Dr. Keyvan Rastegar was once again invited as an expert to the 5th Social Entrepreneurship Forum of the Senat der Wirtschaft (SdW) on 25 September 2018.
In the course of a panel discussion, the panelists Dr. Rastegar (founder RPCK Rastegar Panchal), Jakob Detering (Social Impact Award International), Mag. Waltraud Martius (SYNCON International Franchise Consultants e.V.), Günter Bergauer, MBA (Bankhaus Schelhammer & Schattera AG), Mag. Karen Wendt (Scaling4Good Association Board of Directors), Günter Benischek (Lt. Social Banking Erste Bank) and Lena Gansterer (Co-Founder Investment Ready Program & Partnerships Dir. Impact Hub Vienna) called for adjustments to existing company law which does not differentiate between profit-oriented and non-profit companies. The “S-GmbH” should clearly define the social impact of the business model and contain special documentation regulations regarding the company’s non-profit status. As Keyvan Rastegar explained non-profit entrepreneurship is by no means captured in the current corporate law regime (number of special regulations for social entrepreneurships: zero). This trivialises the non-profit activities of the founders and makes them unnecessarily difficult.
Furthermore, SENA (Social Entrepreneurship Network Austria) was presented by talentify founders Bernhard Hofer and Walburga Fröhlich, MA, to establish an active representation of interests for social entrepreneurship.
Markus Zeilinger, CEO and founder of fair-finance Vorsorgekasse, finally presented the Social Entrepreneurship Fund, which is supported by fair-finance and is to specialize in financing sustainably oriented companies. With an initial amount of € 5 million and a target return of 5 percent, the fund will also be open to other investors. In addition to already existing sustainable funds, this fund will exclusively focus on social entrepreneurs.
RPCK continues to be the first mover in the Austrian market that provides legal advice for social impact investors and social businesses as well as the necessary social entrepreneurial expertise. Keyvan Rastegar and his team are specialized in “Impact Investing”, “Social Finance” and “Venture Capital / Private Equity“.