Skip to main content
Global warming stripes

Societal Impact Financing Initiative (SciFi)

The Societal Impact Financing Initiative (SciFi) at ESMT Berlin emerged from the Dialog Neues Geben, an informal exchange between wealth owners, impact investing and philanthropy experts. SciFi seeks to contribute to making progress on financing major societal transformations.

A particular focus lies on harnessing the catalytic potential of private capital for the common good. Starting from the DACH region, SciFi aims to advance giving, impact investing and mission-oriented public-private partnerships in Europe and beyond. 

Tailored financing tools and cross-sector coalitions are needed to pilot and scale innovative approaches. SciFi brings together a variety of stakeholders for this purpose: impact entrepreneurs, wealth owners, foundations, and, where needed, business and politics. In particular, it aims at promoting the strategic and pooled use of resources: what is the specific role of private capital to advance transformations? What do optimal financing structures look like? How can endowments be managed in an impact-oriented way?

SciFi is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.

 

The warming stripes banner shown at the top of our website was popularized by climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins of England's University of Reading. The banner visual representations of the change in temperature as measured in each country, region or city over the past 100+ years. Each stripe or bar represents the temperature in that country, region or city averaged over a year. The stripes typically start around the year 1900 and finish in 2023, but for many countries, regions and cities the stripes start in the 19th century or sometimes even the 18th century (Show your stripes, n.d) 

Current

Expert Forum Adaptation and Mitigation Finance

September 9th, 2024

With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, our event brought together:

•    Leading international climate finance scholars 
•    Policy stakeholders 
•    Investors 
•    Development finance institutions
•    Foundations
 

See detailed agenda and curated literature

 

For more information, contact olga.almqvist@esmt.org

Past events

SciFi flagship events

Expert Forum Blended Finance for climate and energy investments 

March 27th, 2023

Our expert forum brought together different stakeholders to reflect how to jointly mobilize more capital to tackle the climate crisis:

  • European Banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)
  • Institutional investors and asset managers
  • Large foundations and family offices interested in climate finance

 

Roundtable on endowment management (in German)

February 9th, 2022

With 3 panels: return on investment, ESG / sustainable finance and impact investing

Cooperation events

Podcast

Podcast: Financing Impact

  Podcast logo 2 

Financing Impact is a podcast about funding and scaling societal innovation. This podcast is brought to you by SciFi, the Societal Impact Financing Initiative at ESMT Berlin. See detailed episode overview & key takeaways.

 

Episodes

See key takeways and links related to each episode:

  • # 1 Dormant assets - with Stephen Muers and Antonis Schwarz
  • # 2 Funding social businesses - with Aunnie Patton Power and Julia Winkler
  • # 3 Power dynamics in funding - with Marta Zaccagini and Ben Wrobel
  • # 4 Systems thinking for climate finance - with Dominic Hofstetter and Kirsten Dunlop
  • # 5 Fostering social innovation - with Gorgi Krlev and Dominik Domnik
  • # 6 Deep impact investing - with Charly Kleissner
  • # 7 Impact investing in public markets - with Krisztina Tora and Eric Rice
  • # 8 Impact investing in EdTech - with Marie-Christine Levet and John Soleanicov
  • # 9 Institutional investors and net zero - with Brunno Maradei and Wiebke Merbeth
  • # 10 Malengo - with Johannes Haushofer, Richard Nerland and Gladys Amule
  • # 11 Impact Investing in Frontier Markets - with Patrick Nussbaumer and Winnie Odhiambo 
  • # 12 Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) - with Katia Halabi and Raji Jayamaran

Contact

Olga Almqvist

Senior Manager, Societal Impact Financing Initiative (SciFi)

Lars Hartenstein

Non-Executive Chairperson

Laura Ulloa

Student Assistant, Societal Impact Financing Initiative (SciFi)