The Berne Union (BU) has opened submissions for its Blended Finance Hackathon, an initiative designed to generate solutions for mobilising private capital into emerging markets. The focus is on using insurance and guarantee instruments to unlock sustainable economic development at scale.

Export credit agencies, multilaterals, and private underwriters are already heavily involved in blended finance, yet their impact in the development space is often understated. The Hackathon is designed to bring BU members together with multilateral development banks and other financial partners to close knowledge gaps and deliver measurable development impact.

The programme builds on BU’s 2025-2026 “STRIDE” platform, which amplifies the export credit insurance industry’s contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It also follows the recent UN Financing for Development Conference, where ECAs were recognised for their importance in this field and encouraged to deepen cooperation across the wider finance ecosystem.

Finance professionals, development practitioners, and innovators are invited to put forward ideas that can be scaled and replicated to support high-impact projects.

This is a chance to influence how blended finance is deployed in practice. Our partners at BU are now welcoming submissions. More information and instructions on how to apply can be found here.