ImpactCo has brought its purpose economy partners from the United States and India together in Madrid. The International Partnership Meeting 2026 gathered A Little Better Co and SAM’SPACE around one goal: making impact real. As a result, ImpactCo opens the first doors of its global network in two key markets.
Two Spanish voices also joined these purpose economy partners. Álvaro Lleó, director of the Chair of Purpose-Driven Companies at the University of Navarra, shared the latest research. Meanwhile, Blanca Hernández, founder and president of tuTECHÔ, presented a social business with proven results.
Purpose economy partners share one diagnosis
For two centuries, the dominant economic model has judged companies almost only by their financial results. In contrast, ImpactCo champions a double bottom line, where profit sits alongside social and environmental impact. From this angle, companies become the main engine of change.
“For two hundred years, we have measured the success of companies only by what they earn,” said Ángel Bonet, founder and president of ImpactCo. “The purpose economy proposes measuring what they make possible for people and for the planet, too. It is not philanthropy: it is business architecture.”
Above all, Bonet added, ImpactCo now has the science, the cases and the purpose economy partners to take this model worldwide.
The science of purpose: more than double the engagement
Lleó shared results from a line of research that began in 2017. Today, this work underpins the Chair, which ImpactCo and the University of Navarra launched in March 2026. Its database covers more than 80 organizations in 12 countries. In total, it includes 40,000 employee responses and 6,000 from executives and managers.
The findings are clear. When employees know their company’s purpose, explain it in their own words and see how their work contributes to it, engagement rises sharply. In fact, the effect on engagement behaviors grows from 0.19 to 0.45, more than double.
“Purpose only transforms an organization when people know it, make it their own and see how their work contributes to it,” Lleó explained.
tuTECHÔ: proof that profit and impact can go together
Next, Blanca Hernández showed how returns and social impact can reinforce each other. tuTECHÔ is a SOCIMI, a Spanish real estate investment company listed on BME Growth. It buys empty homes and rents them below market price to social organizations. In turn, these organizations support homeless people on their way to independence.
So far, tuTECHÔ has built a portfolio of more than 500 homes and works with over 100 social organizations. Since its creation, more than 3,000 people have lived in its homes. “We have shown that a profitable investment can give a home, and with it a life, back to thousands of people,” Hernández said.
Views from the US and India: new purpose economy partners
Simon Rogers is the founder and CEO of A Little Better Co, a transformation design studio that began as a creative agency. He described a United States marked by declining trust, polarization and Gen Z’s distance from leadership. Moreover, NGOs keep multiplying, but they often work in silos and with few resources. Consequently, he argued, companies have treated purpose and profit as separate conversations, even though they reinforce each other. To close that gap, Rogers called for a common, simple language backed by university research.
Samir Sathe, founder and CEO of SAM’SPACE, brought the view from India. For him, the big challenge is to stop seeing profit and social impact as opposing forces. Instead, they form a single virtuous circle. Furthermore, in India, where trust and relationships are everything, this shift opens up a huge opportunity.
A growing network of partners for the purpose economy
With every new partner, ImpactCo’s network grows stronger. Above all, it combines four strengths: science, methodology, ecosystems and people networks. Together, these purpose economy partners share one vision: bringing purpose into the daily reality of more and more companies.
Read more: ImpactCo has also presented The Invisible Cost, a report on what Spain loses every year by not activating corporate purpose.