The Evolving State of Blended Finance and Impact Investing

Session Purpose
This session explores how blended finance can evolve from a niche structuring tool into a driver of systemic, sustainable investment — unlocking private capital at scale while strengthening real-economy outcomes on the ground. Rather than revisiting definitions, the conversation will focus on practical enablers that can help blended finance move from bespoke transactions to a scalable, trusted, high-impact part of the financial system. We will unpack what investors, fund designers, and policymakers each need to change to make that happen, and what actually drives investment decisions in blended-finance contexts.

Agenda

1. Welcome & Framing – 5 min
   A brief introduction: What Is Blended Finance? Why blended finance now? The urgency of the SDG funding gap, climate transition, and why this conversation matters more than ever.
2. Quick Insights – Lessons from Denmark – 5 min
   Key takeaways from Invest for Impact Denmark blended finance white paper:
3. Panel Discussion – Lessons from EU and Beyond - 30 min
   Guided by questions on investor decision-making, dual value (financial + impact), and the building blocks of trust.
4. Wrap-Up
   Summarise insights and highlight one actionable idea or partnership to carry forward.

Here are our Panelists for this engaging and timely dialogue.

Birgitte Frost Mathiesen - Birgitte is the Managing Director of Invest for Impact Denmark and Founder of Molly’s Heart, as well as a former board member of The Social Capital Fund Denmark. A frontrunner in social impact investing in Denmark and the Nordics, she works at the intersection of philanthropy, private capital, and public stakeholders to align financial capital with measurable social and environmental outcomes. As an impact-driven leader and commercially minded entrepreneur, she focuses on developing and scaling innovative financing models that mobilise capital for purpose and generate long-term value for society and the environment.

Yvonne Bakkum - Yvonne is an independent advisor and board member focused on boosting the positive impact of capital. Currently she advises Achmea Investment Management on the implementation of their impact investing proposition. She is the Chair of Incofin Investment Management and the Netherlands Advisory Board on impact investing. As an investment committee member of Impact First Group, she supports ‘place based’ social impact funds in Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam. Previously, she was the founding MD of FMO Investment Management BV, mobilizing private capital at scale for the SDGs, and had several other positions at FMO including Director Private Equity, Manager Credit Analysis and Manager Business Development. She started her career at ABN AMRO Bank and holds a master’s degree in business economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 2022 and 2023 Yvonne was listed in the Netherlands top 50 ‘Women in Sustainable Finance’.

Sanmit Ahuja — Sanmit is the CEO of the Bharat Technology and Impact Accelerator (BharaTIA) in New Delhi, a platform dedicated to technology commercialisation and scaling first-of-a-kind (FOAK) and nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) solutions for the Global South. He is also a Director at the Climate and Energy Transition Finance Initiative (CETFI). Sanmit specialises in building platforms that elevate the role of emerging and high-growth economies in the global system, with a particular focus on addressing financing challenges for the Global South. Most recently, he launched the India–Bulgaria SITE Network, creating a new corridor for Science, Innovation, Technology & Economics.

Romée Van Wachem (CISL) — Romée brings over a decade of mobilising directing private capital toward sustainable development, with expertise in inclusive finance and emerging markets. She currently serves as Chair of Legal Innovation for Sustainable Investments at LISI and as Associated Resources for Invest for Impact Denmark and advises as a strategic sounding partner. Previously, she was Senior Relationship Manager & Strategist Impact Investing at Cardano, where she developed strategic partnerships and innovative investment approaches. She began her career as a corporate lawyer and consultant on European and Dutch sustainability and innovation grants and holds a master’s degree in international and European Law. She is also a CFA Charterholder.

Tina Min (CISL) — Tina is Founding Partner of SDG Impact Partners and CEO of ImpactPhilan, where she is building a digital infrastructure platform that connects donors, NGOs/initiatives and institutions to enable traceable, data-informed philanthropy and smarter capital allocation towards the SDGs. Previously, Tina headed ESG for Nordea Markets Trading, where she helped integrate sustainability into capital markets activities and product frameworks and development. She also chaired the investment fund discussions at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), helping to bridge policy with institutional practices. Tina is a working group member for the EU Climate Transition Benchmarks (CTB) and Paris-Aligned Benchmarks (PAB), contributing to their design and successful market uptake. She also chairs the CISL community in Denmark and co-leads the CISL EU sustainable finance community.

We look forward to a rich discussion and an engaging session that will add real value to the CISL community on this important theme "The Evolving State of Blended Finance and Impact Investing".