On April 16, we had the pleasure of attending the event organized by Fundación Ship2B, an associate of SpainNAB, and Fundación Daniel y Nina Carasso, a partner organization, to review the results of four editions of the Tiina fund and mark the launch of its fifth edition. It was an afternoon full of reflection, concrete case studies, and conversations that reinforce something we have long maintained at SpainNAB: the pipeline of impact-first entrepreneurship projects in Spain is real, robust, and maturing.
What is the Tiina fund and what has it achieved?
Tiina is a venture philanthropy fund jointly promoted by Fundación Ship2B and Fundación Daniel y Nina Carasso that works across two main thematic areas: sustainable food and citizen art. Across its first four editions, the programme has supported more than 20 impact projects, combining non-repayable funding with capacity-building support, strategic mentoring, and ecosystem connections. It is not just about capital: it is about providing accompaniment at the earliest stages, when risk is highest and conventional investors are not yet present.
The role of the public sector as a catalyst: the voice of COFIDES
The day began with a particularly notable intervention by Raúl Sánchez, director of the Social Impact Fund (FIS) at COFIDES. His message was clear: venture philanthropy does not compete with private investment, it enables it. In his view, the public sector should occupy the space where no one else is willing to be, taking on the risk that others cannot or will not assume and focusing on the real additionality of every euro invested. Ultimately, public investors must be where no one else is, turning investor additionality from a technical concept into a responsibility.
This approach is directly aligned with the logic of the Tiina fund: financing what the market does not yet see, reducing risk so that other actors can enter later, and demonstrating that impact-first projects are both viable and scalable.
The roundtables: projects that demonstrate the ecosystem exists
The most valuable part of the afternoon was undoubtedly hearing directly from the funded teams. The two roundtables, one for each thematic area, featured projects in sustainable food and citizen art that clearly and closely illustrated how Tiina’s support has been a differentiating factor in their development. From local agroecological production initiatives to projects that use culture and the arts as tools for community transformation, they all shared a common trait: impact is not an add-on, it is the core of the model.
For SpainNAB, these presentations are direct evidence of something we have been arguing in our reports and advocacy spaces: there is a strong pipeline of impact-first entrepreneurship in Spain. The projects are there. What is needed are more instruments like Tiina to support them in their early stages, and more investors willing to take the next step.
The 5th edition opens a new phase
The closing of the event brought good news: Fundación Ship2B and Fundación Daniel y Nina Carasso announced the opening of the fund’s fifth edition (open until April 10). This is a sign of the programme’s maturity and of a sustained commitment to the impact ecosystem in Spain.
From SpainNAB, we congratulate both organizations on the work carried out and celebrate that initiatives like Tiina continue to grow. They are the kind of instruments we need for impact investing in Spain to reach the scale that the current moment demands.
