Adam Goodes' Black Excellence Fund headlines Impact Investment Summit, raises awareness on investing into Indigenous businesses

SYDNEY, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Football great and CEO and Founder of Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium (iDiC), Adam Goodes' Black Excellence Fund headlines this years' Impact Investment Summit as part of its goal of accelerating the mainstreaming of impact investment at scale.

Kyah Bell, Founder and Partner of the Black Excellence Fund, will be joined on stage by over 80 speakers from over 15 countries and every state and territory in Australia throughout the two-day event. This includes Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Impact investment pioneers including Snow Foundation and Paul Ramsay Foundation, Chief Executive at Tasmanian seaweed climate company Sea Forest, Sam Elsom, the Head of Decarbonisation at KPMG, Doctor Cle-Anne Gabriele, and many more.

The Black Excellence Fund will use the Summit to raise awareness about investing into Indigenous businesses, as it seeks to improve access to capital for First Nations startups.

This is critical because financial disadvantage and a lack of generational wealth are just some of the barriers many businesses face when securing funding, which this year's Summit aims to address with its focus on inclusion, climate, and community.

The Summit has been running since 2015, successfully fostering connections and knowledge-sharing as it connects committed investors with impact investment opportunities across APAC, driving investment towards positive social and environmental change.

A primary goal for the event in 2024 is to help grow the impact investment community in APAC, drive more deal flow, and shift capital for positive impact. From powering prosperity with the women shaping Southeast Asia's investment landscape to Australian innovations in blended finance for a net zero tomorrow, the Summit bridges the gap for investors and social enterprises through interactive sessions and pitches.

The return of ImpactConnect, a series of live on-stage pitches, facilitates these connections further, acting as a fast-paced platform for investors and ventures to find each other and enable investment into impact funds and organisations currently raising.

It will be attended by more than 350 investors, thought leaders, and professionals in the impact investing realm from the Asia-Pacific region. Key topics to be explored during this year's Summit include tackling social disparities in housing, education, and access to resources, along with solutions for a sustainable future in areas like agriculture, waste management, and climate change.

The dynamic gathering of changemakers dedicated to tackling pressing social and environmental challenges will collaborate to shift capital as a force for good, according to Rob Irving, founder of the event.

Alex Feher, Founder of Impact Investment Summit said: "This year, let's ignite a paradigm shift. With wisdom as our compass, courage to break barriers, and action that drives impact, we can redirect capital to become a powerful force for good."

Adam Goodes, Co-Founder of Black Excellence Fund, said: "We're fighting for equity, not just for equality. This means recognising that each person's different circumstances requires allocating different resources and opportunities if we want to reach an equal outcome.

"Our vision within our theory of change is to promote socioeconomic empowerment, build economic growth, and foster self-determination for Indigenous entrepreneurs and the communities they serve, through the investment activities we make in Indigenous start-up ventures."

The Impact Investment Summit will be held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney between Wednesday 20th until Thursday 21st March with tickets available here. Socially responsible investors of the impact ecosystem across APAC and companies currently raising are urged to attend the two-day event.

Impact Investment Summit (www.impactinvestmentsummit.com) is the premier forum for the Asia-Pacific's impact investing community. Since its founding in 2015, it has become renowned for fostering connections and knowledge-sharing between investors and social enterprises. This annual event brings together leading figures from across sectors, including government, finance, academia, and social good organisations. Their shared goal is to accelerate the growth of investing and unlock its potential to drive impact and redirect capital to become a powerful force for good.

Third Hemisphere (www.thirdhemisphere.agency) is a Sydney-based PR & Marketing Agency handling PR for Impact Asia Pacific.