NESsT

What NESsT does

NESsT (Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-sustainability Team, Inc.) is a US-incorporated nonprofit impact investment organization founded in 1997 and headquartered in St Petersburg, Florida, with regional offices in Brazil (São Paulo), Peru (Lima), Chile (Santiago), Colombia (Bogotá), Poland (Warsaw), and Romania (Timișoara). Its mission is to invest in and accelerate social enterprises that create dignified employment for underserved and marginalized communities — including women, indigenous groups, ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, people with disabilities, and smallholder farmers — while sustaining the environment, with particular emphasis on Amazon-region forest conservation.

NESsT operates a portfolio of regional investment vehicles and accelerator programs. The Lirio Fund deploys capital in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru (over $20 million USD disbursed to date); the Violet Fund targets Poland and Romania; the Amazonia Initiative supports indigenous-led conservation enterprises in the Brazilian and Ecuadorian Amazon; the NESsT Fund provides $50k–$500k of non-dilutive capital (working capital, purchase order financing, CAPEX financing, 6-month to 5-year terms) to enterprises in Peru and Colombia; and the South America Accelerator and Racial Equity Initiative round out the product surface. NESsT also delivers multi-year business advisory, mentorship, and capacity-building services to portfolio companies alongside capital deployment.

The business model is nonprofit and grant/impact-investor funded rather than commercially revenue-generating. NESsT raises philanthropic and impact-investing capital from foundations and corporate partners — IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, MetLife Foundation, Whole Foods Market Foundation, USAID, Erol Foundation, Fundo Dema, WWF, and others — and deploys it via grants, loans, and equity-like instruments at ticket sizes ranging from $30k (Ecuadorian Amazon grants) to $500k (NESsT Fund) and R$50k–200k (Brazilian Amazon). Cumulative capital deployed since founding is $55 million USD across 510 social enterprises in 50 countries, with reported outcomes of 211,000 dignified employment opportunities, 39,000 entrepreneurs trained, and 4.7 million lives improved. The organization is governed by a board chaired by Lord Mervyn Davies and led operationally by co-founder Nicole Etchart; no technology platform, AI capabilities, or commercial pricing model are present.

Name

NESsT

Legal name

Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-sustainability Team, Inc.

Website

https://nesst.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NESsT is a nonprofit impact investment organization founded in 1997 that provides patient capital (grants, loans, equity) and multi-year business advisory to 510+ social enterprises across 50 countries, creating dignified employment for underserved communities while protecting the environment, particularly in the Amazon basin and emerging markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investing and Social Enterprise Development

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Social Assistance (624), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Lens / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Funds (FSANAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Sector & Blended Finance Arms (IFC-type) (BPADACAJ), Health Systems Strengthening & Global Health Technical Assistance (BPADAEAH)

Keywords

• Impact investing
• Social enterprise development
• Patient capital financing
• Nonprofit accelerator programs
• Enterprise capacity building

Headquarters

HQ city

El Cerrito

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Impact Investment Capital Deployment: NESsT provides patient capital (grants, loans, and equity-like instruments) to social enterprises. They raise philanthropic and impact investing capital to support underserved communities, deploying it through their portfolio companies.
2. Business Advisory Services: NESsT provides tailored business advisory, mentoring, and capacity building services to portfolio enterprises, helping them consolidate and grow their social and environmental impact.
3. Donations and Grants: NESsT receives donations and grants from foundations and corporate partners to fund their operations and program activities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

NESsT invests patient capital (grants, loans, and equity-like instruments) in social enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities in emerging markets, primarily in Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe. The organization combines multi-year investment capital with tailored business advisory, mentoring, and capacity-building services, delivered through regional funds and accelerator programs focused on dignified employment, gender lens investing, and environmental sustainability.

Product overview

NESsT is a social enterprise investment organization that provides a portfolio of funding vehicles and acceleration programs. The core offering combines patient investment capital with multi-year business advisory services. Named products include the Lirio Fund (focused on Brazil, Colombia, Peru environmental protection), Violet Fund (Poland/Romania employment for underserved groups), Amazonia Initiative (forest conservation), South America Accelerator, Racial Equity Initiative, and the NESsT Fund (Peru/Colombia non-dilutive capital $50k-$500k).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lirio Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• 211,000 dignified employment and income generation opportunities created
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ProfonanpecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Joint initiative to strengthen 40 eco- and bio-businesses in the Peruvian Amazon. Combines NESsT's investment expertise with Profonanpe's environmental focus.
• PanAmazon Network for BioeconomycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting panels at COP16 on unlocking financing for locally-led socio-bioeconomy businesses in the Pan-Amazon region.
• Amazon Investors CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting Impact Night Amazonia Together event to connect stakeholders tackling the Amazon region's challenges.
• Conservation International (CI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting COP16 panels on unlocking finance for locally-led Panamazon bioeconomy.
• World Resources Institute (WRI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting COP16 panels on unlocking finance for locally-led Panamazon bioeconomy.
• WWFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting Amazonia Together networking event with Latimpacto, Amazon Investor Coalition, showcasing collaborative efforts in the Amazon region.
• LatimpactocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Co-hosting Amazonia Together networking event connecting stakeholders across the Amazon region.
• Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 October 2024Panel hosting partnership to position the Indigenous Amazonian entrepreneurship incubator model as an effective strategy for conserving biodiversity and promoting Indigenous peoples' well-being.
• IKEA Social EntrepreneurshipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2021Partnership to strengthen and scale 10 social enterprises in Poland and Romania through a three-year accelerator program. Combines IKEA's business knowledge with NESsT's expertise in social enterprise investment. Focused on ensuring employment for 1,200 vulnerable and excluded communities including youth, at-risk women, ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, smallholder farmers, and people with disabilities.
• BNY MellonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 March 2019Hosted Wroclaw Social Impact Challenge discussion on improving training and employment of underrepresented women in high-growth careers in Poland.
• British CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership on women's empowerment and social enterprise in Brazil.
• WWF-BrasilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for indigenous economic initiatives and Amazon conservation projects.
• Credit SuisseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate volunteer support for Możesz ITy program, providing mentorship from software developers and IT industry career guidance.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Acumen: Acumen is a nonprofit impact investment fund focused on alleviating poverty through patient capital and advisory to social enterprises in emerging markets — directly comparable business model to NESsT across geography and target segment.
• Root Capital: Root Capital is a nonprofit impact investor lending to agricultural small and growing businesses in Latin America and Africa — overlapping geography and borrower profile (e.g., COAS, Federación Campesina del Cauca) with NESsT's Lirio Fund and NESsT Fund.
• Calvert Impact Capital: Calvert Impact Capital is a nonprofit impact investing intermediary that raises capital and lends to organizations addressing poverty — directly comparable structure as a community-development financial institution with similar blended-finance approach to NESsT.
• Gray Matters Capital: Gray Matters Capital is a private impact investment firm focused on gender lens investing and education/employment for women in emerging markets — closely comparable on gender lens thesis and emerging market focus.

Broad incumbents

• Omidyar Network: Omidyar Network is a philanthropic impact investment firm funding social enterprises globally with a broader sector and geography mandate, comparable as a nonprofit/impact capital allocator but operating at materially larger scale.
• Kiva: Kiva is a nonprofit crowdfunding platform enabling crowdfunded microloans to underserved entrepreneurs globally — overlapping mission (capital access for underserved) but a fundamentally different retail-crowdfunding delivery model.
• Triodos Investment Management: Triodos Investment Management is a European sustainable investment manager running multiple impact funds across regions — comparable in deploying patient capital to social enterprises but operating as a regulated for-profit asset manager.

Emerging players

• Toniic: Toniic is a global impact investor network that connects high-net-worth members to impact investment opportunities — comparable as a peer in the impact investing ecosystem but with a network/membership model rather than direct enterprise investment.
• Closed Loop Partners: Closed Loop Partners is an investment firm focused on building the circular economy, with funds supporting recycling and reuse businesses — overlapping niche interest in enterprises with environmental and social impact, but more US-centric.

Regional players

• Big Issue Invest: Big Issue Invest is the investment arm of The Big Issue providing finance and support to social enterprises addressing poverty in the UK — comparable mission and social enterprise focus but regionally limited to the UK.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nesstorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nesst
• Facebookfacebook.com/nesstorg
• Instagraminstagram.com/nesst_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NESsT