Madrid, March 10, 2025. The Social Impact Fund (FIS, by its acronym in Spanish), managed by COFIDES and assigned to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, has formalized its participation of €15M in the Global Social Impact Fund II (GSIF Spain), a fund managed by Global Social Impact Investments, a Spanish managing company specialized in social impact investment.
GSIF Spain, with a capital of €63M, aims to invest in growth-stage companies contributing to the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Spain. The fund has already invested in four social impact companies the purpose of which is the promotion of inclusive and quality employment, access to goods and services, and the development of sustainable solutions to social and environmental problems in Spain, paying special attention to vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, women and young people, migrants and the long-term unemployed people.
These are the following: Revoolt, a company specialized in sustainable urban logistics solutions for the food sector; Jetnet, a telecommunications operator aimed to reduce the digital divide in the rural world; the Sqrups! chain of stores, which creates quality employment for people with difficult access to the labor market and offers an alternative to provide a responsible outlet for surplus production; and Éxxita Be Circular, a technology company specialized in the circular and sustainable management of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
The FIS and the European Investment Fund are the main investors in GSIF Spain, consolidating it as a key player in social impact investment in Spain.
Elena Rodríguez, Secretary General for Inclusion and president of the FIS Interministerial Technical Investment Committee, highlighted that "the fund is an innovative public initiative, as was made clear at the day of presentation of the fund to the Spanish Social Economy Business Confederation (CEPES). From the Ministry of Inclusion we are committed to boosting the impact ecosystem so that companies can and want to act, seeking a balance between competitiveness and social and environmental resilience."
Ángela Pérez, Chairperson and CEO of COFIDES, stressed that "GSIF Spain's investment policy, focused on SMEs with social inclusion challenges under profitability criteria, is perfectly aligned with the objectives of the Social Impact Fund to contribute to the resolution of social and environmental challenges. By way of this operation, we want to support initiatives driven by those growing companies that find it difficult to access traditional bank financing."
In the words of María Ángeles León, co-founder and CEO of GSI: "At GSI, we deeply appreciate the trust placed by COFIDES and FIS in our work. This investment allows us to continue investing in and supporting the growth of companies generating opportunities and improving the lives of vulnerable groups in Spain, therefore demonstrating that it is possible to obtain profitability and generate positive social and environmental impact."
SOCIAL IMPACT FUND (FIS)
The FIS is a fund created by the Government through the addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR, by its acronym in Spanish) and has resources from the NextGenerationEU instrument. It is a public financial instrument that aims to strengthen our impact ecosystem by supporting investment projects carried out by companies and other entities in Spain that generate a positive and measurable social and/or environmental impact.
With a budget of €400M, it offers financial support to projects that are financially sustainable and which contribute to responding to insufficiently addressed social and environmental challenges, also promoting the mobilization of additional private resources.
The FIS holds various modalities of financial support, including the subscription of shares in impact investment funds, direct investment in entities through co-investment agreements, and direct repayable financing through loans, equity loans or other financial instruments. On the other hand, it has a technical assistance facility to strengthen the capacities of the beneficiary entities in relevant aspects for the development of the projects, such as impact measurement and evaluation methodologies.
ABOUT GLOBAL SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENTS
Global Social Impact Investments SGIIC, SAU (GSI) is an investment fund manager specializing in social impact investment. GSI currently manages two investment vehicles, GSIF Africa (SIF mutual fund) and GSIF Spain (FESE), with over €100M of assets under management between them.
ABOUT COFIDES
COFIDES is a state-owned trading company that manages financial funds from the Spanish State, as well as its own resources and those of third-party institutions with various objectives: the internationalization of the Spanish economy, the attraction of foreign investment into strategic sectors in Spain, the promotion of the impact economy in Spain, and the contribution to the development of the countries in which it invests. In addition to the State, which holds a majority position, other shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell, and CAF–Development Bank of Latin America.
