GEXSI - The Global Exchange for Social Investment

The Vision: A Global Network of Social Stock Exchange


The mandate of the Global Exchange for Social Investment - GEXSI is to create a more efficient marketplace for businesses generating significant social and financial returns, especially in the low income communities.


In this context GEXSI promotes the establishment of Social Investment Exchanges as:

  • the most efficient way of bringing together social entrepreneurs and financiers.
  • significantly enlarging social investment markets in different parts of the world.

At some first level, in collaboration with local partner organizations, initiatives are underway in Latin Americam Africa, and Asia, and in some European countries.



Social Investment Exchanges are based on a project life-cycle concept:

  • listing very early stage projects for venture philanthropy funding and or in-kind partnerships.
  • progressively - over the course of project development - moving projects up-scale in search of market-based finance.

Social Investment Exchanges can cooperate with philanthropic and commercial social investment funds , and with individual financiers.



Projects can be submitted to Social Investment Exchanges for review, coaching by:

  • social entrepreneurs
  • civil society organizations
  • microfinance institutions
  • business plan competitions
  • others


Projects will only be listed selectively, once they measure up to standards set by the Social Investment Exchanges.

Social Investment Exchanges exisiting or emerging in various parts of the world should seek to remain interconnected by mutual accreditation, thereby enlarging their market potential.


In setting up Social Investment Exchanges, a variety of partnerships are desirable, for instance in support of:

  • Project reviews
  • Business mentoring and coaching
  • Due diligence tasks



New online marketplaces are intrinsically supportive of the objectives social Social Investment Exchanges pursue. Examples include:

  • kiva.org: a online platform that offers individuals to give an interest-free micro credit to people in the developing world.
  • GlobalGiving.org: a platform that lists projects for donations
  • Betterplace.org: a platform that lists projects for donations
  • bidnetwork.org: a Dutch business plan competition for social businesses worldwide that offers matchmaking services for investors.