The nine enterprises to join the South America Accelerator Program, co-created by NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, are set to drive sustainable development and inclusive growth across the region.
NESsT in Chile: Over 26 Years of Impact in the Region
Nicole Etchart, NESsT CEO and Co-Founder, spoke with journalist Valentina Llompart at the Diario Financiero.
Article Summary: Founded over 26 years ago, Impact investor NESsT’s international trajectory has taken it to countries in Central and Eastern Europe and South America, including Chile – which was one of the first countries it invested in. NESsT has created significant impact in the region through investing in social enterprises that work on the ground with Chile’s marginalized communities.
Read the full article on Diario Financiero.
NESsT in Chile
Over 26 years, NESsT’s model has shifted its focus to support social enterprises in the so-called ‘missing middle’. Today, NESsT brings patient capital and business assistance to entrepreneurs working with marginalized communities in 10 countries across Central Europe and South America, including Chile.
“The companies we support are slightly more advanced than startups – they have developed an initial idea and have an established business model, but they need a push to grow in order to create real impact,” shared Nicole Etchart.
The impact NESsT has generated in the region is significant. Since it was created, NESsT has channeled over US $2M in resources to social enterprises in Chile, supporting companies that often face obstacles when accessing financing from traditional sources due to their high-impact focus.
Through deploying patient capital and business assistance to 25 Chilean enterprises working with marginalized communities, NESsT has supported the creation of more than 5,000 dignified jobs in the country. To date, these efforts have positively impacted over 184,400 individuals.
Today, NESsT provides tailored business support to 9 social enterprises in Chile as part of the NESsT - IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program in South America, including Ecocitex, Bendito Residuo, Inclúyeme, Lazarillo, and Savia.
Fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration: NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship visit portfolio enterprises driving positive change in Chile
NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship visit Chile to reflect on support in the region and evaluate the accelerator’s impact so far. Together we witnessed firsthand the positive changes these social enterprises are making in their areas, and gained a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges they face.
Proxima Servicios' solution to reducing inequality of opportunity in the Chilean labor market
In the face of structural labor market challenges, the founders of Próxima Servicios sought to create solutions that can reduce the inequality of opportunity rather than just the inequality of income. Eduardo Castillo, CEO of Próxima Servicios, explained that “part of the problem is that workers can’t access quality careers that have growth opportunities; if you have worked 15 years in a multinational company in cleaning, that experience will only lead to the next job in cleaning.”
NESsT Partners With Kiva to Expand Financing for Social Impact
Since its founding in 1997, NESsT has invested financing and business expertise to develop social enterprises that bring innovative solutions to alleviate poverty in emerging market counties. Now, NESsT is teaming up with Kiva, a nonprofit social lending platform, to provide greater capital and a broader foundation of support to our most successful portfolio enterprises.