Gender finance · Impact credit
EllaImpacta
An Investment facility built to reduce gender inequality by widening women's access to capital correcting the distorted pricing of credit to women-led businesses through blended finance.
The thesis
Brazil's credit market systematically mis-prices the risk of women-led businesses. Women entrepreneurs pay rates up to 9 percentage points higher than men with no objective justification: default rates are virtually equivalent, (SEBRAE, 2025). Women-led businesses account for ~40% of small-business credit operations but receive only 29.4% of the volume. EllaImpacta does not invest in women despite the return, it invests because correcting this inefficiency generates return and impact at once.
The fund
The EllaImpacta Fund is the architecture's first vehicle: a receivables fund (FIDC) with an estimated initial raise of R$150 million, dedicated exclusively to financing women-led SMEs on competitive terms. Protection is layered — proprietary credit analysis, subordination and complementary guarantees — giving the senior investor a high-grade risk profile in a segment wrongly perceived as risky. The strategy unfolds in two phases: validation in Brazil and a global phase projected to mobilise USD 350 million in commercial and catalytic capital.
Partners
EllaImpacta fund is operated in partnership with Fama Re.Capital and Estímulo. It holds international institutional positioning with UNCDF and UN-HABITAT, and has been a governance member of the Women-Led Cities programme since 2023.
Board
The board brings together leaders in finance, management, sustainability and social entrepreneurship: Liane Freire (CEO, Blend), Nathália Arcuri (Me Poupe!), Rodrigo Pipponzi (MOL Group), Aline Ferreira (Aço Cearense), Juliana Freitas (FortBrasil), Thais Borges (Systax) and Ticiana Rolim (Somos Um).
Let's build what comes next.
Tell us about your project. We start light, with a focused diagnosis, and align our incentives with closing the operation.