A Prosperous Economy Does Not Have to Be Exploitative — A New KPMG Report Brings the Evidence

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BLOG by Elemér Eszter, President of Impact CEE

We are no longer talking only about an impact ecosystem, but about regenerative capitalism — a model that could become Europe’s economic advantage over the global superpowers. 2026 is the year of metamorphosis.

Where should Europe move in an increasingly unfair competition between China and the United States? How can a large corporation change direction when its shareholders and management genuinely want to move beyond ESG-washing and pursue a regenerative, sustainable path?

Our vision is that there is one answer to all these questions.

If we in Europe actively build a four-layer regenerative capitalism ecosystem, we can create a healthier economy — and, at the same time, a unique competitive advantage for the European Union.

But this vision will only become credible if it can answer the question that still determines where capital moves:

Can impact investments generate the same competitive financial returns as conventional investments?

At CEE4Impact Day 2026, KPMG and Impact CEE will present a new report that approaches this question through evidence rather than aspiration. By examining concrete examples from the impact-investing ecosystem, the report will show how investments designed to create measurable societal or environmental value can also be just as profitable.

The report will debut on 8 October at the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest, as part of a programme dedicated to one central question: can regenerative capitalism become the defining economic model of the 21st century — or is it still merely an aspiration?

From a perceived trade-off to an investable proposition

Impact investing provides a measurable way to invest in startups and scaleups that simultaneously address crucial societal and environmental challenges while generating market-rate financial returns.

Yet the persistent assumption remains that investors must choose between impact and profitability. The forthcoming KPMG–Impact CEE report is intended to challenge that assumption with concrete cases: not by arguing that every impact investment will succeed, but by demonstrating that impact and competitive financial performance do not have to be opposing forces.

This distinction matters. If positive impact is treated only as philanthropy, it remains dependent on limited budgets and goodwill. If it can be built into profitable, scalable businesses, it becomes capable of attracting the capital required to transform markets.

The purpose of the report is therefore not simply to describe the reality of the CEE impact ecosystem. Facts alone are not enough. Its ambition is to reveal what is already happening, demonstrate what is possible, and inspire investors, fund managers, entrepreneurs, corporates, policymakers and other economic stakeholders to take the next real step forward.

The four layers of regenerative capitalism

At the foundation of this economic model are impact startups and scaleups, developing innovative solutions to pressing environmental and social challenges while building scalable and profitable businesses. Their mission is to prove that positive impact and strong financial performance can reinforce one another.

Supporting them are impact fund managers — VC and PE general partners — who identify and back the most promising ventures and help them scale both their financial performance and their measurable environmental and social impact.

A third layer consists of institutional asset allocators, limited partners and private investors: pension funds, family offices, HNWIs and UHNWIs who increasingly seek to align capital with their values while pursuing competitive financial returns.

Finally, corporations play a critical role. Some seek long-term growth while navigating the transition towards more regenerative business models. For large and complex organisations, this can mean “turning a mega-ship” towards greater sustainability, resilience and positive impact.

Along this journey, partnerships with impact enterprises, using them as vendors and acquiring impact startups can become powerful catalysts for transformation. These enterprises can become the fertiliser of corporate transformation — bringing the innovation, technologies, capabilities and purpose that established companies need to accelerate their own regenerative and sustainable transition.

The flow — or, even more importantly, the circular co-action — of these four layers could generate real change.

The KPMG–Impact CEE report will provide a fact-based view of how impact investing and these four layers are already performing in Central and Eastern Europe. Its practical examples will help move the debate beyond whether impact investing can be profitable and towards the more urgent question: how can we build the conditions in which more profitable impact enterprises can emerge and scale?

Europe’s opportunity for metamorphosis

2026 is the year of metamorphosis.

And what is this circular model of regenerative capitalism, if not metamorphosis itself?

For generations, profit — and its loyal servant, growth — have too often treated human beings and natural resources as fuel for economic success. Europe now has the opportunity to prove something radically different: that a regenerative economic model can generate competitive financial returns while creating measurable value for society and the environment.

If Europe proves that this works, it will not merely create a better economy. It can create an example worth following.

Why does the whole world still come to Europe to stand in front of our great cathedrals, museums, universities and historic cities? Why do people travel here to experience what generations before us created?

Because Europe is still regarded as a continent of culture, art, humanity and knowledge.

But Europe cannot remain only a museum of its own achievements.

We, the European caterpillar, must realise that the butterfly already exists within us. For centuries, Europe has developed and demonstrated values rooted in culture, art, humanity and knowledge. The moment has come to transform these values into a new economic advantage.

It is time to add something new to Europe’s perceived “open-air museum” status: a healthier form of capitalism.

A regenerative capitalism capable of combining competitiveness with responsibility, innovation with humanity, and financial performance with measurable positive impact.

Why Central and Eastern Europe matters

Impact CEE has recognised that a colourful and rapidly developing impact-investing ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe is already working towards this model.

KPMG is also undergoing its own transition: becoming not merely an adviser to businesses in CEE, but a business-builder adviser capable of adding genuine value to the transformation journeys of the stakeholders shaping our economies.

These two ships are now sailing alongside one another.

Through this long-term collaboration, we can move faster — not as two separate vessels, but as a catamaran.

The report’s premiere at CEE4Impact Day will be one of the first visible outcomes of this shared journey. It will be presented by Elemér Eszter of Impact CEE, Gergő Wieder of KPMG Consulting Ltd. and Szabolcs Mezei of KPMG Hungary.

Its conclusions will also sit within a broader day of debate and action: from impact startup pitches to intergenerational thinking, from diversity in decision-making to investing in Ukraine, from food security to the mobilisation of European pension capital.

The common thread is the same throughout: how do we move more capital, build stronger companies, accelerate corporate transformation and create measurable impact in Central and Eastern Europe?

Because transformation will not happen through reports alone.

It will happen when capital moves.

When entrepreneurs build.

When investors take responsibility.

When corporations buy.

When corporations acquire.

When policymakers enable.

And when all of us recognise that economic competitiveness and positive impact do not have to be opposing forces.

The KPMG and Impact CEE communities strongly believe that the CEE impact-investing ecosystem can make a meaningful contribution to the emergence of European regenerative capitalism.

Our ambition goes even further.

We believe regenerative capitalism can become Europe’s new USP.

Not as another slogan.

Not as another ESG campaign.

But as a functioning economic model — capable of generating returns, building globally competitive companies, transforming corporations, strengthening Europe and proving that a healthier form of capitalism is possible.

The ecosystem is emerging.

The metamorphosis has already begun.

Now we need to act.