Community insights: catalytic capital, collaboration, and systems change
Last week, as we returned from the holidays, our Catalytic Capital Community of Practice came together for its second gathering. The session was a chance to reconnect, exchange insights, and look ahead to the future of catalytic capital.
Spotlight on SDG Impact Finance Initiative
We were joined by the SDG Impact Finance Initiative an international platform dedicated to mobilising catalytic capital to unlock private investment in emerging markets and developing economies.
SIFI shared their experience in addressing some of the very real challenges that European impact funders face when deploying catalytic capital. From embedding additionality criteria into investment selection to supporting phase-out strategies, their approach illustrated how thoughtful design can overcome barriers and amplify impact.
A research journey into collaboration
The gathering also opened a window into a new research initiative led by Impact Europe. At its core lies a big question: How can collaborations across the continuum of capital effectively unlock catalytic capital and drive transformative change?
Through nearly 30 practitioner interviews, we are:
- exploring how members collaborate and co-invest along the continuum of capital;
- uncovering the barriers and favourable conditions that shape collaboration;
- analysing what “system change” means in practice;
- gathering not only success stories but also moments where things could have gone differently.
This work aims to surface concrete case studies, highlight enabling conditions, and chart pathways to scaling collaborative solutions. The final study will be published in January 2026.
Collective reflections
To spark dialogue, we invited participants to share their perspectives through live polls:
- Can system change be achieved without collaboration? — The room was unanimous: no.
- Is there enough collaboration in today’s ecosystem to achieve system change? - The majority said: not enough.
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how much collaboration is your organisation bringing forward? - 60% rated themselves between 7 and 8, with a few outliers on both sides of the spectrum.
These reflections underscored both the commitment of our community and the work still ahead.