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How Bank of America strengthened investment readiness for 65 impact startups
As part of a five-year partnership, Bank of America and Impact Hub Berlin expanded their collaboration into a targeted Investment Readiness Programme.
THE GOAL
Align Bank of America’s financial expertise with one of the most pressing challenges in the impact ecosystem – access to capital. This initiative moved beyond visibility and into structured capability-building.
The challenge
Impact startups often struggle with:
- Financial planning and investment strategy
- Access to investor networks
- Translating impact into bankable business models
At the same time, Bank of America sought to:
- Deepen meaningful engagement with impact founders
- Activate employee expertise beyond traditional CSR formats
- Increase strategic visibility in the ecosystem
The opportunity was clear: Bridge corporate expertise with startup agility.
Our approach
Through our Internal Innovation framework, we designed a multi-layered Investment Readiness Programme combining:
- Impact Mentoring: Tailored mentor-startup matchmaking leveraging Bank of America employees’ financial expertise.
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- 12 mentor-startup matches
- Structured onboarding and mentoring guidance
- Ongoing support and ecosystem integration
- Investor Circles: Curated investor matchmaking formats connecting startups with aligned capital partners
- Enable Formats: Workshops and expert sessions focused on fundraising and business planning.
The programme design ensured both capability-building and relationship-building.
Impact of our collaboration
- 65 impact startups supported
- 120 participants engaged
- 81% of startups reported increased knowledge
- 86 investor & partner connections facilitated
- Mentor NPS: +34
- Increased reach and visibility for Bank of America in the impact ecosystem
- Stronger employee engagement through skills-based volunteering
- Enhanced positioning as an enabler of sustainable finance
- Direct contribution to startup fundraising journeys (e.g. alumni progressing towards €150k–€500k goals
“The mentor is great. Open to steer the conversation in the direction most useful for us… thanks for this great experience!”
tilt SMEs (Impact Startup)
“Tilt is an exciting business and I am looking forward to following their bright future ahead.”
Mentor (Bank of America Employee)