Financing the Future: Innovative Instruments for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers to innovation—especially for early-stage ventures tackling complex social and environmental challenges. Traditional finance often doesn’t match the needs of impact-driven entrepreneurs. It’s time to rethink the toolbox.

This session explores cutting-edge financial instruments that are unlocking capital for innovation—from revenue-based financing and convertible impact notes to blended finance, public guarantees, and outcome-based funding.

We’ll dig into what’s working, what’s emerging, and how investors and ecosystem builders can structure capital in ways that are flexible, catalytic, and aligned with long-term impact.

What we’ll cover:

• Beyond Equity and Debt – Alternative models that match entrepreneurial realities and risk profiles.

• Blended & Layered Capital – How to combine public, philanthropic, and private funding to unlock new investment pathways.

• Outcome-Based Finance – Paying for results, not just activity—what’s the potential for scaling impact through pay-for-success models.

• New Instruments in Practice – Case studies of funds and ventures leveraging innovative structures to grow sustainably.