We are a business promotion and investment fund created to generate positive social and environmental impacts. Our purpose is to promote a fairer and more inclusive economy through social and environmental impact businesses.

For 14 years, we have helped to build a new economic reality by investing in business development, knowledge generation and financial arrangements aimed at the conservation and recovery of biomes, with special attention to the Amazon.

Mulher sorrindo com balde na cabeça com cachos de banana dentro dele.
Homem colhendo frutos no meio de uma plantação.

We collaboratively strengthen communities, traditional peoples, farmers and entrepreneurs, to help them make a sustainable living. We are driven by the belief that Brazil can be recognized as a major bioeconomy power.

In 2020, we revised our strategic plan for the next 10 years and launched the Fundo Vale 2030 Theory of Change , a set of principles, strategies, results, impacts and commitments to guide our actions and investments over the next decade. We work together with Vale, our funder, to come up with innovative solutions to preserve and restore Brazilian forests and degraded areas.

“More than mobilizing financial resources, Fundo Vale’s biggest capital is doing things together with people, i.e., relationships. Close links to organizations and businesses in the field, listening processes, discussion and learning have always underpinned our investment decisions. Our greatest legacy is these ties we have formed with local organizations. That is what supports our positive performance and keeps us moving ahead.”

 

Patrícia Daros, Director of Operations, Fundo Vale

Our mission

To promote positive social and environmental impact solutions that strengthen a sustainable, fair and inclusive economy.

Fundo Vale and the Amazon

The Amazon was chosen by Fundo Vale as its initial and top-priority region for action, at a historical moment when illegal deforestation was in constant decline. There was an opportunity to boost development by encouraging the bioeconomy, sustainable enterprises and public initiatives aimed at sustainable development. At the same time, the Amazon is home to the biggest operations of Vale, the fund’s sponsor, so there was also the advantage of acting in line with the company’s strategy.

 

Between 2009 and 2020, Fundo Vale supported 75 social and environmental initiatives, resulting in 23 million hectares of protected areas. We have been ranked twice among the top 10 Amazon conservation funders by the U.S.-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

 

Our work has led to the construction of a network of partners that impedes illegal deforestation and promotes the sustainable development of biomes, whether in the development of sustainable cattle ranching and crop farming or in business models that seek to keep forests intact. This work has also made it possible to scale up sustainable production projects, resulting in social and environmental impact businesses that support forest conservation and restoration.

Fundo Vale will work in regions in which there are opportunities to pursue its mission, with a special focus on the Amazon region.

 

Our beliefs

 It is necessary to believe in the new

We know that the future of the Amazon and Brazilian biomes is underpinned by our decisions now. We seek to invest in businesses that propose new ideas and models to generate social and environmental impacts in their regions of activity. We are strengthening the business environment with a view to long-term results.

Sustainability is the only possible way forward

We believe that the survival of businesses depends on their commitment to sustainability and awareness of their impacts. We also believe that this is a necessary step for the construction of a new, fairer and more inclusive economy.

Transformation will be collective

Side by side, we are planning an increasingly better path. Our work depends on collaboration and mobilization with many partners. We believe that by sharing our knowledge, together with the repertoire of many other stakeholders in this ecosystem, we will multiply the chance of identifying and enabling genuine impact businesses.

More than businesses, we impact lives

Our actions create better social, environmental and economic conditions for families that make a sustainable living from our natural resources, as well as for entrepreneurs who are betting on these business models. We want to help these initiatives become more mature while improving people’s circumstances.

Strategic synergy with Vale

 

Fundo Vale’s alignment with Vale seeks to arouse the interest of company employees and draw attention to social or environmental challenges that lie beyond the scope of business. This position shows that its alignment is related to themes and demands that are materially important to the company, while standing out by working with groups of specific beneficiaries or in areas that are beyond Vale’s immediate interests.

 

Our principles

We are here to generate positive social and environmental impacts.

Our impacts are aligned with Vale’s 2030 sustainability goals.

Our capital is patient, catalytic and flexible.

Our approach is systemic, understanding, coordinating and working with different stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Our transparency, governance and efficiency are leveraged by a system for measuring and managing impacts.

Who we work with

Over the past 10 years, Fundo Vale has worked with important social and environmental organizations and impact businesses. These institutional partners, co-funders or executors of initiatives help us implement our initiatives and pursue our mission.

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Global network of organizations that promotes entrepreneurship in emerging markets

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Multi-sector innovation platform designed to accelerate a regenerative, low-carbon economy.

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Nonprofit organization that works to activate the rural and forest community business ecosystem to increase the income of small producers and strengthen the conservation of natural ecosystems

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Organization that strengthens enterprises and structures solutions to finance businesses that generate positive social and environmental impacts. It works in the following areas: strengthening of entrepreneurs, equity investment, credit investment, and support for social organizations.)

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Research, development and specialized technological services organization that provides innovative solutions for the private sector, governments and third sector

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Organization that seeks to be an international leader in innovative, effective and replicable solutions to consolidate a new low-carbon economy based on the appreciation and sustainable use of natural resources

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Organization that delivers innovative solutions, built together with its partners, combining production with environmental conservation and benefits for people, the environment and the economy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions

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Research institute whose mission is to promote sustainable development in the Amazon through studies, support for public policymaking, the widespread dissemination of information and vocational training

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Latin American network of philanthropists and social investors that connects and mobilizes capital, sharing knowledge of more innovative and effective models for managing, measuring and funding impacts, facilitating connections for greater collaboration and co-investment.)

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Entity that supports public and private organizations to expand and enhance the social and environmental impacts of their actions

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Collective action platform led by the private sector, which seeks to promote sustainable development solutions for the Amazon, generating opportunities for the region’s 25 million inhabitants

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International company that works with governments, companies and investors to tackle the world’s most urgent challenges.

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A showcase platform that connects businesses with those who are investing in and promoting Brazil’s impact ecosystem

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Organization that works on strategy and innovation, focusing on the development of organizations, systems and leaders needed to tackle key collective challenges

Logo

Pioneering organization in the development of financial solutions for social impacts and analysis of companies’ and financial institutions’ social and environmental performance

Logo

Global network of organizations that promotes entrepreneurship in emerging markets

Logo

Multi-sector innovation platform designed to accelerate a regenerative, low-carbon economy.

Logo

Nonprofit organization that works to activate the rural and forest community business ecosystem to increase the income of small producers and strengthen the conservation of natural ecosystems

Logo

Organization that strengthens enterprises and structures solutions to finance businesses that generate positive social and environmental impacts. It works in the following areas: strengthening of entrepreneurs, equity investment, credit investment, and support for social organizations.)

Logo

Research, development and specialized technological services organization that provides innovative solutions for the private sector, governments and third sector

Logo

Organization that seeks to be an international leader in innovative, effective and replicable solutions to consolidate a new low-carbon economy based on the appreciation and sustainable use of natural resources

Logo

Organization that delivers innovative solutions, built together with its partners, combining production with environmental conservation and benefits for people, the environment and the economy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Logo

Research institute whose mission is to promote sustainable development in the Amazon through studies, support for public policymaking, the widespread dissemination of information and vocational training

Logo

Latin American network of philanthropists and social investors that connects and mobilizes capital, sharing knowledge of more innovative and effective models for managing, measuring and funding impacts, facilitating connections for greater collaboration and co-investment.)

Logo

Entity that supports public and private organizations to expand and enhance the social and environmental impacts of their actions

Logo

Collective action platform led by the private sector, which seeks to promote sustainable development solutions for the Amazon, generating opportunities for the region’s 25 million inhabitants

Logo

International company that works with governments, companies and investors to tackle the world’s most urgent challenges.

Logo

A showcase platform that connects businesses with those who are investing in and promoting Brazil’s impact ecosystem

Logo

Organization that works on strategy and innovation, focusing on the development of organizations, systems and leaders needed to tackle key collective challenges

Logo

Pioneering organization in the development of financial solutions for social impacts and analysis of companies’ and financial institutions’ social and environmental performance