Impact Hub Ticino is pleased to announce that alberoteca, thanks to the generous donations of a number of Impact Club members, has received an impact loan. This initiative is part of Impact Hub Ticino's mission to promote and support projects in the area using alternative financial instruments.
Alberoteca, founded by Muriel Hendrichs in Capriasca, is dedicated to restoring local biodiversity and traditional ecological knowledge, designing biodiverse places, and engaging young and old generations in activities that connect them to nature. In 2022-2023, it participated, along with 7 other projects, in the first edition of the "Impact Club" incubation track, promoted by Impact Hub Ticino and supported by a group of investors and people active in philanthropy.
Carlotta Zarattini, co-director of Impact Hub Ticino, enthusiastically recounts, "In 2022, we invited a number of people aligned with our values to join our Club with the goal of supporting worthy projects in the Ticino region. The support is done through the selection and incubation of projects (for-profit and nonprofit) with the aim of facilitating investments and donations. Alberoteca is a project with a strong potential for impact, and with this loan we want to help the team develop a business model that can maximize the chances of success and thus positive impact."
The impact loan, also known as a "forgivable loan," is an innovative form of financing in which part or all of the amount can be turned into a donation if certain conditions are met.
Tommaso Tabet, co-director of Impact Hub Ticino, continues, "alberoteca has the potential to become a virtuous entrepreneurial example, and it is important to support them with appropriate tools that aim to generate positive social and environmental impact, and which is an incentive alternative to traditional philanthropic donations." Impact Hub Ticino will also continue to accompany the team by monitoring their impact.
The importance of having access to patient and innovative capital is also underscored by Muriel Hendrichs, founder of alberoteca: "Projects like ours often face difficulties in obtaining funding because we fall neither into the category of startups with promise of exponential growth nor nonprofit organizations. Impact Hub Ticino understood our needs and proposed a 0-rate loan that rewards the achievement of impact goals."
The impact loan will be repaid over the next three years, and a portion will be converted to a donation if alberoteca reaches its set impact goals. Hendrichs continues, "We feel a great responsibility not only to Impact Hub Ticino, but also to future projects that will benefit from this loan after us, and also because of our work."
Indeed, Impact Hub Ticino's goal is to create a revolving fund to continue supporting projects in the area.
Impact Hub Ticino will announce in the coming days the projects that have been selected to participate in the second edition of the incubator.