Blended Finance by NAB Impact Investing

Blended finance has emerged as one of the most promising tools to close the multi-trillion-dollar SDG financing gap. The Netherlands Advisory Board on Impact Investing (NAB) has compiled an extensive review of how Dutch and European stakeholders are structuring capital in both developed and emerging economies to accelerate climate action, inclusive growth, and social impact.

The report shows that blended finance is not a “one-size-fits-all” model but rather a negotiation-driven process that must be tailored to investor needs, market conditions, and local contexts. Through 21 case studies, it identifies five recurring blueprints that illustrate how catalytic capital can be structured to mobilise private investment:

• Phased capital deployment that matches concessional, public, and commercial finance to different project stages, from development to scale-up.

• Tiered risk structuring that aligns the appetite of first-loss, mezzanine, and senior investors in one vehicle.

• Return enhancement through guarantees, tax incentives, and concessional terms that make impact sectors attractive to commercial capital.

• Technical assistance integration to strengthen investee capacity and ensure bankability.

• Multi-instrument structures that combine layered capital, guarantees, technical assistance, and hedging to address complex risks.

These case studies stress the importance of pairing finance with ecosystem support, ensuring regulatory clarity, and aligning catalytic capital with measurable impact objectives. More than just a funding tool, blended finance emerges as a disciplined approach to market-building, turning development challenges into investable opportunities.

For Dutch and European stakeholders, this inventory provides a practical blueprint for designing blended finance vehicles that can unlock private capital at scale, whether for green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, or social inclusion.