Promoting venture philanthropy among the venture capital and private equity community in Central and Eastern Europe
(website exist also in espanol)
Linked with Rafael C. Lopa – Philippines.
The NESsT Venture Fund is a philanthropic investment fund providing financial and capacity-building support to a select portfolio of social enterprises owned and operated by civil society organizations in Central Europe and Latin America. All of the social enterprises in the NESsT Venture Fund portfolio are intended to generate revenues to help diversify the financing base and further the mission of the parent nonprofit organization. The NESsT Venture Fund is intended to further the mission of NESsT to address the limitations of the nonprofit capital market at multiple levels: … (full text, goals).
Investment Strategy;
Portfolio;
Business Advisory Network;
Partnerships;
Joining the portfolio;
Investor Circle;
Publications;
Contact.
Problem Statement: NESsT sees fundamental flaws with the current paradigm in which nonprofit, civil society organizations (CSOs) compete for a limited pie of existing philanthropic resources.
This reality makes many CSOs heavily dependent on short-term, project-based funding and prevents them from focusing attention on the longer-term, strategic development of their organizations and missions.
The for-profit capital market includes a rich variety of financing sources (e.g., banks, venture capital and private equity funds, etc.) and financing instruments (e.g., bonds, equity, loans, etc.) for capitalizing the various stages of enterprise development (i.e., start-up, expansion and continued growth). Meanwhile, despite the tremendous diversity within the nonprofit sector, the nonprofit capital market relies predominantly on one single financing instrument – the grant/donation – for providing capital to organizations of various sizes, types, and stages of development. Many CSOs – particularly those smaller organizations working for social change and development – remain highly vulnerable, underfunded and unsustainable.
NESsT believes that the nonprofit capital market faces the following key limitations: … (full text).