elea

🎄 elea Christmas Message 🎄   As we reflect before Christmas Eve, there are many achievements to be proud of. Yet, we cannot ignore the challenges of living in a period defined by crises and uncertainties. This is particularly true in the regions we are active in, where people live in absolute poverty on less than USD 3 per day.   Against this backdrop, we are actively searching for solutions to improve the lives of people living in absolute poverty while being mindful not to feel overwhelmed. Our focus is on entrepreneurs seizing the initiative, taking risks, and creating sustainable impact in the fight against absolute poverty through innovative business models. In doing so, they show that this demanding environment can also offer opportunities.   The photos highlight: 🍫 A cocoa farmer in Ecuador sorting his harvest. elea venture Elucid enhances healthcare access for smallholder farmers through close collaboration with local health organizations and national health services.   🛺 A rickshaw driver in India with her electric vehicle. elea venture SMV Green Solutions supports marginalized rickshaw drivers through access to financing, training, and ownership of an electric rickshaw, thereby helping them to create a sustainable and self-determined existence.   We are witnessing growing interest in impact investing, with both philanthropic and profit-oriented investors increasingly applying impact criteria to amplify the social value of their capital. As a result, we are confident that this trend will enable even more entrepreneurial solutions to address global challenges in the coming years.   The entire elea team wishes you a peaceful and merry Christmas time! 🤶

Congratulations to Jessica Boonstra and the entire Yebo Fresh team on their acquisition by the Smollan Group! We greatly appreciate Yebo Fresh's team's unwavering commitment and resilience. Jessica’s ability to find impactful solutions under challenging circumstances has paved the way for meaningful opportunities for those in the townships. We’re excited to see this partnership amplify the positive impact on spaza shops, brands, and communities across South Africa and beyond. Wishing you all the best for this next chapter!

The Africa Hub team of four with Ester, Ijangolet “Ija”, Khaya, and Lisa had the privilege of hosting our first-ever team-building workshop, led by NiaDelta and joined by our CEO, Andreas. A key takeaway: The power of zooming in and out—balancing localized insights with elea’s overarching mission as we close 2024 and gear up for an exciting 2025. 🎯 "As the Africa Hub team has grown over the past year, we’re energized by the local insights and additionality we can bring to elea’s mission to eradicate absolute poverty. Collaborating with like-minded entrepreneurs and co-investors keeps us inspired to make a meaningful impact. Here’s to the road ahead as we drive innovation and deepen partnerships in 2025 and beyond!"– Lisa (Head of the Africa Hub) 💡 The retreat coincided with Andreas’ visit to South Africa, where meaningful connections with entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners enriched our vision. 🌍 Key Highlights: 1️ A strategy session with our longtime partner, African Leadership Academy, whose work in nurturing Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurial leaders continues to inspire. 2️ Engaging with the Qwili Co-founders, who are driving innovative solutions to improve product accessibility in South African townships and creating livelihoods for local merchants. 3️ Valuable discussions with co-investors on our role as investors in making a contribution to building a more inclusive South African economy.

“I have grown to have skills that will not only sustain me for now, but for a lifetime,” states Parl, a plumbing apprentice at BluLever Education.   Parl grew up in a South African community where water and sanitation are ongoing challenges. She often watched her uncle do repair work, which sparked her fascination for artisanship at an early age and later on shaped her career path. Reflecting on her purpose, she shares: “I love helping people, and plumbing for me is just that.”   Skilled artisans like Parl are in high demand, yet these roles remain hard to fill due to limited investment in vocational training and persistent societal biases favoring higher education.   elea portfolio venture BluLever is changing the narrative by redefining blue-collar careers for South African youth. Its innovative model equips students with skills, secures financing, and connects them to formal employment. Partnering with entrepreneurs and industry leaders, BluLever is setting a new standard in vocational training with the ambition to scale across Africa.   💡 Watch the full story in the video. #eleaWay #socialimpact #employableskills #southafrica

Our Executive Director and LatAm Hub lead, Tina Ruchti, joined a dynamic panel on "Impact Investing in #LatinAmerica" alongside Kiia Strömmer (Researcher at Helmi), Elfid Torres (CEO & Co-Founder of Fundamental), and moderated by Marta del Castillo (CEO of Social Nest Foundation) at Building Bridges in #Geneva, Switzerland! The discussion was centered around:           .  💡 The challenges Latin America faces in accessing impact investing capital.  💡The importance of first movers as catalysts of change. These pioneers are crucial in setting the stage for more investments in the region.  💡The importance of building networks to connect local entrepreneurs with international investors.  💡The need for understanding and mitigating the region's risks.  💡The empowerment of "missing middle" companies to foster a more equitable and socially conscious economy.  💡Valuable lessons learned from their trajectories and experiences in other ecosystems to further accelerate the ecosystem growth.    A big thank you to everyone who participated. We were thrilled to see the audience's interest in the subject, which echoes the rapid and constant growth of the ecosystem.     Thank you also to the Building Bridges Team for setting up this fantastic conference. We appreciate the opportunity to participate, learn, and network with a high-level group of impact finance enthusiasts and already look forward to next year’s edition.  

“To visit bustling Mexico for the first time and be rewarded with a tranquil sanctuary teeming with wildlife and fresh produce was definitely memorable! Not only did the elea Team and Emiliano of Rutopía show us a different side to the city, they demonstrated how local entrepreneurs can showcase culture and natural resources in impactful business models. We are so excited to see social innovation at work in the LatAm region,” reflects Valerie Remoquillo-Jenni.   We were thrilled to host Lena Gampp and Valerie Remoquillo-Jenni at the elea Latin America Hub in Mexico City. Their visit marked an important milestone in our strategic partnership with Stiftung Fourfold, allowing them to experience firsthand the social and ecological impact of one of our latest portfolio ventures, Rutopía .   Rutopía promotes sustainable tourism by connecting international travelers with rural communities, creating authentic experiences that benefit both. Together with María José and Tina, Lena and Valerie visited Xochimilco, a historic borough of Mexico City. Known as the "land of flowers," it features ancient canals and chinampas—artificial islands where flowers and vegetables grow on lake surfaces. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and unique agricultural practices, preserved by native peoples who maintain their indigenous traditions.   During this visit, guided by Garuda, one of Rutopía’s guides, they: 🌱 Explored local agriculture: Gained insights into sustainable farming practices and the daily lives of local farmers. ✨ Witnessed environmental care: Saw firsthand the dedication of landowners to preserving the environment. 🍴 Engaged in cultural exchange: Harvested ingredients, cooked traditional dishes, and learned about the rich culture and challenges faced by the community.   This visit underscored the value of our strategic partnership with Fourfold Foundation in supporting sustainable impact ventures that work closely with communities, all while enriching our collaboration. A heartfelt thank you to Emiliano Iturriaga for hosting us and to Fourfold for making this trip so enriching! #eleaWay #impactinvesting #mexico #xochimilco

elea is delighted to announce its strategic partnership with the Asia Community Foundation. Together, we are joining forces to catalyze impact entrepreneurship and advance philanthropic impact investing in Asia. "Impact-driven enterprises created by local entrepreneurs offer people living in absolute poverty access to jobs, markets, and value chains, and thus the prospect of a self-determined future. Through this, they promote the resilience of society as a whole which is why elea is excited to add more up-and-coming impact entrepreneurs and their innovative ventures in Asia to the elea portfolio as we advance”, says Andreas R. Kirchschlaeger, Founding Partner and CEO of elea. The newly created "Investing in Entrepreneurs for Impact" fund by Asia Community Foundation will support the growth of elea’s portfolio in Southeast Asia while strengthening the region’s impact investing ecosystem. Our collaboration with accelerators and incubators will help build a strong pipeline of ventures dedicated to alleviating absolute poverty. Learn more about the fund here: https://lnkd.in/ebqFSGjx “Philanthropic impact investing offers a transformative approach to addressing absolute poverty, and for Asia Community Foundation, it represents a powerful way to move beyond traditional charitable giving. We are excited to partner on this fund with elea, a global leader in this field. This collaboration combines ACF’s mission to catalyse impactful funding with elea's expertise and to bring donors along on an experiential giving journey,” adds Sue Fertal Toomey, CEO of Asia Community Foundation. Both organizations look forward to driving meaningful, lasting change together. #AsiaCommunityFoundation #impactinvesting #eleaWay #Asia #SouthEastAsia

“Cambodia’s young entrepreneurs are transforming agriculture, driving economic growth that uplifts people living in poverty while enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change. It was exciting to see such a vibrant energy and ideas in this space,” shares our colleague Jacob G., reflecting on his recent panel participation in Phnom Penh.   elea was invited to share our experience in scaling agriculture ventures with approximately 70 SMEs from industries such as rice and cashew during the expert panel on “Empowering Cambodia’s Agri-Food SMEs through Investment Readiness.” The event was organized by Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and CAPRED. CAPRED, the Cambodia Australia Partnership for Resilient Economic Development, supports Cambodia’s market-oriented approach to inclusive economic development and regional integration.   Here are Jacob’s event takeaways: 1️⃣ Agriculture proved resilient during COVID-19: Unlike other critical sectors of Cambodia’s economy, such as tourism and textiles, it remained stable, enhancing its potential as a driver of growth and innovation. 2️⃣ A new generation of agriculture entrepreneurs is emerging: Young, driven leaders from agricultural backgrounds are bringing fresh, international perspectives to the industry. 3️⃣ The funding gap is holding SMEs back: Limited access to capital for scaling production and expanding exports remains a major challenge. Thanks again to IIX for organizing this great event. At elea, we are committed to supporting ventures that create sustainable impact in agriculture, particularly now as we expand our activities in Southeast Asia. 🌱

Impact Europe’s #ImpactWeek2024 brought impact investors from across Europe to Bilbao for three days of intense discussion and collaboration. Amanda Turner Ege and Elena Torresani, along with Lena Gampp and Valerie Remoquillo-Jenni from our partner Stiftung Fourfold, wanted to leverage this fantastic network. They invited selected impact enthusiasts to a breakfast roundtable to discuss openly and constructively about how philanthropic capital can be catalytic in the impact investing continuum. The room buzzed with representatives from impact investors, philanthropic foundations, NGOs, development agencies, industry networks and philanthropy consultant. We are still feeling very energized and motivated by the engaged discussion. Key take-aways from the sessions: 💡 Philanthropic capital should be the most risk tolerant capital in the market, funding the development of new markets, spurring innovation, and enabling inclusion of the most vulnerable communities. And while it is possible to have financial returns on impact investments, philanthropic capital plays a vital role in the development of the industry. 💡 Grantmakers should think about exits that same way other investors do. If philanthropists fund projects for too long, they compromise public and private markets. 💡 Collaboration is key: when we understand each other’s strengths, we can collaborate and allocate funding in more efficient ways. We thank all participants for an active and open discussion on this relevant topic. 🤝 #impacteurope #impactinvesting #socialimpact #philanthropy

Day 3 of my IMD MBA elective "Mastering the Art of Impact Investing: Balancing Risk, Return, and Impact" Thank you Adrian Ackeret and Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh from elea Foundation for a fascinating session with our IMD MBA class. What started as an exploration of your #duediligence process evolved into much broader insights about #philanthropic #impactinvesting in practice. Through hands-on case analysis, our class had the opportunity to perform light due diligence on two potential investments (real companies), working to determine how to allocate a theoretical $1 million investment. This exercise revealed how elea balances #risk, #return, and #impact in the decision making– truly an art that requires both sharp technical skills and #human #judgment. You shared how elea's approach goes far beyond traditional investment analysis. Your flexible capital deployment of $200-500k, primarily through #equity structures, creates strong alignment with entrepreneurs while giving them the #autonomy needed to grow. This flexibility, combined with thorough due diligence and continuous post-investment #support through board seats and #strategic guidance, enables true #partnership with portfolio companies as they navigate complex challenges. Your global portfolio across agricultural value chains, employable skills, climate and livelihoods, and last-mile retail demonstrated how this comprehensive approach can be adapted across different contexts while maintaining local relevance. Thanks for the inspiring lessons to anyone looking to bridge the gap between investment returns and meaningful #socialimpact. #ImpactInvesting #SocialEnterprise #imdimpact Amanda Turner Ege we missed you I Peter Wuffli Andreas R. Kirchschlaeger