Winners of the 2024 Impact Initiative of the Year award

Frankfurt, 16 December 2024 – Finance in Motion is the winner of the Environmental Finance Impact Awards 2024 in the category Impact initiative of the year: Europe, for the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE).

Finance in Motion is an advisor to the fund, which was initiated by KfW in 2005. EFSE's goal is to promote sustainable and socially inclusive economic development in South-East Europe and Caucasus. To this end, it provides financial institutions with money for loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

EFSE has reached several milestones in 2024. Among other things, it received an investment of over 100 million euros from the British asset manager M&G. It also set up a blended finance vehicle for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This sub-fund is equipped with more than 100 million euros of first-loss capital. ‘As a pioneer of blended impact finance, we are proud of this award. Innovative blended finance models are an essential key to channeling capital to where it is most urgently needed through the cooperation of public and institutional investors,’ says Jasminka Begert, EFSE Fund Director at Finance in Motion.

Blended finance uses public money as a catalyst for private investment. Risk and return are distributed oppositely in this approach. Public investors bear the bulk of the default risks, while the return primarily benefits institutional investors.

Since its launch in 2005, the European Fund for Southeast Europe has signed loan agreements with more than 80 banks and financial institutions in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The fund is aligning with Article 9 SFDR and has a volume of one billion euros. ‘EFSE is a prime example of our mission: to promote growth and financial inclusion, especially in emerging markets, through the interaction of public and institutional investors – and to do so with the highest standards in impact management,’ says Sylvia Wisniwski, Managing Director at Finance in Motion.

The Environmental Finance Impact Awards are presented annually by the sustainable investment news and analysis service Environmental Finance to recognize the work of impact investors worldwide. Awards are given for best practice in all asset classes and regions. The jury includes industry experts and editorial staff from Environmental Finance.