Blended Finance helps bridge the gap between the needs of mainstream investors and enterprises delivering impact, by bringing together concessional and non-concessional capital to address large-scale societal issues.
Who we are
The Blended Finance Collective is designed to serve as a knowledge-sharing hub for blended finance practitioners, investors, donors, and other stakeholders. The platform provides a space for members to share resources and events, as well as connect, collaborate, and learn from each other's experiences.
The Collective is run by and for blended finance practitioners working across developed and emerging markets. We aim to facilitate learning and foster connections between blended finance practitioners to support improvement and innovation and help maximise resources for impact.
How we work
The Collective functions in three main ways
A Knowledge Hub: Serving as a comprehensive resource hub, collating, and pointing to existing materials, including case studies, and definitions. We also guide practitioners to other relevant networks and collaborate with partners to commission research within the field.
A Community: Providing a space for practitioners and organisations to convene, fostering collaboration and shared learning.
A Practice: Identifying key issue areas and facilitating coordinated efforts among members, fostering the growth of interest and investment in the blended finance ecosystem. While not a fundraiser or developer, we serve as a space enabling collaborative initiatives and spin-offs to thrive.
Our vision
By creating the Collective, we hope to promote greater collaboration and coordination among organisations working on blended finance. By leveraging the knowledge and resources of the community, we aim to maximise resources for impact and address key societal challenges. The Collective seeks to enable practitioners to share learning and build connections, with the ultimate goal of scaling investment in blended finance structures. Given the scale of the opportunity for blended finance and the wide variety of initiatives to increase the flow of capital, the Collective aims to create a common platform for sharing insights, avoiding duplication, and establishing best practices.
Where we began
To date, the work of the Collective has been overseen by Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, Better Society Capital, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Save the Children, with advisory input from British International Investment and the and Ina Lee, Associate Director, Global Impact Investing Network.
In March 2023, Access, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Better Society Capital, brought together a group of both UK and international stakeholders to discuss challenges and opportunities for blended finance. This event sought to build on existing work and explore the challenges and opportunities of blended finance in practice. Stakeholders spanned development finance practitioners and those working in the impact investment market, bringing together a wide array of investors with different financial and impact mandates, as well as other infrastructure organisations involved in blended finance.