Chapter Austria

Impact & Outcome

Impact (the chapter's contribution in Austria)

The BVII Austria Chapter acts as the central professional and connecting platform for impact-oriented capital in the Austrian context, with explicit reference to CEE. It connects investors, practitioners and intermediaries, translates BVII's substantive work and positions into the Austrian context, and at the same time brings regional perspectives actively into the association through its members' contribution to the relevant working groups. The Austria Chapter holds a particular role through its right to nominate one board member of BVII, thereby actively shaping the D-A-CH orientation of the association.

A defining feature of the chapter is the combination of networking and substantive in-depth work. Alongside open exchange formats, internal learning and working workshops take place on a regular basis.

Focus areas:

• connecting investors, practitioners and intermediaries,
• critical discourse on impact measurement and management, additionality, dual returns and the distinction from ESG and general sustainability topics,
• and substantive contribution to BVII position and discussion papers, in particular on impact due diligence, real estate and capital market questions as well as the specifics of family offices and emerging markets.

Outcome (concrete results / added value)

The aim is not only to understand impact concepts in theory, but to critically test their practical viability, develop them further and anchor them in everyday professional life. This includes reflecting on where impact claims meet their limits in reality.

• Regular chapter meetings as well as internal learning and working workshops with a clear focus on practice and reflection.
• Active contribution of the Austria Chapter to BVII position and discussion papers, including on the definition of impact investing, impact due diligence and impact investing in real estate.
• Bridge function between impact investing, social entrepreneurship (e.g. SENA, Impact Hub), financial institutions and further Austrian impact-oriented networks through cooperation, events and professional contributions.
• Strengthening the role of BVII as a qualified point of contact in the D-A-CH region for impact investors, institutions and decision-makers in Austria.

Target groups

The Austria Chapter of the German Federal Association for Impact Investing (BVII) is aimed at people and organisations who want to seriously understand, reflect on and responsibly apply impact investing, regardless of where they stand on their personal or institutional journey.

The chapter sees itself as a deliberately low-threshold point of contact, open to different levels of maturity and experience. It speaks particularly to actors who:

• value self-reflection, a critical reality check and connection to practice,
• see impact investing not as a label, but as a learning, demanding process,
• and are willing to question existing assumptions, professionally and personally.

Beyond this, the chapter is aimed at people and organisations who want to actively contribute to the transformation of our economic and financial system. This means a transformation that systematically combines social and environmental impact with economic viability.

Impact investing in Austria: connecting practice, reflection, and transformation

The Austria Chapter of the German Federal Association for Impact Investing (BVII) is the platform for organisations and actors who want not only to discuss impact investing in Austria, but to learn, apply, reflect on and further develop it.

Having emerged from open learning and exchange formats, the chapter has, since the beginning of 2024, developed into a substantively working membership structure. Alongside networking and visibility, a particular focus lies on practice-oriented internal learning and working formats. In these, members engage intensively with BVII position papers, international standards and concrete case studies, with the aim of operationalising impact investing in their own professional context and putting it through a robust reality check.

Regionally, the chapter is shaped by its close integration into the Austrian impact ecosystem and by its active role as an interface between practice, the association and the CEE-European professional discourse, with the goal of advancing impact investing not only as a niche, but as a relevant component of the financial and economic system.

Cooperations & embedding in the ecosystem

The BVII Austria Chapter and its members regularly cooperate with central actors and platforms of the impact ecosystem, including:

• Impact Days, annual cooperation and active participation in the central Austrian / CEE impact eventImpact Days 2026: 18 to 19 May 2026, Vienna City Hall; https://impactdays.at
• Impact Hub Vienna und Impact Hub Tirol – exchange, community formats and interfaces with founders, investors and intermediaries
• Consciously Curated Circles (www.planetcircles.org) – curated dialogue and learning formats on impact, capital and personal responsibility
• SENA (Social Entrepreneurship Network Austria) – cooperations and exchange formats at the interface of impact investing and social entrepreneurship, in particular to support social enterprises in capital raising and scaling.

Members of the BVII Austria Chapter

Core group of 10 to 20 engaged members and regularly contributing professionals from impact investing, finance, real estate, foundations and consulting. In addition, the chapter cooperates with peer organisations from the impact investing field in open formats with significantly broader reach.

(Membership in the BVII Austria Chapter is organisation-based. Listed below are the respective organisations / firms and their representing contacts.)

• Ertler Impact Consult – Impact & Real Estate – Alexander Ertler
• Bolena Impact Investments – Alexandra Bolena
• R Punkt GmbH – Rethink Investments – Simone Pies
• Haydn Family Office – Philipp Haydn
• Studio Mannerhatten – Büro für Städtebau, Architektur und Innovation – Florian Niedworok
• Klimja Crowd4projects GmbH – Wir investieren in morgen – Stefan Kainz
• ERSTE Stiftung – Erste Social Finance – Florian Bauer
• Fair Finance Impact GmbH – Jonathan Zeilinger
• Baumhouse – b.house GmbH – Dietmar Reindl
• CELL Investment GmbH – Viktoria Zimm
• BLUESAVE Consulting GmbH – Doris Wirth
• you’re prior Project and Impact Management – URprior GmbH – Hannes Brandl
• IMTRIS – Rafael A. Jaron