Uniting Public & Private for Impact with Servane Metzger-Corrigou   

Servane: Ring is a Paris-based impact ecosystem. We manage several impact vehicles investing in generalist impact strategies – both environmental and social, and sometimes both, which is even better. I’ll return to that later. We have one growth equity vehicle, a VC vehicle, a seed and pre-seed vehicle, and more recently, a vehicle focused on Francophone Africa, targeting impact start-ups. We also have a philanthropic fund called the Ring Foundation, which I have the privilege to lead. 
 
Our mission is to direct capital towards vital solutions tackling major social and environmental challenges. We support entrepreneurs in growing both their impact and business performance – we truly believe in that alignment. 
 
Now, what brought me here? I’m not from a finance background – I come from politics and EU public affairs. Quite unusual in this field! At Ring, we value diverse backgrounds, which adds to our fund’s strength. I started my career with the French government on major investment programmes like the Juncker Plan (now InvestEU), working closely with the EIB Group. Back in 2016, they began implementing strong extra-financial criteria, which sparked my interest. 
 
Later, I joined the cabinet of the French Minister for Europe, Clément Beaune, during France’s EU presidency. I led negotiations on sustainable corporate regulations – including the CSRD and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence directive. Yes, guilty as charged! 
 
What drew me to this space is the belief that public and private sectors must work together for real transformation. I wanted to build a bridge between public policy and private investment, which is now a central part of my role. 
 
Jana: What are your major hopes for the next political mandate? 
 
Servane: First, the results were not as catastrophic as we feared. There was concern about a dramatic shift to the far right, which could have jeopardised the Green Deal’s progress. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. We now have a more balanced Parliament. 
 
The priority must be to safeguard the achievements of the previous mandate – especially the climate and fair transition commitments – and to accelerate action on key fair transition elements. 
 
Jana: Do you see any challenges or risks that might hinder this progress? 
 
Servane: Yes – the biggest risk is inertia and stagnation. We can no longer afford to delay. We must invest in the transition now – particularly the climate transition. Every component of the European Parliament, Commission, and private sector must act urgently and responsibly. There’s no more time to waste. 
 
Jana: You founded and now lead the United4Impact initiative. Could you tell us more about it – what inspired you and what’s your vision for it? 
 
Servane: We launched United4Impact in December 2023. The idea arose during the European Commission’s consultation on revising the SFDR. A few of us impact investors decided to advocate for a dedicated impact category to redirect capital towards transition solutions. 
 
Initially, I was speaking mostly with French funds. But from my experience in Brussels and Washington, I knew that if only French actors were involved, the Commission might dismiss it as yet another French push. So we reached out to our European peers. 
 
Our first group included 32 investors from 14 countries. Now, we're 55 investors from 16 EU countries. The diversity is striking – from Scandinavian and German climate-focused funds, to socially driven investors in Southern Europe, to generalists in France and the Benelux, and a rising number in Central and Eastern Europe. 
 
It’s an informal initiative with two pillars: advocacy and sharing best practices. We aim to support a real, sustainable transition through collective knowledge. We’re also working closely with national and European networks like Impact Europe. We’ll soon announce a collaborative proposal during Impact Week in Bilbao – focused on sharing impact KPIs across our platform. 
 
Jana: You also published five recommendations as part of this initiative. Could you tell us more about them? 
 
Servane: The first is to define impact investing clearly in SFDR, with an associated product category. The SFDR’s Article 6, 8 and 9 classifications were a great start, but they’re now confusing. Article 9 products are often mislabelled as impact funds, though they don't always target measurable social/environmental outcomes. 
 
Without a proper definition, we risk greenwashing and won’t effectively redirect capital to true impact. When the Commission suggested a new category system, we said “yes, please.” We need to distinguish between mitigating risks and actively doing good. 
 
We also support a “transition” category for investments that aren’t yet solutions but are moving in the right direction. 
 
Our second recommendation is to boost the EIF’s mandate in the next EU budget. EIF is crucial in seeding impact funds. But we need more support, especially for both environmental and social impact. Focusing solely on clean investments risks leaving communities behind. 
 
Our third recommendation: develop a social taxonomy. The green taxonomy is great, but social criteria like affordability, accessibility and service quality also need recognition. 
 
Fourth: establish an EU-level status for mission-driven companies. We at Ring Capital are one, and it's a fantastic governance tool. It exists in France, Italy and Spain and is under discussion elsewhere. We think the EU should adopt it more broadly. 
 
Jana: I’d like to dive into that second recommendation. Ursula von der Leyen recently outlined her vision for the next Commission, including reforming the EU budget. What’s your view on how to make the budget more impactful? 
 
Servane: First, the EU budget is small and dependent on member state contributions. Compared to the US, it’s limited. 
 
That said, we must maximise its potential. One solution is to introduce new “own resources” for the EU – new taxes or mechanisms to fund transitions directly. This gives legitimacy, and citizens will understand and support it if they know where the money goes. 
 
We must also use public funds to crowd in private capital. The COVID-era NGEU instrument is a good model. We could replicate it for select priorities. 
 
Also – and forgive my French patriotism – I think your EU budget priorities are excellent, especially supporting SMEs and innovation through the Net Zero Industry Act. 
 
In short: be creative and use every tool to compete globally. 
 
Jana: As this is the final episode of our “Electing Impact” podcast series, we uphold a tradition: if you had one wish for the next political mandate, what would it be? 
 
Servane: Only one? Alright. My wish is that public authorities work more closely with the private sector to achieve public-interest goals. 
 
They can’t do it all, especially with limited budgets. Regulation is a powerful and cost-effective tool. SFDR is a prime example. A new impact category would give transparency to citizens about where their money is going – and that would be transformative. 
 
So: don’t wait. Act now. You have the power – so use it. 
 

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This transcript was edited for length. The full episode can be found here.