As the gap in development finance increases, family offices are emerging as critical backers of climate and impact strategies.
With higher risk tolerance and more flexibility, these families are filling financing gaps, anchoring first-time managers, and expanding access to catalytic capital across emerging markets and underserved sectors.
That said, many managers are still figuring out how to unlock family office capital by building relationships and offering the right kind of structure.
(see, How impact funds and founders can unlock family office capital)
ImpactAlpha’s recent reporting has covered 13 key family offices that are backing impact strategies around the world.
Latin America
In Brazil, The Russo family launched Meraki Impact – an impact-focused family office investing in regenerative systems throughout the region. Its portfolio includes a commitment to Deetken Impact’s Caribbean Basin Sustainable Energy Fund.
“I tell these families that social, environmental and financial returns can go together,” said founder Fernando Russo in a Deetken interview. “Then I show them a few things in my portfolio that prove it’s possible.”
Mexico’s Sánchez-Navarro family launched CO_Capital to focus on solutions around poverty and climate change. Recent investments include a long-term loan to Café Capitán, a cooperative in Chiapas expanding its organic coffee operations with new processing infrastructure.
Timke Ventures, a family office led by Maria Hollan, committed capital to Viwala, a venture debt platform that finances small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America with a focus on inclusion.
(see, Maria Hollan of Timke Ventures shares her journey to impact investing)
Jay Dunn has grown DF Impact Capital into one of the most active US family offices investing across Latin America and the Caribbean, also with fund commitments in Viwala along with Fonkoze, and multiple direct deals.
Ceniarth continues to play a lead LP role in blended finance vehicles, including Deetken Impact’s $10 million Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund and the $4 million Azure Source Capital, which expands clean water access in Latin America.
Europe & US
Family offices including Ceniarth, A to Z Impact, Blue Haven Initiative, and Stardust are backing Washington DC-based Open Road Impact, which provides short-term bridge loans to impact enterprises.
(see, Open Road Impact raises $35 million to bridge social enterprises through funding delays)
Italy’s PFC invested in the KYIP Impact Mission Fund, which targets health and sustainable lifestyle businesses in underserved Italian markets, and Brookfield’s Global Transition Fund II, a multibillion-dollar Zurich vehicle backing large-scale clean energy globally.
Geneva-based The Impact Office continues to deploy catalytic capital into early-stage funds across climate, education, and health. It has helped validate dozens of emerging managers and overlooked strategies before they hit institutional radars.
In Philadelphia, Spring Point Partners backed the debut fund from Apis & Heritage Capital Partners, which converts small businesses into worker-owned firms, primarily benefiting employees of color.
Asia pacific
Australian family office Tripple has become a key early LP for first-time fund managers. Its portfolio includes ReGen Ventures, Amboy Street Ventures, Streetlife Ventures, and newer platforms like Superorganism, a biodiversity-focused VC, and JustFund, a fund infrastructure platform. Tripple’s strategy emphasizes intersectional impact across gender, climate, and cities.In Hong Kong, RS Group, the family office of Annie Chen, backed SJF Ventures III alongside institutional LPs to support clean energy and circular economy ventures in the US.
