Inspired by the sound of the bee — a symbol of cooperation, wisdom, and essential balance in nature — Zunne is dedicated to fostering opportunities for social entrepreneurs in Brazil’s North and Northeast regions. As an investment platform, Zunne focuses on businesses driving positive impact, prioritising enterprises led by women, Black, and Indigenous leaders.
Be The Earth is delighted to have supported this transformative programme. We recently spoke with Zunne to learn about the more regenerative, beautiful world they are helping to create.
What inspired the creation of Zunne?
Social inequality affects a big part of the Brazilian population, but the north and northeast are the regions that present the worst indexes of human development. Beyond that, the businesses in these regions that commit to solve social-environmental issues, specially those led by women, black and indigenous people, often don't have access to investments because most resources are focused on the southeast region.
Zunne is a response to this problem, an investment programme for businesses that aim to develop solutions to socio-environmental issues, serving as a financial solution to support the building of a fairer and more equal new economy. The focus of the programme is on the north and northeast regions, prioritising those that impact the Amazon and the Caatinga (typical Brazilian biomes).
How does the combination of philanthropic & investment capital create a more effective and inclusive funding structure?
Blended Finance is a financial instrument that has stood out as an innovative tool to drive investments in businesses that develop socio-environmental solutions and aim to reduce social inequalities. This modality has been gaining strength in the market as it blends philanthropy with resources from investors, who earn interest on their loans.
Together, these resources are used to lend money to socio-environmental impact projects, high-risk research and development projects, or to people and groups with little or no access to credit and the financial system — something that would rarely attract commercial banks.
As payments are received, investors can redirect the funds to other impact projects, scaling the transformative potential of capital.
What was the most important learning from the first edition of Zunne, and how has this informed Zunne 2.0?
We have learned that it is even more challenging for women social entrepreneurs to develop their businesses and access the knowledge and capital needed to take their businesses to the traction stage.
As Ticiana Rolim Queiroz, founder and president of Somos Um points out: “We don't want to leave anyone behind; that's why we created Trilha Flora, an investment line with a more sensitive approach to businesses with lower revenues but great growth potential. In this line, we will give exclusivity to Black and Indigenous women; it is an affirmative call for us to contribute to racial equality."
Can you share a success story from one of the businesses supported that felt truly transformative?
Muda Meu Mundo is a startup that offers small producers a complete ecosystem of solutions that ensures the flow of their production, providing all the necessary support based on the pillars of simplicity, ease, agility, and efficiency.
Through a platform, they enable farmers to market their products with greater agility and efficiency, offering services such as logistics support requests, receivables anticipation, seed and input purchases, and access to credit lines.
The startup was one of the businesses selected in the first edition of Zunne. The investment they received from the programme was applied to their growth strategy, injecting over R$700,000 into family farming and expanding their supplier base with an additional 100 farmers.
What’s your greatest source of inspiration and hope for ‘the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible’?
We believe that the new generation of Brazilian entrepreneurs also wants to create a positive social impact in the world. Although the search for this combination has been growing in recent years, these entrepreneurs still face many uncertainties when it comes to taking their ideas from paper to reality.
We believe in cooperation to solve problems, create more favourable conditions, and build a stronger ecosystem, and Zunne is proof that it is possible.
The programme is the result of a partnership between Somos Um, Trê - Investindo com Causa, and Yunus Social Business. We combined our expertise to build an instrument that supports businesses not only financially but also with access to knowledge and connections. Various actors have been fighting to ensure that the market provides the necessary conditions for social entrepreneurship to emerge and thrive within a regulated environment with support to grow on a large scale.
It is from this collective strength that we draw our inspiration to continue to build the more beautiful world.
