European Impact Index 2025 – Optimism in the air

At the start of this year, the vibe around impact investing was cautious. So, we ran the biggest pulse-check ever — 660 founders and investors across Europe — to find out where impact is really headed, what’s driving it forward, and what’s still slowing it down. Turns out, the mood has flipped, and optimism is now in the air.

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DIVE INTO THE REPORT HERE

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Key insights at a glance:

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6 in 10 founders and investors are optimistic

Confidence is back. 61% now rate the outlook of impact companies in Europe as favorable, and true pessimism is rare (only 7% of founders and 4% of investors say the future looks “very challenging”). Confidence is shared across both sides of the table: those backing the companies, and those building them.

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75% of investors plan to invest more in impact

The appetite is undeniable: three out of four investors say they’ll increase their allocations to impact over the next five years. Only 6% expect to invest less. The numbers signal a robust pipeline of new capital for impact-driven founders in the years ahead.

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Energy, Industrials, and Healthcare top the list

Investors are flocking to where profitability and impact overlap. Energy & Electrification (53%) tops the charts, with Industrials (41%) and Healthcare (39%) close behind. Clean power, smart manufacturing, and digital health are now seen as Europe’s backbone industries for the future.

But growth is still blocked by borders

But here’s the catch: almost half of founders say regulatory differences between EU countries have held back their ability to scale. For a “single market,” that’s a big problem, and a big opportunity. Harmonisation alone could unlock enormous growth potential.

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DIVE INTO THE REPORT HERE

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