CEE4Impact Day in Budapest: Strengthening the Regional Impact Investing Ecosystem

ARNO proudly participated in CEE4Impact Day 2025, held on October 9 in Budapest, as part of the Invest for Change project. Recognizing the importance of collaboration and shared learning, ARNO invited several key Macedonian stakeholders — Pakomak (Sara Petrova), Inova(Marija Janevska), Macedonia 2025 (Bojana Kiseloski), and the Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation (Lazar Nedanoski) — to join the visit and experience first-hand how impact investing is shaping the future of the region. CEE4Impact Day brought together hundreds of changemakers — social innovators, investors, and policymakers — to explore new ways of using finance for social good, share success stories, and build meaningful collaborations.

The event agenda featured impact-driven pitches, thought leadership sessions, and panel discussions with leading regional and European experts. Morning sessions showcased impact success stories, with young entrepreneurs from Hungary, Romania, and Austria presenting their ideas under the dynamic “Pitching & Grilling” format. The program continued with the introduction of the Invest for Change & Impact Seed Project by Impact Europe, followed by keynotes from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and inspiring talks on the future of impact investing and philanthropy.

In the afternoon, discussions focused on how families and high-net-worth individuals are shaping the next generation of impact investors — including insights from a member of the Swarovski family — and featured a “reverse pitching” session with top regional impact funds such as Feelsgood Capital, Catalyst Romania, and Impact Ventures. The day concluded with presentations on inclusive social finance models by Erste Group and conversations on impact recovery efforts in Ukraine, underscoring the transformative power of partnerships and innovation.

“This is new vocabulary for us — exit strategies for social enterprises are truly new food for thought,” said Irina Janevska from ARNO. “We are ready to unlearn and learn new approaches that can strengthen our local social and green — or as we now call them, impact — enterprises. It’s inspiring to see the bigger picture and connect it with our own experience. With Partners Albania, we even joked that the pitches looked just like those from our Regional Green Ideas competition, only aiming for much higher funding. This is a new journey and new waters for us, but we’re not going alone — we’ve invited Macedonian stakeholders to move forward together, with strong support from Impact Europe and the entire project team.”

ARNO’s participation in this regional gathering represents another important step in our mission to strengthen the social economy and impact investment landscape in North Macedonia and the Western Balkans.

The visit took place under the Invest for Change project (2025–2030), a pioneering initiative funded by the European Union. The project aims to develop a more favorable social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Western Balkans by improving access to finance, engaging stakeholders and investors, and advancing policy frameworks.  The project is coordinated by Impact Europe and implemented in partnership with ARNO (North Macedonia), Partners Albania (Albania), Smart Kolektiv (Serbia), Foundation 787 (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and ICK(Kosovo).