EMPOWERING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS FOR INNOVATION, INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND JOBS
SPEAKER: MERCEDES VALCÁRCEL
CURRICULUM VITAE
Currently she is working as auditing manager in Enusa, a public company and in a foundation constituted by
herself and four other social sector experts, Fundacion Isis. Isis delivers support services to social entrepreneurs
and promotes social entrepreneurship, social investments and social venture capital.
She has been working for fourteen years in financial sector and has a huge experience in Spanish regulatory
framework for social investments funds and a good knowledge of the European one due to her job in auditing,
consultancy and financial departments of European Banks and venture capital companies and her participation
in GECES. After that, she has been working for seven years in a Foundation developing SME support programs
and cooperation for development projects.
Mercedes is member of GECES – Groupe d’experts de la Commission sur l’entrepreneuriat social and of
Fundación Tomillo and Economistas sin Fronteras Board of Directors.
In the academic word, since she had her PhD with Extraordinary Award with the thesis “social impact
assessment”, two years ago, she has published some papers about the financial needs of social entrepreneurs in
Spain. Last year she has focused her research in European social entrepreneurship funds and its impact in
Spanish social businesses.
LAUNCHING THE FIRST SPANISH SOCIAL VENTURE CAPITAL FUND – ISIS CAPITAL
With the objective of providing social businesses with financial facilities, Isis Foundation is closing the fund
raising for launching the first Spanish social venture capital fund: Isis capital.
Isis Foundation aims to foster innovation in social investment initiatives to improve the living conditions of
vulnerable persons and people at risk of social exclusion. We invest in long-term equity and loans funding
businesses from seed capital to later stage; we provide not only funding but also, knowledge and networking to
social businesses and we report to investors the fund’s social impact and financial returns and facilitate them
access to the portfolio companies to share their experience.