With the sharp contraction in public and donor-backed funding—most recently the dramatic pullback from USAID—entrepreneurs in emerging and underserved markets are facing a tougher road to scale. At the same time, traditional impact funders are shifting priorities or consolidating portfolios, leaving early-stage ventures with fewer catalytic anchors. Development finance institutions remain important—but their mandates, timelines, and risk appetites often exclude bold, unproven models.
Enter family offices. The global investment landscape is evolving. Family offices are increasingly sophisticated, globally distributed, and values-driven. They are shifting away from passive allocations and toward more thematic, hands-on investing. Geopolitical instability, inflationary pressure, and concerns around wealth preservation have pushed family offices to reevaluate their role not just as investors but as stewards of legacy and influence.
Into this vacuum, family offices are emerging as one of the most critical sources of impact capital. But most fund managers and entrepreneurs have no idea how to engage them.
The opportunity
Let’s start with the opportunity. Family offices collectively manage an estimated $6 trillion in assets globally, and many are expanding their exposure to private markets. According to BlackRock’s 2025 Global Family Office Survey, nearly one-third (32%) of family offices plan to increase allocations to private equity, the highest figure for any alternative asset class. Impact is also on the rise: more than 40% cite sustainable and values-based investing as a core part of their portfolio strategy.
We founded The GlassBox to help founders and emerging fund managers navigate the opaque world of family offices.
Impact family offices
And it’s not just theory – many family offices are already investing for impact.
In the US, Blue Haven Initiative, led by Liesel Pritzker Simmons, has long been a pioneer in using a total portfolio approach to impact, integrating environmental and social goals across asset classes. Her approach is notably as she has been forthcoming about the challenges of deploying capital and making it family-aligned. Ceniarth, the impact-first family office of Diane Isenberg, has deployed more than $500 million in underserved markets, with a focus on economic resilience and community-based solutions—casting a wide net in the types of entrepreneurs they support.
The European market tends to be more opaque and difficult to approach, with less visibility in terms of an online presence, conference attendance, so access is slightly differently tailored than in the US. The Impact Office in Zurich is a family office platform supporting early-stage and catalytic investments across themes like health, education, and climate. Blink CV in Amsterdam offers early-stage capital and growth support to mission-driven founders with a gender and climate lens. PFC in Italy is focused on patient capital and community-centered innovation across Europe.
Tripple, based in Australia, invests in ventures aligned with a regenerative economy and actively supports activism and advocacy alongside capital deployment. RS Group is the Hong Kong-based family office of Annie Chen that aims to invest her wealth sustainably.
GlassBox participants receive insights via an online course which unpacks how to understand family offices, tailor your pitch and turn your impact model into a magnet for values-driven capital (ImpactAlpha subscribers can use code IMPACTALPHA and for a 10% discount). The course includes in-depth case studies from many of these family offices.
Navigating family offices
The challenge is that family offices don’t behave like institutional investors or DFIs. Each is different, and most are hard to find, slow to respond, and almost allergic to being pitched cold. They are often staffed by a small, lean team, with advisors and gatekeepers playing key roles in filtering opportunities and guiding investment decisions. If you get it wrong, your pitch will go nowhere.
So what should you do?
1. Start with alignment. This isn’t about capital—it’s about values. Research the family office thoroughly. What sectors do they care about? What is their philanthropic track record? Where have they invested in the past? Are they first-movers or late followers? A pitch that fails to reflect their worldview or priorities will get deleted.
2. Know the difference between a single and multi-family office. Some families manage their wealth directly; others pool their resources with peers via a professional management team. Understand the setup—it will influence who you need to speak to and how decisions get made.
3. Speak their language. Terms like catalytic capital, blended finance, first-loss capital, and impact-first returns aren’t just jargon—they show that you understand how family offices operate at the early stages of impact investing. Frame your opportunity as a gateway to systemic change, not just a standalone investment.
4. Make it personal. This is not a one-size-fits-all process. Tailor every pitch to the individual family’s story. If they have a legacy in healthcare, show them how your medtech venture aligns. If they’re passionate about education, make the case for why your learning app could change lives.
5. Show a path to leverage. Family offices want to know that their capital can do more than make a return. Demonstrate how their early investment can unlock other sources of capital, whether from donors, MDBs, or commercial funds. This is where catalytic capital plays a crucial role.
6. Prepare for deeper due diligence. More than traditional investors, family offices often take their time to evaluate governance, mission alignment, and long-term sustainability. Be ready with robust materials that speak to both impact and financial performance.
In a world of shrinking donor support and growing inequality, we can’t afford for impact capital to stay on the sidelines.
Naava Mashiah is founder and CEO of ME Links and Tenke Zoltani is founder of Better Finance. Together they created The GlassBox, an online workshop that teaches funds and founders how to unlock family office capital. ImpactAlpha subscribers get 10% off with code IMPACTALPHA.
