‘Small Businesses Take Generations To Build’: Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter, Co-Founder of IMPAQTO Capital Posted on September 29, 2025December 15, 2025 By Kekeletso Nkele, small. Assistant (small.news) — On Sept. 24, 2025, our small.talk series continued with Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter, co-founder and general partner of IMPAQTO Capital. IMPAQTO Capital is a fund manager that invests flexible capital into startups in the Andean Region. Silver Lining Founder and CEO Carissa Reiniger spoke with Michelle about the current state of small business. Michelle brought her insights on mobilizing thriving communities, bridging market tools and impact drive, and designing purpose-driven innovations for small business growth. Top Stories From Local Hustle to Global Reach: South African SMMEs Are Taking Their Shot on the World Stage South African small, medium, and micro enterprises are expanding beyond local markets and proving one central point: homegrown businesses can compete globally, reports Brand South Africa. Canada’s Small Businesses Are Missing AI’s Biggest Productivity Gains Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses could help grow the economy by 6%, roughly $150 billion, if all of them were using AI in their operations, according to a new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada, reports The Logic. Q: How do you think about how small business has been a through line in your career as you’ve done all the amazing things you’ve done? A: So there’s the very personal level, which comes from seeing my grandfather, who was a civil engineer, start his own business that builds low-income housing for people who could not afford it. I’ve seen the personal touch that he places in every single thing, and the importance of shaking the hand of new homeowners, families for whom this will be the first generation of having an asset, who can now check that off the box and start thinking about maybe sending their kids to university. When small businesses thrive, you have a thriving middle class, and all risks are diversified. Q: What can the rest of the world learn from what’s going on in Ecuador? A: There are moments of violence. So if those are the moments that get caught on TV and presented to the world about what is going on in Ecuador, you would think this country is in trouble. And yet, I am convinced that the vast majority of people in Ecuador are moderate, nuance lovers. And unfortunately, moderation and nuance are not sexy for social media and not sexy for storytelling. Small businesses are not these big unicorns, but they are there to stay. They are actually there to stay, even beyond governments. Governments can only ideally have four years in power. Small businesses take generations to build. I would love to see the world pay more attention to those people who are building for the long term. There’s this wonderful company, Fibrazo, when we first invested as IMPAQTO Capital. They were just about to open operations in Cartagena. A year and a half later, they have grown so much that now they’re running out of neighborhoods to offer internet access to in Cartagena. This is the way small businesses are supposed to work. Growing for the sake of paying back their debts and making their shareholders wealthier, but also by improving the lives of the people that they serve. Q: What are you most concerned about for small businesses in the midst of so much uncertainty and so much change? A: I am most concerned right now about how financing very rarely reaches female-led businesses. Q: What opportunity do you think there is for small businesses? A: I think that the opportunity comes with generational change, actually. So many small businesses tend to be family-owned businesses, and where there’s an expectation that the next generation within the family takes up leadership, which in itself is really exciting. And yet I would also say that many of the current business owners, where the next generation within your family is not as interested, need to really start thinking about tapping into the incredible talent that young people have. My dream is to launch a whole company or an initiative to take all the companies owned by baby boomers that they don’t necessarily want. Maybe their kids don’t want them and then find all this incredible young talent around the world, or people who are refugees or immigrants who can’t get credit scores, and just match them. So these impact investment funds that are looking to acquire these companies for these young people and do more with that, actually do what we call the regenerative flip. Q: If you had a Magic Silver Wand and you could make one change right now that you think would help small businesses everywhere, what would you do? A: I would want to change the minds of any business owners who think that their businesses cannot change to support nature. I would love for every business owner to see the beauty and magic of every tree, every river, every body of water, and the soil, and think, ‘Wow, that’s true value,’ and understand that value as an asset… Q: How do we support you? A: I would say join the narrative. I think, get curious about small businesses, get curious about investment funds that are looking to support zebras and not necessarily unicorns. Call me up. I would be happy to connect. You’ve heard their story—now write your own. silv=r™ is where it begins. Start here! Latest Stories
From Local Hustle to Global Reach: South African SMMEs Are Taking Their Shot on the World Stage South African small, medium, and micro enterprises are expanding beyond local markets and proving one central point: homegrown businesses can compete globally, reports Brand South Africa.
Canada’s Small Businesses Are Missing AI’s Biggest Productivity Gains Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses could help grow the economy by 6%, roughly $150 billion, if all of them were using AI in their operations, according to a new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada, reports The Logic.