Act for Impact stakeholders at the launch in Luxembourg;
Credit: BGL BNP Paribas
On Monday 6 May 2019, BGL BNP Paribas, a stakeholder in social entrepreneurship and social innovation in Luxembourg for nearly ten years, officially launched "Act for Impact", an initiative dedicated to social entrepreneurs.
"Act for Impact" is aimed at providing solutions adapted to social entrepreneurs and promoting positive social and environmental impact. The initiative is part of the BNP Paribas Group's international strategy to support social enterprises and has already been implemented in France since 2018.
At the launch of this new offer, Luxembourg and international stakeholders from the social entrepreneurship and social innovation sector met to discuss the solutions to be implemented to strengthen the ecosystem in Luxembourg. As stressed by Frédéric Bardeau, chairman and co-founder of Simplon.co, social enterprises have specific needs in that they seek to achieve economic viability and a social and/or environmental impact. Simplon.co supports early school leavers and trains them in computer code. The company now employs more than 250 people and in 2017, Frédéric Bardeau was elected social entrepreneur of the year in France.
For her part, Nadine Muller, Managing Director of 6zero1 SA SIS, similarly conducts an entirely customised support programme for anyone who wants to start up or develop a company with a social or societal dimension in Luxembourg. The aim of 6zero1 SA SIS is to become the preferred intermediary to bring social-economy business and committed financial partners together.
To meet the specific needs and support the development of these businesses, "Act for Impact" is working on several fronts, with BGL BNP Paribas having trained experts to familiarise them with the day-to-day issues of social entrepreneurs and implemented a customised financial and non-financial offer. The initiative enables social enterprises to benefit from concrete support at each stage of their development, whether in seeking financing or supporting their project. Through the initiative, BGL BNP Paribas intends to support this movement and bring together the community of social entrepreneurs and partners under the same banner.
Geoffroy Bazin, Country Manager of the BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg and Chairman of the Executive Committee of BGL BNP Paribas, stressed that "the social and solidarity economy sector is growing and requires, in Luxembourg, the cooperation of all stakeholders in the ecosystem. Our aim with ‘Act for Impact’ is to accelerate the social entrepreneurship and social innovation movement."
