Our vision

Icon of user group people hybrid

People

Demographics are changing the shape of the global economy.

Icon of earth globe global

Planet

A stable and prosperous society requires environmental sustainability.

Icon of access to health

Unlocking economic growth through education and health

Demographic patterns show an increasing population in areas such as Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, especially among the working-age group. We see enormous potential for economic growth if investments are made in:

  • Early childhood care, educational technology for kindergarten through to 12th grade (K-12 EdTech) and student financing.
  • Accessible primary healthcare, digital health solutions and affordable care systems

Our belief: A healthy educated population is the foundation of productivity and prosperity.

Icon of globe global earth protect

Investing in nature and sustainability

Our future economy depends on nature. More than half of global output is linked to natural ecosystems. Climate change and resource degradation threaten this foundation. We are focused on investments that support:

  • Nature-based climate solutions
  • Carbon credits, regenerative agriculture and sustainable Forestry Tech-driven tools (technology tools that help manage forests responsibly) for sustainable natural resource management

Our belief:A thriving planet is the backbone of long-term economic stability.

Male medical professional engaging with a mother and child in an outdoor community setting

More capital for impact

Investing philanthropic capital andusing blended finance approaches to attract private investments means:

  • More funding can be mobilized
  • More investments can be made into social business incentivizing sustainable business models that attract private investment in the long-run.
Wall mural of children running with text reading Education is the key to success

Better outcomes

Achieving better results by shifting the focus from actions to outcomes

  • Measuring results & verifying impact
  • Flexibility & innovation in execution to deliver impact
  • Continuous improvement

Raising more capital for impact

To achieve greater impact, we mobilize more capital by complementing ourdirect investmentswith exploratory approaches toinnovative financing, such as blended finance. By considering tools like return-enhancing structures and risk-sharing mechanisms, we aim to make sustainable development more investible, drawing in private capital that might not otherwise engage.

This approach helps us identify a robust pipeline of investable opportunities, supporting high-impact initiatives that can scale sustainably. By blending philanthropic, public, and commercial capital where possible, weextend our reach and accelerate progress toward lasting solutions.

Smiling man sieving coffee beans.

Our partner stories

Accelerate the future

Accelerate the Future (ATF) is our direct investment portfolio designed to drive capital into early to mid-stage impact enterprises that focus on improving educational attainment, healthcare access, and supporting inclusive low-carbon growth. Since mid-2023, the initiative has invested over USD 15 million into twelve impact enterprises, including two funds managed by emerging impact-first fund managers.

Goals and objectives

The strategy aims to invest early when capital is most catalytic and additional, with 76% of investments in Seed to Series A and 24% in Series B1. As of end 2024, the portfolio companies have shown strong growth, andsecured follow-on investments totaling USD 60 million since the initial investment. The initiative focuses on tech-enabled health and education companies that tap into the impact and financial opportunities created by the growing and prime-aged populations in Africa and Asia.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation's role

Accelerate the Future is designed to drive investment into 15–20 early to mid-stage impact enterprises that achieve improved educational attainment, healthcare access, and support inclusive low-carbon growth. The ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation actively engages in corporate governance, holding board seats, board observer seats, impact advisory council seats, and advisory committee roles.

Impact and achievements

In 2024, the initiative touched the lives of 10.9 million people, including 2.2 million children, through education and healthcare products and services and nature-based solutions. The focus for the next 12-18 months will be on engaging in new education and environment investment opportunities globally, with a particular interest in debt investments.

Woman in colourful traditional dress standing on a train platform as a train speeds past

Terratai

Terratai was launched in 2023 and is funded by ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation, RS Group, and Swiss Re Foundation. Terratai provides early-stage finance and company-building support to co-create businesses that halt and reverse ecosystem and biodiversity loss in Asia’s most at-risk land and seascapes.

Goals and objectives

Terratai aims to unlock and attract institutional investors to build a pipeline of scalablenature-purpose businesses. The first three investments include Javaras, Forestwise, and Padawa Agri Indonesia.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation’s role

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation is one of the key funders of Terratai, providing financial support and resources to help co-create businesses that address ecosystem and biodiversity loss.

Impact and achievements

  • Javara:Works across the supply chain. Through partnerships with farmers, foragers, fishers, and food artisans, it offers a range of natural, organic, and artisanal food products from various regions of the Indonesian archipelago, delivering Indonesia’s forgotten food biodiversity heritage to national and international markets.
  • Forestwise: Provides wild-harvested rainforest ingredients for cosmetic and food applications, including Illipe nut, kukui nut, and palm sugars.
  • Pandawa Agri Indonesia: An agri-life science company that offers scalable solutions for farmers to reduce excessive chemical synthetics in agriculture. Its innovative formulations, including Pesticide Reductant and PPAI technology, have been used on farms from Indonesia to Malaysia, promoting sustainable farming and uplifting farmers’ welfare.

Person working in a lush green rice field with a traditional hat, near water and palm trees

Achieving better outcomes

We are committed to paying for outcomesrather than activities and inputs. Instead of paying for textbooks and pens, we want to pay for verified learning. This is whyoutcomes-based funding (OBF) has the power to address the world's most complex social and environmental challenges.

Our approach is ambitious and results-driven, ensuring thatfunds are only allocated when programs have proven their effectiveness. By shifting the focus from activities to outcomes, we offer service providers with the incentives, transparency and flexibility needed to achieve tangible results. And a way to continuously improve.

Our partner stories

Outcomes Accelerator

The Outcomes Accelerator, founded by the ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), seeks to make outcomes-based financing approaches more efficient and mainstreamed, moving the market ecosystem toward maturity. This public-private initiative brings together governments, development agencies, investors, service providers, intermediaries, and corporates to accelerate the adoption of outcomes-based financing approaches to address the SDGs.

Goals and objectives

The policy-level objective of the Outcomes Accelerator is to facilitate greater resource efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the SDGs for international development funding agencies and domestic governments that utilize pay-for-success strategies. To do this, it supports early-stage program development with seed funding, expert guidance, and matchmaking through its pipeline acceleration work. It also helps with market facilitation and capacity creation efforts.

The industry-level objective is to advance a thriving global market of viable stakeholders, including government and institutional outcomes payers, service providers, evaluators, and private investors, with the aim of delivering better and more cost-effective services targeting the SDGs.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation’s role

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation is one of the key funders of the Outcomes Accelerator, providing financial support and resources to help make outcomes-based financing approaches more efficient and mainstreamed.

Impact and achievements

  • The Outcomes Accelerator has supported 12 initiatives with USD 1.5 million by the end of 2023.
  • Over 40 public and private organizations working in outcomes-based finance have supported the design of the Outcomes Accelerator.

Happy young girl at school

SDG Outcomes Fund

The SDG Outcomes Fund is a pioneering initiative designed to direct socially motivated investment and more effective donor funding towards projects that support the most vulnerable people in developing countries. This fund focuses on thematic areas such as education, health, employment, and environment, and is managed by the world's leading specialists and innovators in outcomes-based projects.

Goals and objectives

The fund aims to achieve better outcomes through flexible delivery and clearer accountability by working alongside governments and donors to design and fund outcomes-based programmes. It provides investor returns based on verified social and environmental impact, using 20% philanthropic first loss funding to unlock additional socially motivated private capital through an innovative blended finance structure.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation's role

The ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation has committed USD 20 million to the SDG Outcomes Fund, providing first loss protection to Mezzanine and Senior share classes. This commitment is part of the foundation's broader strategy to leverage blended finance and attract private investments to address the SDG funding gap.

Impact and achievements

With anchor commitments from British International Investment (BII) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the fund had raised USD 66 million as of September 2023. The SDG Outcomes Fund is expected to mobilize additional capital and strengthen underlying portfolio companies, accelerating measurable progress in developing countries towards the SDGs.

Learn more

Dense urban neighbourhood with buildings and busy street life in India

Utkrisht Development Impact Bond

The Utkrisht Development Impact Bond (DIB),was an innovative social finance tool aimed at reducing maternal and newborn mortality in Rajasthan, India. It brought together several partners to improve the quality of care in small healthcare organizations.

Goals and objectives:The primary goal of the Utkrisht DIB was to enhance maternal and newborn health outcomes by improving the quality of care in private healthcare facilities. This involved ensuring that these facilities met the standards set by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI).

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation's role:The ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation acted as the upfront funder, providing the initial working capital to non-profit organizations such as Population Services International (PSI) and HLFPPT. They worked with health clinics to improve the clinic’s infrastructure and processes to established national standards.

Impact and achievements:The Utkrisht DIB has significantly improved maternal and newborn health in Rajasthan. It worked with over 440 small private healthcare organizations, resulting in better services for 451,166 total beneficiaries. The success of the DIB is measured by the readiness of these healthcare facilities to achieve certification from NABH and FOGSI.

Final results and lessons learned(PDF, 805 KB)

Final Report 2023(PDF, 727 KB)

Smiling woman in traditional dress holding a young baby outdoors

Quality Education India Development Impact Bond

The Quality Education India Development Impact Bond (QEI DIB) launched in 2018, is a pioneering social finance tool designed to improve educational outcomes in India.

Goals and objectives:

The primary goal of the QEI DIB is to enhance the quality of education by funding various programs across India. These programs include community-based classrooms, supplementary programs, education technology, and principal and teacher training. Each service provider involved has a proven track record for improving the quality of learning in India.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation's role

The QEI DIB was developed by ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation, British Asian Trust, and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. It aggregates impact capital to scale effective interventions and creates a paradigm shift in education financing. The QEI DIB leverages the successful precedent of the Educate Girls DIB launched by ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation in 2014.

Impact and achievements

The QEI DIB has significantly improved educational outcomes in India. Over four years, it has reached over 200,000 students, working with four education providers with a proven track record. In its final year, twice as many students achieved age-appropriate learning levels compared to non-participating schools. The success of the DIB is measured by the readiness of these educational programs to achieve their targets and improve learning outcomes.

Children sit on the floor of a rural Indian classroom, engaged in learning, as part of the Educate Girls program

Educate Girls Development Impact Bond

The Educate Girls Development Impact Bond (DIB) launched in 2018, is an innovative social finance tool designed to improve educational outcomes in India.

Goals and objectives:The primary goal of the Educate Girls DIB is to enhance the quality of education by funding various programs across India. These programs include community-based classrooms, supplementary programs, education technology, and principal and teacher training. Each service provider involved has a proven track record for improving the quality of learning in India.

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation's role:

The Educate Girls DIB was developed by ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation, British Asian Trust, and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. It aggregates impact capital to scale effective interventions and creates a paradigm shift in education financing.

Impact and achievements:

The Educate Girls DIB has significantly improved educational outcomes in India. In its final year, it achieved a 160% improvement in learning outcomes and a 116% increase in enrollment targets. Additionally, 92% of eligible out-of-school children identified by the program were successfully enrolled in school after three years of implementation.

Learn more

Young Indian girl smiling, Pune

Why invest through us

Partner with us to leverage our innovative financing models and deep expertise in social impact investing, ensuring your capital drives sustainable and measurable change. Here’s how we support you:
Icon of regular income arrows circle

Evergreen impact through recycling

Your funds are catalytic in creating impact and are recycled back into impact on maturity

Icon of social bookmarks share

Connect and share ideas

You receive opportunities to connect through ۶Ƶ client collectives, conferences and networking events

Icon of locator location pin

Direct insights

Receive reports, joincheck-ins with the programs team and insight field-trips throughout the investment life cycle

Icon of payments templates

Access to follow-on investments

Opportunity to invest in social enterprises when they scale-up and seek follow-on funding

Icon of morning news newspaper coffee

Gain, without pain

۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation oversees investments including sustainable exits, performs monitoring and reporting, ensuring impact is delivered

Icon of startup start up rocket

What’s in it for investees?

Our investees receive patient capital and in-kind support from committed partners with a long-term focus on impact and success

Support our partners

Get in touch with us for more information on how to get involved and support our partner programs.

Why partner with us

Unlock your vision with maximum impact and ease through our curated programs, backed by our expertise and multi-stakeholder social impact partnerships

Development impact bonds are not financial products.

The ۶Ƶ Optimus Foundation (۶Ƶ-OF) is a global network of separately organized and regulated, tax-exempt, charitable organizations founded by ۶Ƶ, that make grants to established non-profits and invest in social impact ventures that are aligned with its values and objectives. These materials have been prepared by ۶Ƶ AG and or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof, which are altogether referred to below as "۶Ƶ.” They have not been prepared with regard to any specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any specific recipient, current client, or prospective client. These materials are published solely for informational purposes and are not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments or services of ۶Ƶ, or to participate in any particular trading strategy endorsed or not endorsed by ۶Ƶ. Any recipient of these materials should not consider their contents to be either legal, tax, accounting, regulatory, or other specialist or technical advice or service, or investment advice, or a personal recommendation or endorsement of any kind whatsoever. No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is provided in relation to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained in these materials, nor is any of the information herein intended to be a complete statement or summary of the securities markets or other developments referred to in these materials. The information in these materials should not be regarded by any recipient as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgment and any opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by other business areas or groups of ۶Ƶ, which may make different assumptions or rely on different criteria. ۶Ƶ is under no obligation to update or keep current the information contained in these materials. Neither ۶Ƶ nor any of its directors, officers, employees or agents accept any liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of all or part of these materials or reliance upon the information contained therein. These materials are not for distribution or redistribution, except under such circumstances as may be permitted by ۶Ƶ and or applicable law. ۶Ƶ specifically prohibits the redistribution or reproduction of these materials in whole or in part, without the written permission of ۶Ƶ and ۶Ƶ accepts no liability whatsoever for the actions of third parties in this respect.

© ۶Ƶ 2025. The key symbol and ۶Ƶ are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of ۶Ƶ. All rights reserved.