By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
On Earth Day 2025, the EcoEnterprises Fund, an investment fund for nature, announced the “rolling first close” of the EcoEnterprise Partners IV fund. Fundraising for its fourth fund was led by a cohort of institutional and private investors looking to make a meaningful impact. The early investor lineup includes FinDev Canada, FMO – Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, IDB Invest, Visa Foundation and Wire Group.
EcoEnterprises is a Washington, D.C.-based women-owned investment manager with a track record of 25 years investing in small and growing impact businesses across Latin America and the Caribbean, specializing in biodiversity regeneration and conservation. Fund IV’s strategy seeks to deliver high-impact outcomes in areas such as climate action, gender and stakeholder equity, and sustainable livelihoods.
EcoEnterprises is targeting a final close of $150 million and is poised to channel capital into nearly two-dozen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Latin America. This fund is specifically designed to back ventures that champion biodiversity and natural ecosystem conservation, alongside vital climate solutions.
Image by EcoEnterprises Partners on LinkedIn
FinDev Canada stated, “FinDev Canada is proud to support EcoEnterprises Partners IV…and its mission to scale nature-based solutions and inclusive, community-driven businesses across Latin America and the Caribbean. We’re looking forward to seeing the fund drive lasting impact for communities, climate, and biodiversity in the region.”
FinDev Canada’s commitment, bolstered by a $7.5 million contribution from 2X Canada (a blended finance facility spearheaded by FinDev Canada and supported by the Canadian government’s Global Affairs Canada), is set to accelerate the growth of businesses dedicated to fostering a low-carbon economy. The fund’s geographic focus will be regions particularly susceptible to climate change impacts, including Meso-America, the Northern Andes and the Amazon Basin.
Half of the fund’s investments are earmarked for biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This includes areas like sustainable forestry, ecotourism, ocean-based enterprises, cutting-edge agriculture technology and renewable energy. An ambitious goal is to achieve a carbon-neutral portfolio by 2030. To realize this, the fund will adopt a comprehensive strategy for measuring, reporting and reducing investee emissions.
Beyond environmental objectives, the fund is also deeply committed to fostering gender equality within its portfolio companies and its own operations. Every investment will be directed towards businesses that enhance women’s economic participation, and the fund will actively support women’s recruitment, retention and career advancement internally.
Latin America, a region globally renowned for its ecological richness, hosts a staggering 40% of the planet’s biodiversity and a third of its freshwater resources. Despite this, its agriculture, forestry and other land-use sectors are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is not just beneficial, but critical for curbing emissions, capturing carbon and safeguarding the region’s precious natural ecosystems against the intensifying effects of climate change.
FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank CEO and Managing Partner Tammy Newmark said, “We are especially committed to fostering gender-smart initiatives and addressing the urgent need for natural climate solutions at scale,” continued Newmark, “and we are honored to count with a strong group of stakeholders, that support our spearheading efforts as anchor investors in our fourth fund.”
IDB said its investment includes $5 million from IDB Invest and $5 million from the Finland-LAC Blended Finance Climate Fund.
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