Five Years of Impact in Eastern Europe
Collaborate For Impact, our EU-funded market building project in Eastern Europe was launched in September of 2020. It is safe to say that we did not quite realize what the next five years would have in store for us. Now, almost five years later, our national partners have established 3 impact funds, raised over 1 million in additional capital and have supported 91 social enterprises financially.
In anticipation of the formal end of the project in August 2025, we have compiled an impact report that brings together some of the main achievements throughout the scope of the project. To summarize, the main building blocks of Collaborate For Impact were the following:
- Providing access to finance for small impact-driven enterprises
- Engaging with stakeholders and investors to mobilize additional funding
- Creating an ecosystem for impact via policy advocacy
The Five Years of Impact in Eastern Europe report outlines the various ways in which Impact Europe and its national partners, Impact Hub Yerevan (Armenia), CSRDG (Georgia), EcoVisio (Moldova), Education HUB (Azerbaijan) and SILab Ukraine (Ukraine) have worked towards realising these goals.
Highlights include the 91 social enterprises that received financial support through the 3 impact funds established, which leveraged the catalytic capital from the EU to raise an additional 1 million euros, more than doubling the initial sum allocated. One of the main drivers behind this result was the focus on stakeholder and investor engagement, which yielded a return of 5 to 7 euros for each euro spent.
Overall, the project presents a solid case for using public institutional investment as catalytic capital, strenghtening the fabric of the social economy in challenging geographies.