At COP16, NESsT reinforced its ongoing commitment to improving access to funding for locally-led bioeconomy initiatives in the Amazon. This work, including its plans to invest $6 million in seed-stage financing through 2025 to support these efforts, was recently featured in Carbon Pulse.
From the article: NESsT supports locally-led bioeconomy enterprises in the Amazon basin through its acceleration program, NESsT Amazonia, and its impact fund, the NESsT Lirio Fund – which has recently expanded its efforts into Brazil. Its work to strengthen financing to bioeconomy initiatives that provide local communities with dignified livelihoods and conserve the environment has the long-term goal of fostering a sustainable, inclusive economic growth model for the Amazon region driven by locally-led entrepreneurship. In addition to increasing its own investments to the region, NESsT is working to support other impact-focused investors to improve the efficacy and impact of their investments in the Amazon, focusing primarily on closing communication and knowledge gaps between investors and local businesses. As part of this work, NESsT engaged local leaders in several panel discussions on bioeconomy financing at COP16 in Cali, Colombia.
Read the full press coverage on Carbon Pulse (subscription required)
NESsT at COP16
At COP16 Cali, Colombia, NESsT led panel discussions aimed primarily at mobilizing financing for the Amazon region and supported its partners on a series of events and conversations centering Indigenous voices into climate and biodiversity conversations.
Unlocking Finance for a Locally-Led Pan-Amazon Bioeconomy
In collaboration with co-hosts the Pan-Amazonian Network for Bioeconomy, WRI Brasil (World Resources Institute), and the Amazon Investor Coalition, NESsT brought together representatives from bioeconomy enterprises, development banks, and public and private investors to explore ways to mobilize direct financing for Indigenous-led enterprises in the Amazon.
NESsT portfolio entrepreneurs Ricardo Andrés Calderón Solarte, Agrosolidaria, and José Yahuarcani, Asociación Intercomunitaria Painü, shared experiences in accessing funding from public and private investors as leaders of local, Indigenous-led bioeconomy enterprises in the Amazon basin that provide dignified livelihoods and protect local biodiversity. The entrepreneurs also proposed actionable solutions – including streamlining application processes and investing in community-based infrastructure.
Investors from IDB, SIDA, and the Pan-Amazon Network for Bioeconomy listened to the challenges and experiences of local entrepreneurs and together discussed opportunities and solutions to ensure Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) have the financial resources. The panel also leveraged findings from NESsT’s investment recommendations for bioeconomy investors, bringing to the table comprehensive solutions informed by grassroots voices.
The NESsT Lirio Fund
The NESsT Lirio Fund was launched in 2018 to generate quality formal jobs for 30,000 individuals from marginalized communities in Latin America while addressing the root causes of poverty and accelerating climate action.
As part of its ongoing commitment to address the pressing challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Latin America, particularly in the Andes-Amazon region, in 2024 the NESsT Lirio Fund expanded its reach into Brazil. The fund is investing in small and medium-sized enterprises that create dignified income opportunities and improve local livelihoods while contributing to environmental conservation, with a focus on the Amazon.
Today, the impact fund supports fifteen enterprises across Colombia and Peru and has recently expanded into Brazil.