With a view to tackling social and ecological challenges, Mirova Foundation, Mirova's endowment fund, is providing support worth €2.1 million over three years to the France Active movement in order to strengthen the network of partnerships between social and solidarity economy (SSE) companies and expand their access to social impact investment. This support will make Mirova Foundation one of France Active’s principal private finance partners. 

Many SSE associations and enterprises are benefiting both their local areas and their residents in turn by helping to resolve the problems affecting our society and make it more inclusive and sustainable. Some of these entities may find it difficult to secure future funding and, as such, to finance their initiatives. This is what France Active and Mirova Foundation have noted over the many years in which they have worked together to support investment in the social and solidarity economy. As inflation and multiple crises continue to impact our society, this new partnership between two major SSE contributors will be able to set next-level ambitions thanks to the support of Mirova Foundation.

Marseille (Southern Region) was chosen as the venue, on 13 March, for Mirova Foundation and France Active to sign their partnership agreement, since both parties are particularly involved in promoting the development of the area's social and solidarity economy.

Over the next three years, the programme of initiatives supported by Mirova Foundation will give France Active significant resources to contribute to SSE associations and enterprises seeking to create employment and advance the ecological transition.

The partnership has three main aims:
  • Providing training and information to help social impact entities gain access to solidarity investment.
  • Establishing calls for project proposals on themes that will foster the development of social and solidarity structures networks supported by SSE associations and enterprises.
  • Helping the deployment of communities of socially-committed enterprises, one of the aims of the appeal made by Claude Alphandéry, a veteran of the French resistance and an emblematic figure of the SSE movement, on the occasion of his 100th birthday last November. The appeal called for a hundred groupings of solidarity entrepreneurs to develop partnerships over the next two years and engender a proliferation of initiatives aimed at meeting the social and ecological needs of their local areas. The first community of socially-committed enterprises was launched today in Marseille at the signing of the partnership between France Active and Mirova Foundation.
“With Mirova Foundation, the word ‘partner’ has real meaning. We share the same conviction on the urgent need to take action to tackle the social and climate challenges we face. With this new partnership, we are giving new impetus to our work together. This is a strong signal for the participants in the social and solidarity economy. Giving the most committed associations and enterprises access to financing that will enable their transformation and supporting their investment endeavours are two key priorities for us.” Pierre-René Lemas, Chairman of France Active

“Mirova is a major player in solidarity finance in France, and through this new commitment via the endowment fund, we are not only strengthening our links with France Active, a long-term partner of Mirova, we are also furthering our mission, through philanthropy, to allocate funding to projects that have a significant social and/or environmental impact. We are convinced that the social and solidarity economy can play a key role in transforming our economy in an equitable and sustainable manner. We must help this process by providing close support to projects in every region of France”, Philippe Zaouati, Mirova's CEO and Mirova Foundation's President

MIROVA FOUNDATION
Echoing Mirova’s raison d’être as a company with “entreprise à mission” status and a socially-committed investor, the projects supported by its endowment fund Mirova Foundation are aimed at tackling issues that are often interconnected in three areas of action: restoring ecosystems and preserving biodiversity, adapting to and combating climate change, and social inclusion and well-being. Mirova Foundation supports “general interest entities” at pivotal moments in their development, in the start-up or scale-up phase. Though raising awareness, by informing as well as advocacy, Mirova Foundation also acts as a sounding board for project leaders, the causes they promote and the solutions they propose. The objective is a common one: accelerating the move towards the ecological and social transitions.

FRANCE ACTIVE, the movement for socially-committed entrepreneurs
France Active enables each entrepreneur to invest in a project that has a positive impact on society. Socially-committed entrepreneurs create businesses, make a commitment to their local areas, give their projects real meaning and transform society. To help them succeed, France Active and its 35 local associations advise them on their funding plan and give them access to a unique network of economic and social entities.
France Active has three financing companies and has supported more than 35,000 entrepreneurs. In 2022, the movement deployed €492 million in funding. France Active strives every day to develop a more inclusive and a more sustainable economy. Last year, the companies supported by France Active created or maintained over 60,000 jobs.
Mirova
Mirova is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.
Portfolio management company - French Public Limited liability company
Regulated by AMF under n°GP 02-014
RCS Paris n°394 648 216
59, Avenue Pierre Mendes France – 75013 – Paris.
www.mirova.com

Natixis Investment Managers
Natixis Investment Managers is a subsidiary of Natixis.
Portfolio management company - French Public Limited liability company
RCS Paris n°453 952 681
43, Avenue Pierre Mendes France – 75013 – Paris.
www.im.natixis.com

This communication is for information only and is intended for investment service providers or other Professional Clients. The analyses and opinions referenced herein represent the subjective views of the author as referenced unless stated otherwise and are subject to change. There can be no assurance that developments will transpire as may be forecasted in this material.

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