Our story
We are Bart and Femke. A combined 35 years of experience in development and finance has strengthened our belief in a market driven approach to sustainable development and growth. Private sector innovations and financing can bring the efficiency, speed and scale needed to achieve the SDGs.
But we have experienced first hand that the market needs guidance. There are a great deal of innovative projects and ventures. But, to date, only few reach scale. Most get stuck because they cannot get the business model right, or access the capital to grow.
Scaling impact first projects and ventures requires actors with different DNA -investors, donors, governments, enterprises- to join in the same mission. This requires business acumen, an open mind, courage and stamina. And sometimes a little bit of help from professionals who don’t shy away from a challenge. We are these professionals. We are Total Impact Capital Europe.
What we stand for
Three guiding principles are key to everything we do:
- Impact first: We focus on sectors that are crucial to human development, such as healthcare, water, and SME financing, and on real solutions for real life problems.
- Hands-on: We are pragmatic people. Our advice and financial solutions are practical and implementable. We like to work directly, iteratively and informally with our clients and partners.
- Collaboration: Competition should not exist in impact first investing. We operate open source and are always on the lookout for complementary partners to join in the mission.
Vision and mission
Total Impact Capital Europe’s mission is to make impact first business, mainstream business, globally.
We advance this mission by:
- Developing and supporting others in developing viable business models and impact investment vehicles that put people and planet ahead of financial returns
- Engaging the best mix of investment and grant capital to bring them to scale and
- Creating a supportive ecosystem to make sure they are there to last.
Meet the team
Total Impact Capital Europe’s team has a unique set of on-the-ground expertise and experience, spanning across multiple disciplines and regions.
We work closely with our Total Impact Capital’s team in the United States, led by founding partner John Simon. And, we partner with proven fund managers and implementers, who bring knowledge, experience and a demonstrated track record of social and financial performance.
Bart Schaap
- 20+ years of experience working in development finance: incubated and scaled innovative finance solutions including fin tech and SME financing
- Incubated and scaled Medical Credit Fund Africa as its CFO, successfully headed two investment rounds
- Prior experience includes credit-risk specialist at Standard and Poor’s in London, financial consultancy, development of advanced credit rating framework for corporates at Dutch bank NIBC.
Femke Smeets
- Passionate about bringing actors with different DNA together on one mission
- 15+years of experience in developing, fundraising, and advocating for entrepreneurial partnerships, ventures, and public private partnerships in emerging markets
- Headed business development team PharmAccess Group and set up capacity building facility for Medical Credit Fund Africa
- Prior experience includes public sector (Ministries of Economic/Foreign Affairs), business development in water sector, health investment consultancy
Frida Rica
- Holds interdisciplinary degrees in finance and business as well as an LLM in Banking Law and Finance from the University of Edinburgh where she received the renowned Chevening scholarship.
- Worked on private sector and government projects, including with the Albanian Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Finance conducting research in areas of economic development.
- Previously managed business development for an NGO focused on promoting economic cooperation between China and CEE countries.
Anouk Banlier
- Was an early employee of early-stage VC Antler, part of the global team designing and scaling the investment platform to support over 300 companies across 14 locations
- Experience in advising early-stage entrepreneurs across markets and sectors and is particularly passionate about women’s empowerment and climate tech.
- Holds a Bachelors in Political Science from McGill University and a Masters from ESSEC Business School.
Allicen Dichiara
- 5+ years’ experience in health and human development
- Previous experience in consultancy for the World Bank as a consultant for the Health, Nutrition & Population group
- In 2019 teaching fellow for “Principles of Economics” at Harvard University
- Previously, worked as a research assistant at University of Cambridge
John Simon
- Founded Total Impact Capital in 2010
- Managing Partner of Total Impact Capital United States
- Until May of 2019, Vice Chair of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Malaria, and Tuberculosis.
- Variety of posts in the US federal government, including as security advisor in the White House, and as the US Ambassador to the African Union
- Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (currently DFC)
