Santa Casa hosts an event dedicated to impact investment
The event, held in Lisbon, brought together various national and international stakeholders from the impact community.
The Business of Impact, organised by Impact Europe, took place on 15 and 16 September at various venues within the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, including the Sala de Extrações, the Casa Ásia – Francisco Capelo Collection and the Brotéria.
Over the course of two days, the event focused on how companies, foundations, investors and organisations can work together to generate impact and contribute to lasting change, bringing together different stakeholders from the impact ecosystem, and promoting the sharing of experiences and discussion on new ways to mobilise capital, establish partnerships and develop shared infrastructure.
The programme was structured around three main areas of focus: collaboration between different sectors; a just energy transition; and impact infrastructure, with systemic change and emerging markets serving as cross-cutting themes.
The opening session featured Luís Rego, director of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa; Martim Salgado, from the EDP Foundation; Ângela Wiebeck, CEO of Impact Europe; and Sally Uren, from the Forum for the Future.
“Developing responses to major social challenges increasingly requires the ability to collaborate across different organisations and sectors. Santa Casa’s experience highlights the importance of partnerships and the mobilisation of resources to address specific needs,” emphasised the director.
Participants also discussed issues relating to the financing of the energy transition, the challenges posed by the transformation of value chains, the use of data and impact tools, and the mechanisms needed to bring different forms of capital closer to projects and organisations with social objectives.
The closing session of Business of Impact was attended by the Vice-Provedora of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Rita Prates, alongside Ângela Wiebeck, CEO of Impact Europe, João Machado, Chair of the AGEAS Foundation, and Graça Fonseca, Director of the Futura Foundation.
For Rita Prates, collaboration is essential to transform “individual initiatives into responses capable of bringing about change”, concluding that “impact gains scope when different sectors manage to work together towards common goals”.
With the Lisbon edition, Business of Impact continues a journey that has already taken it to other European cities, including Venice in 2023 and The Hague in 2024. Holding the event in the Portuguese capital brought together companies, foundations, investors and organisations once again to address the challenges of impact investing, this time with various venues at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa serving as the main setting.
