The Financing Agency for Social Entrepreneurship (FASE) is leading a project to develop, structure and launch a pilot catalytic co-investment vehicle to channel capital from previously untapped investor groups into early-stage European social enterprises seeking risk capital below €500,000. Known as the Catalytic Impact Investing Managed Accounts (CIIMA) project, it is designed to address a systemic gap for small-sized capital needs.
Project
The Catalytic Impact Investing Managed Accounts (CIIMA) project is aimed at unlocking capital from high-net-worth individuals, family offices, foundations and corporations that do not currently include catalytic capital in their investment strategies. It is focused on investee needs that fall between direct micro loans and larger loans from intermediaries, using managed accounts on a Luxembourg securitization platform to reduce the friction and complexity of transactions for both investors and enterprises.
Value and Outcomes
CIIMA is an innovative model that uses an existing regulatory and national infrastructure to aggregate small-value capital, share underwriting and management expertise, and deploy capital into the missing middle—organizations that sit between direct investment and fund-level ticket sizes, with capital needs of €100k-500k.
CIIMA includes a catalytic/blended layer designed to crowd in more risk-averse private capital, which helps improve the efficiency of deployment while also expanding the supply of catalytic capital providers.
Ultimately, FASE hopes to build a CIIMA platform within FASE itself, with the goal of mobilizing €1 billion for the European impact ecosystem by 2035.