FS Impact Finance

Our colleague Torsten Becker participated in the panel "Biodiversity Frontier in Financial Inclusion" during the European Microfinance Week in November. Rich biodiversity is the basis for intact ecosystems, whose services (clean air, fresh water, fertile soil…) enable the human species to live and survive on this planet in the first place. Nonetheless, biodiversity loss – the biggest threat to human life, to a large extent driven by harmful agricultural practices – is still pretty much under the radar, not least in the finance sector. Against this background, it was encouraging to see strong interest in the session on biodiversity and financial inclusion at the European Microfinance Week. While the later part mainly addressed regulatory requirements and how different fund managers respond to them, Torsten provided an opening remark on the overall relevance of microfinance for biodiversity protection – and on how a new fund concept can play a key role in supporting smallholders on their path towards regenerative agriculture. e-MFP #EMW2024

In October, the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund granted three new loans amounting to a total volume of around EUR 4 million. A local currency loan was disbursed to our new partner Vitas Microfinance Group in Romania. In this report, we also introduce the microfinance institution Arnur from Kazakhstan, another new partner of the fund, which received a local currency loan of around EUR 3 million equivalent in August. Arnur offers credit and financial training to around 20,000 clients. More than 80% of the loans are granted in rural areas. GLS Investment Management GmbH

We were delighted to welcome our dear partners from GLS Investment Management GmbH in Frankfurt once again! Our regular in-person meetings give us the opportunity to discuss important topics in greater depth and collaborate even more closely to drive forward the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund. Not to mention enjoying some tasty food together! It’s been a pleasure as always, and we are looking forward to our return visit in Bochum! Luca Soppelsa | Victor de la Rey | Katharina Lange | Janne Lukas | Amon Fernandes-Christ | Martin Feige | Marko Denic | Arpine Hovakimyan

We are proud to announce that we are among the latest winners of GEF’s Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation! Our Resilient Infrastructure Fund concept made it among the 13 projects that will be awarded a total of USD 20 million in grants. The winners were revealed by the Global Environment Facility at the official announcement during the COP29 today. The program aims to pilot and de-risk new approaches to adaptation financing, leveraging donor funding to create the conditions for comprehensive private sector engagement in overcoming the shared challenges of climate change. FS Impact Finance intends to set up the Resilient Infrastructure Fund to provide long-term debt financing for infrastructure assets in emerging markets, initially focusing on adapting existing projects to climate change. Using a blended finance approach, the Fund is designed to de-risk investor capital, offering better financing terms to recipients while building a track record for adaptation finance. Intact and reliable infrastructure forms the backbone of civilization. Climate change poses an existential threat to the functionality of infrastructure, encompassing both chronic and acute physical risks. These risks particularly affect emerging markets, which often lack capital to upgrade existing infrastructure, leaving them vulnerable to climate-related damages with severe impacts on users. By financing existing infrastructure, the Fund will seek to reduce countries' burden to build new infrastructure while maintaining user access. This strategy addresses the urgent need for climate-resilient infrastructure while at the same time creating attractive investment opportunities. Our Managing Director, Martin Cremer, says: “Mobilizing private capital to create resilient infrastructure presents a significant opportunity to make a positive impact. GEF's validation during the fund's formation underscores our organisations’ shared commitment to drive private investment in adaptation finance across emerging markets, and we are proud to be working on this with GEF as a partner.” We deeply appreciate the support by the GEF and warmly thank everyone involved in the process! #LDCF #SCCF #GEFatCOP29 #Finance4Climate

Our Investment Manager Thomas Richter was recently invited to the Börsen-Zeitung Podcast, where he shared how he, a forestry scientist, ended up in the impact finance space: https://lnkd.in/eDjuGd7j Having started his career at a consultancy firm that specializes in the timber industry, Thomas now applies his deep-rooted passion for forests in his everyday work as an Investment Manager for the Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF). The RSCF supports the early-stage development of forest landscape restoration projects in emerging markets, contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation, halting biodiversity loss and creating sustainable livelihoods. During the talk with Sabine Reifenberger, Thomas highlighted the importance of investments in the sustainable forestry sector and outlined how the RSCF contributes to de-risking the early stages of development. Thank you very much for the pleasant talk and for the opportunity to be a part of the podcast!

Torsten Becker will participate in the panel on "Biodiversity Frontier in Financial Inclusion" during the European Microfinance Week on Thursday, November 14, 9 a.m. Don't miss out if you want to learn about the relevance of biodiversity and what makes it so important – not only for financial institutions, investors, smallholders or to meet regulatory requirements, but for us humans! e-MFP #EMW2024

We are attending the European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg! Please reach out to the team, Torsten Becker, Luca Soppelsa and Michael Crayne, to meet there in person. We're looking forward to seeing many new as well as familiar faces! e-MFP #EMW2024

Last Friday, our Frankfurt team spent a productive and lively offsite at Schloss Freudenberg in Wiesbaden. The day was packed with workshops and presentations in a very special and inspiring environment, which had a lot in store for us to discover. A big thanks to the team for accommodating and sharing the secrets of Schloss Freudenberg with us! 😉 We also thank Erwin Feldhaus and Gernot Sauerborn of Pivot Companions for navigating us through the day, touching upon not always easy-to-answer but nonetheless crucial questions around our current and future company strategy. The day was topped off with a delicious Lebanese dinner in Wiesbaden. We’re taking with us lots of inspiration and energy and look forward to putting these new impulses into practice!

It was a pleasure to visit again our partners from IPConcept in Luxembourg! A great opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas and drive forward our partnership. We appreciate the ongoing trustful collaboration between IPConcept and FS Impact Finance on the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund. Thanks a lot for having us, and we are looking forward to next time already!   Meik Scholzen | Ralf Burmeister | Johannes Lengert | Alexander Wilhelm | Zita Sagi-Levai | Oumy Sarr

We are happy to announce that we have recently signed a partnership agreement with August Energy Investment Co to join forces in developing clean energy projects in Southeast Asian countries! August Energy will be receiving co-funding under Support Lines 1 and 2 to originate and develop "Energy as a Service" projects, initially in the Philippines and Vietnam. Kunal Mehta, co-founder of August Energy, commented: "We are very pleased to receive the backing of SCAF to support the development and scale-up of the "Energy as a Service" ("EaaS") business model in the Philippines and Vietnam. This cooperating partnership between SCAF and August Energy will significantly lower the barriers for corporate customers, both commercial and industrial, to meet their decarbonisation goals, profitably and at scale. The funding is particularly beneficial at the front end of the project development cycle, through supporting detailed site assessments, energy audits and design and engineering work to develop and implement high quality projects for our customers." We welcome August Energy as our newest partner and are looking forward to working together on impactful projects! Rakesh Shejwal | Fantine Dutronc | Derek Campbell | Indileni Nambala