The European Center for Social Finance was created to help establish best practices and distribute knowledge in financing the provision of social services and social innovations. It works at the intersection of theory, practice and policy and views social finance as a process which encompasses among others selection criteria, financing structures and impact assessment. The Center is based at the Munich Business School and works with a network of partner organizations across Europe.
We publish on a regular basis articles on current developments, deep dives and deals of the week. Take a look below.
Will sustainable finance as the umbrella of investment strategies “of the ecological and social transition” become readable?
The actors of social finance, whose vocation is to invest in companies aiming to tackle social and environmental issues, are constantly challenged by their own investors to prove the consistency and the quality of the impact they generate. Among [...]
Deals of the Week – Oct 9, 2020
Meatless Farm has raised €26.4 million. The current pace of investments in the alternative meat industry keeps surprising us. The Leeds-based company was founded in 2016, launched its products in 2018 and has already raised €14.5 million in a [...]
A growing segment of the banking industry
Back in 2014 I was working on an analysis of the credit default rates of social enterprises. The only way to possibly estimate them was using the balance sheet of those banks which are interchangeably defined as value banks, [...]
Deals of the Week – Oct 2, 2020
SkinVision has raised an investment from Rubio Impact Ventures (formerly known as Social Impact Ventures). The Amsterdam-based company is providing an AI-based smartphone app for skin-related cancer detection. Uncapped has raised $26 million in debt and equity funding. The [...]
Caring for dependent elderly people: is social finance taking up the collective challenge?
In 2060, Europe will count 2 people between the ages of 15 and 64 for every person over 65. Even with an increased healthy life expectancy, the need for long term care services will represent a colossal challenge. Yet [...]
Deals of the Week – Sep 25, 2020
Alenvi has raised €2 million in a recent funding round led by PhiTrust. Paris-based Alenvi is innovating in the elderly care segment. It aims to build an organizational model built on autonomy and human bonds. Infarm has raised €144 [...]