Finance and philanthropy join forces to stimulate sustainable and inclusive models of social innovation, supporting Third Sector organizations through a combination of economic resources and training.

This marks the first experiment in the Metropolitan City of Turin. Over 500 cooperatives and social enterprises can submit new projects until April 24, encompassing six major areas—education, social services and disability, health, urban regeneration, environment, and culture—that address the needs of the community.

Each winning project will receive a grant of up to €30,000 and have access to an interest-free loan of up to €110,000.

UniCredit and Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT, the operational arm of Fondazione CRT for impact investing, are launching the initiative “InvesTO sul territorio” in the Metropolitan City of Turin. This initiative aims to support and finance new social entrepreneurship projects capable of generating positive economic, social, and environmental impact. Projects must fall within six macro-areas: education and training; social services, disability, and marginalization; health and healthcare assistance; urban regeneration and sustainable cities; fair and inclusive environmental transition; and cultural welfare.

Born from the collaboration between the financial and philanthropic worlds, InvesTO provides Third Sector entities with both economic resources (through a mix of grants and interest-free credits) and educational and technical support, particularly in impact assessment. This is all done to encourage sustainable and inclusive social innovation models.

Over 500 cooperatives and social enterprises, located in the Metropolitan City of Turin, can participate until April 24 in the “InvesTO sul territorio” call for projects that respond to the community’s needs. Entities that acquire social enterprise status by the deadline can also participate, aiming to stimulate the transformation processes of organizations into social enterprises.

Social entrepreneurship projects should be economically sustainable, scalable, replicable, and open to creating networks and productive chains of goods and services, even with for-profit entities. The added value will be the employment of fragile and vulnerable individuals and overcoming gender and intergenerational gaps.

“InvesTO sul territorio” is developed by UniCredit and Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT in collaboration with Fondazione Italiana Accenture ETS, in partnership with Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte, AGCI Piemonte (General Association of Italian Cooperatives), Forum del Terzo Settore in Piemonte, and with the technical-scientific support of AICCON Research Center and Human Foundation.

Each of the four winning projects will receive a liberal grant of up to €30,000 from Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT and access an interest-free Impact Financing from UniCredit, up to €110,000, with a maximum duration of 7 years. In addition, UniCredit will provide a “Pay for Success” disbursement of up to €5,000 upon achieving social impact goals, and Fondazione Accenture may award a special prize of up to €10,000 to the project demonstrating innovation elements that ensure greater scalability and replicability in terms of quality and quantity of beneficiaries reached.

InvesTO winners will also benefit from educational and technical support from Human Foundation for impact assessment and reporting, with the support of Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT, as well as tutoring and mentoring services provided by territorial partners.

“With this project, Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT stimulates the evolution of Third Sector activities toward an increasingly entrepreneurial logic, without losing sight of supporting vulnerable subjects and citizen well-being services,” declare President Cristina Giovando and Secretary General Andrea Varese. “InvesTO promotes the launch of initiatives with a strong economic and social impact, combining traditional philanthropic tools, such as liberal grants, with facilitated bank financing. This hybridization aims to accompany social enterprises toward economic autonomy without giving up their nature.”

“As a bank, UniCredit believes it has a responsibility that goes far beyond financing,” says Paola Garibotti, Regional Manager Northwest of UniCredit. “For this reason, we pay close attention to the needs of communities and want to guide the economic progress of the territories in which we operate, promoting a future of shared prosperity. We are truly proud to have launched, with Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT and other excellent partners, the InvesTO project, which aims to support social entrepreneurship and projects that address the needs of the community.”

Social cooperatives and social enterprises are essential pillars of employment and economic development in the Metropolitan City of Turin. It hosts 45% of social cooperatives in Piedmont (393 out of 874), generating 63% of the turnover of about €1.7 billion from the entire sector regionally and playing a crucial role in the labor market, employing 41% of the over 57,000 workers in the region (source: Social Entrepreneurship Observatory, 2021).

The Metropolitan City of Turin also plays a central role in the development of social enterprises, with 132 active units, accounting for 65% of the total in the region. The increase of 55 units in the last decade, with a more pronounced growth in the five-year period 2012-2016, indicates a growing interest in this social entrepreneurship model.

To discover and participate in the call for projects, click here.