Ten years ago, maze was created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to pursue new ways of investing in solutions that address social and environmental challenges.

The days are long, but the years are short, it is said about parenting. Nurturing an organisation is not much different - as we look back, we learn that legacy is not about the point of destination but rather the path taken.

We went from creating knowledge on impact investment to becoming fund managers. From working in Portugal to building a pan-European platform of founders, investors, and partners. From impact bonds to growth programmes, advisory, and venture capital. From ideas to influencing public policy. From a group of people starting on impact investing to seasoned experts in the field.

Over the past decade, we gathered important insights. One of them is that impact integrity at scale requires a combination of tools. We have repositioned our mission accordingly and we did the same with our products to converge with a toolbox narrative.

Our mission is to prove that impact is the biggest economic opportunity of our times.

Impact solutions have various business models which influence how they are funded – for some, equity via venture capital is the best instrument, for some it is funding that is linked to the outcomes that generate savings to public sector, for others, it is via capacity-building and tailored support to promote growth.

Venture capital, impact bonds, growth programmes, and impact advisory. This is the combination of products that we have created in the past years and today make available to founders, investors, and partners across Europe. In our 10-year impact report, you can read about concrete examples of how we adopt these products to achieve impact at scale.

Through our toolbox, we helped mobilise 400+ million euros, supported 500+ impact founders, 200+ impact startups, across 30+ countries.

We will be doubling down on these products and adopt new ones that can better encompass the wide spectrum of needs of impact founders and organisations.

Our expertise lies at the intersection of impact and asset management: we understand the root causes of social and environmental challenges to identify how new business models can address them at scale. This informs our investment allocation decisions that help our founders and investors achieve their impact and financial goals.

In the next decade, we will continue working to fulfil our mission and eliminate the distance that structurally persists between achieving positive impact and financial returns. This is a mission we live by and work for, together with you.

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