge for Billions, and Stefania Quaini, Managing Director of Angels4Women, who also moderated this important discussion.

Session 4 / November 14, 2023, 14:00 – 15:30 CEST

DORMANT BANK ACCOUNTS: A SOLUTION FOR LARGE-SCALE IMPACT? The UK is the front runner and has shown that waking up the sleeping bank account beauties can pay off for the impact world. Now, Germany is on the (h)edge to follow suit. But how to unleash the full potential of this yet-untapped source of capital? What needs to be done differently in other ecosystems such as Germany? And which mistakes and obstacles should be avoided?

We warmly welcome our great speakers in this session: Cliff Prior, CEO of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing, Zarah Bruhn, Founder & CEO of socialbee and Commissioner for Social Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Dr. Markus Freiburg, Founder & Managing Director of FASE, and Martijn Blom, Impact Funds Advisor at EVPA, who is also moderating the session.

Session 1 / June 21, 2023, 14:00 – 15:30 CEST

HOW MUCH IMPACT IS IN SDG INVESTING? This provocative question is at the heart of this top-down session. We will dissect SDG from impact investing strategies and investigate the concrete effects of recent regulatory and sector wake-up calls: How deep is the chasm between impact promise and practice? What can we expect from certain labels? How do we move from lip service to reliable impact? Our experts in this session are Charly Kleissner, Ph.D., Co–Founder of Toniic & KL Felicitas Foundation, and Laurence Laplane-Rigal, Head of Impact Investing of Amundi. The session is moderated by Nathalie Nebelius from Toniic and hosted by Juliane von Boeselager from FASE.

For some key insights in this session, see our LinkedIn post and read the summary article on Pioneers Post!

Session 2 / June 27, 2023, 13:00 – 14:30 CEST

EXIT PATHWAYS DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Exits are one of the key concerns of impact VCs, especially in times of economic downturn. Questions such as “What is my exit strategy in times of recession and how can I ensure that impact stays at the heart of my portfolio ventures?” are typical and pressing. In this session, we seek to answer them by looking at the best practical hacks and strategies in phases of high uncertainty. Our experienced experts will be discussing from different angles – investor, investee and economist – and make this session lively, interactive and multi-faceted. We warmly welcome Zoé Constantin, Partner at Impact Partners, Prof. Rudy Aernoudt, economist and professor at Ghent University, Walter Zantinge, Chief Veggi Officer at Wholy Greens, as well as Ines Mertens de Wilmars, Impact Investing Lead at EVPA and moderator of this Impact Fire Talk. The session is hosted by Saja Chander from FASE.

Here are some key insights from this very interactive session. This article on Pioneers Post summarizes the thought-provoking discussion for you.