The Impact World this Week: 26 September 2025

Global: The 26 finalists of the coveted Social Innovation Awards, organised each year by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, have been revealed. They feature social entrepreneurs, innovators in the corporate sector and those leading collective action, and include: Omar Itani (pictured above), the founder of FabricAID, a nonprofit that recycles clothing waste and provides affordable clothing for low-income communities in Lebanon; François-Ghislain Morillion and Sébastien Kopp, co-founders of Veja, the trainer brand that uses environmentally-friendly materials while running social and economic justice projects; and Olivia Onyemaobi of Pad-Up Creations, which fights period poverty with biodegradable, reusable pads made from agricultural by-products. The winners will be announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos next January. They will join a network of 500 social entrepreneurs and innovators who have received the award over the past 25 years.

• Read more: Against the odds: The growing green businesses of the Middle East

Europe: Struggling to keep up with the latest trends in AI for impact? Impact Europe has created a handy primer to help you take stock. The page summarises the evolution of AI for impact over the past decade, looks at today’s opportunities (a flurry of innovative AI startups tackling tough challenges better than ever before) and risks (environmental impact, job losses and lack of accountability). How impact investors are adopting AI themselves remains to be established, with potential in impact reporting in particular. The hot topic will be discussed at Impact Week in Malmö on 18-20 November – early bird tickets are still available here.

• Read more: The new generation of startups using AI to save the planet

UK/Global: British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) has tripled its annual investment levels and substantially shifted its focus on Africa between 2012 and 2024, according to a new review published by network organisation Bond. The report also notes the creation of a “catalyst portfolio" over that period, which can undertake riskier investments than the rest of BII’s operations. Some of the changes were supported by the fact that the government (BII’s shareholder) has provided £6bn of capital to support BII’s investments in low and middle-income countries over the last decade and reduced the minimum returns requirements for the investor. The Bond review, however, shows BII’s investments in least developed and fragile countries has reduced in recent years as a share of the institution’s total investments, now representing under 30%. BII’s impact reporting practices need improvement, the report also found.

Global: More underserved people will gain access to electric vehicles thanks to two multimillion-dollar deals from sustainable and impact investing firm Mirova. The firm announced a US$15m investment in Revfin, a Delhi-based finance company that provides financially excluded people with retail loans for commercial electric rickshaws and other e-vehicles. The company estimates it has enabled the deployment of 68,000 electric vehicles to date, with 77% of its borrowers formerly excluded from formal financial systems. Mirova has also invested US$10m in ARC Ride, which offers battery-swap services for electric two-wheelers. The investment will fund more than 600 battery-swapping cabinets – where users can swap their empty battery for a fully charged one.

Above: the opening of the new Old English Bell development in Mansfield 
 

Figure of the week: £1.6m is the amount invested by Resonance to convert an old nightclub into supported homes for people with learning disabilities and autism in Mansfield. The Old Eight Bells redevelopment was officially opened last week, with the first tenants moving into the eight flats. Funding came from the Resonance Supported Homes Fund, with investment from Barrow Cadbury Trust and Better Society Capital. 

Movers and Shakers

Tej Dhami has joined Do it Now Now as a Non Executive Director. Do It Now Now supports the development of Black-led impact organisations, including charities and social enterprises. Dhami is the managing director of the Change Coefficient, a social impact investing advisory firm.

• Listen to our podcast with Tej Dhami: It takes ‘tough conversations’ to create a sustainable social business

In case you missed it

Global: A quarter of profit-first impact funds focus on real assets, according to Phenix Capital’s latest research, based on a database of around 2,700 impact funds. Real assets impact funds include funds targeting infrastructure, real estate, farmland and cropland, and timberland and forestry. Their number has grown by 180% in the past 10 years, according to the report, from 246 in 2015 to 688 in 2025. Infrastructure impact funds make up nearly half of the category and a quarter focus on real estate. Forestry and timberland are the smallest category at 12%, but researchers note the sector is currently undercapitalised and has potential for growth. Among real assets impact funds, 72% target Europe and North America, and just 17% focus on Global South countries.