IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Nonprofit Enterprise and
Self-sustainability Team, Inc.
Sustainable Agriculture
Small/Medium Business Development
Diversity, Equity and InclusionFirm Overview
NESsT invests in enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet. We focus on the small enterprise segment benefitting grassroots, underserved communities in emerging economies. NESsT operates two businesses: 1- Impact funds that provide debt financing to small and growing businesses; and 2- Incubators that accelerate early-stage enterprises towards investment readiness. Since 1997, NESsT has incubated and financed 200 enterprises to sustain more than 70,000 formal jobs targeting vulnerable women, at-risk youth, smallholder farmers, and minorities. Our organization has impacted a total of 19,000 entrepreneurs and improved 670,000 lives across 50 countries. NESsT targets employment creation in the following areas: Climate change through regenerative agriculture, circular economy, and green jobs; Gender equity through the economic empowerment of women; and Workforce development through the diversity and inclusion underserved talent.
Years of Operation: Less than 3 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 50% – 99%
We finance small and growing businesses that promote the employment of vulnerable communities while sustaining the planet.
High-impact, high-growth small businesses in emerging economies face a lack of options for accessing debt because they are considered too risky by traditional and impact investors. We lend to enterprises in sectors with large segments of low-income individuals and target enterprises with less than $2 million of revenues that sustain livelihoods for youth, women, farmers, and minorities. We focus on enterprises constrained by a lack of capital and for which our loans are catalytic. We invest in emerging markets with growing economies but persistent inequality. We provide business assistance alongside our capital to ensure the investment readiness of the businesses and their success in repaying our loans and graduating to commercial investors.
We differentiate our organization in four ways: 1- Track record: we support small and growing businesses in emerging economies since 1997. 2- Local: while U.S. headquartered, 85% of our staff is based in emerging market countries where they understand the context, build networks, and foster local ecosystems. 3- Business assistance: we put an emphasis on providing business assistance along our capital to develop deeper relationships with our portfolio of companies. 4- Accelerator: we have a thriving accelerator program with 55 companies receiving investment readiness capital and services that provide a proprietary pipeline for our fund.
Investment Example
Shanantina is a Peruvian company working exclusively with indigenous communities to cultivate sacha inchi, a nut that is native to the Amazon rainforest and used for the past 2,000 years. Sacha inchi is a product with growing international appeal because it is a vegan source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, a type of fat that the human body cannot produce but is essential to important functions of the heart, brain and metabolism. By following fair trade principles, Shananatina pays its suppliers 61% higher prices than other intermediaries, and also provides training to farmers so that they can grow certified organic products. The company supports 150 smallholder farmers who use sacha inchi to restore deforested lands in the Peruvian Amazon. NESsT provided a $200,000 loan for the company to expand into new sacha inchi business lines including flour and oil.
Leadership and Team
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Loic Comolli – Co-CEO More Info |
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Nicole Etchart – Co-CEO More Info |
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Chad Sachs – Fund Director, Latin America More Info Chad Sachs is Fund Director of the NESsT Latin America Fund. He is a seasoned executive that has been investing or raising capital for the last 20 years, primarily in the renewable energy industry. He founded two companies focused on successfully developing, investing and operating solar power plants. He led the structured finance teams at companies that developed and operated solar power plants, raising over $1.1 billion of capital. He grew his last company to become a top five independent asset managers in the solar sector in North America. He held Senior Vice President positions at Fotowatio Renewable (acquired by SunEdison) and MMA Renewable Ventures. Prior to that, he worked in private equity and M&A at JP Morgan Partners and Credit Suisse First Boston. Chad earned an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and B.S. in Foreign Relations from Georgetown University. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
Percentage of Total Assets Under Management that are Impact Investments: |
100% |
All of our investments meet strict social and environmental criteria, including: 1- Social: all investments must target companies creating jobs for low-income and/or marginalized individuals. A minimum of 80% of the jobs created must target these individuals. 2- Environmental: all investments in rural businesses must target companies that use sustainable land management ensuring environmental sustainability and biodiversity protection.
All of our investments meet strict intrafirm social and environmental criteria, including: 1- Diversity and inclusion: target companies must adhere to gender equity principles in their hiring, management and governance. In 2022 we will expand this policy to include racial equity. 2- Sustainability: target companies must adhere to sustainable business practices in relation to their use of natural resources including water, waste, and energy.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
5917 Jordan Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530, USA
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