Who actually makes up the peace economy?

If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been writing about the growing intersection of peacebuilding, investment, corporations, start-ups, and the international development complex. In past articles, I’ve covered why we need to build a peace industrialized complex, why peace is a smart investment, what sustainable peace investments look like, and how to speak the language of finance.

But one question keeps coming up: who are the players in this space, and how do they fit together? I made this interactive ecosystem map as an attempt to answer that question (click the hyperlink to engage with the interactive map).

One thing is clear: The peace economy isn’t a single sector. It’s an ecosystem of actors with different mandates, different risk tolerances, and different definitions of success. Some want financial returns with social benefits. Others are looking for social impact with risk mitigation. More than a few just want to avoid making things worse.

Today, I’m sharing ten categories of actors shaping the peace economy and give you a practical, but draft, stakeholder map. I’d love to get your feedback (see this google form):

• Who’s missing? (An obvious one to me are INGOs – if you’re working in an INGO, where would you put your organization on the map? Would it be its own circle?)
• What connections in the map are missing?
• Have I miscategorized organizations, and if so, how would you categorize them?

Let’s dive in.

1. Philanthropic foundations

Foundations like Humanity United and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund already support peace and governance initiatives. What makes them especially valuable right now is that many are shifting toward systems-level change, trust-based giving, and longer-term impact. They’re typically more comfortable with ambiguity, willing to take programmatic risks that traditional investors won’t, and they have a better understanding of the peacebuilding world.

2. Impact investors

Impact investors seek both financial return and measurable social impact. Many already fund inclusive economic growth, refugee livelihoods, and women’s empowerment, all of which intersect with peace. Organizations like the Global Impact Investing Network, Toniic, and the Peace Finance Hub are increasingly connecting these investors with peace-positive opportunities. Shuraako Capital offers a compelling model, providing growth capital to SMEs in Somalia with an explicit thesis that small businesses can drive peace and prosperity in fragile settings. The challenge is that peacebuilding often lacks the metrics infrastructure that impact investors expect. That’s changing with frameworks like the +P Framework from the Peace Dividend Initiative.

3. Catalytic capital funders

Catalytic capital is patient, flexible, and risk-tolerant in ways conventional investment isn’t. The MacArthur Foundation’s Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) has deployed over $150 million and mobilized 21 times that in additional investment. The Rockefeller Foundation’s Zero Gap Fund, launched in partnership with MacArthur, has channeled $30 million in catalytic capital to mobilize over $1 billion in private finance for SDG-aligned investments. The Investing for Peace Initiative, led by the German Federal Foreign Office in partnership with the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, is actively designing new instruments specifically for peace-positive investment. Convergence provides additional infrastructure for blended finance deals.

4. Development finance institutions

The International Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank already invest in private sector growth in conflict-affected countries. They have a mandate for both returns and impact, and they’re open to blended finance models combining public and private funding. The UN Peacebuilding Fund just reached a $1 billion milestone, though it still faces a $500 million shortfall toward its 2020-2026 target. The African Union Peace Fund holds over $418 million and recently adopted a five-year resource mobilization strategy.

5. ESG and sustainability-aligned investors

The EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, Principles for Responsible Investment, and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are pushing investors to better assess social and governance impacts. Peacebuilding connects directly to these themes: human rights, inclusive governance, conflict-sensitive supply chains. International Alert’s work on peace-positive investment shows how investors can tap into new markets that are resource-abundant and primed for growth while meeting their ESG obligations. The Investor Alliance for Human Rights offers additional guidance on navigating portfolio exposure to conflict-affected areas. The missed opportunities are considerable: most ESG investments still flow to advanced economies, leaving fragile and conflict-affected states underserved.

6. Private sector businesses operating in fragile states

Companies in extractives, telecom, logistics, and agri-business depend on stability, secure supply chains, community goodwill, and regulatory predictability. Some are beginning to see peace and stability as material to their business continuity and reputation. The BSR Conflict-Sensitive Due Diligence Toolkit offers a nine-step framework for tech companies that’s adaptable to any sector operating in high-risk areas. The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights provides guidance on transitional justice and business responsibilities in conflict-affected regions.

7. PeaceTech ventures

The PeaceTech investment ecosystem has matured significantly. B Ventures, founded by a veteran VC who has managed over $1 billion in assets, is explicitly focused on “world peace via venture capital,” targeting AI for negotiation and conflict resolution startups. PeaceTech VC seeks startups that leverage peace as a competitive advantage. The C5 Capital PeaceTech Accelerator, partnered with the PeaceTech Lab (originally incubated at USIP), has graduated over 75 startups. Stanford’s Peace Innovation Lab advances research on mediating technologies. The PeaceTech Alliance launched in Vienna this year, and organizations like Build Up continue developing digital peacebuilding tools. Yet as one Fast Company analysis noted, private investment in defense tech exceeded $34 billion in 2023, while the UN’s peacebuilding fundraising goal over seven years was just $1.5 billion. The disparity is stark, but the market potential is significant.

8. PeaceTech companies

A growing cohort of startups is applying AI, data science, and digital platforms to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Transcend is an AI platform for conflict analysis and strategic decision-making, founded by a former USIP advisor and war survivor. Didi provides AI-powered conflict ripeness assessment and impact measurement. Emergence Field Labs offers AI-powered monitoring and evaluation tools for impact organizations, focused on what they call “cooperative intelligence.” Acquaint connects volunteers from over 100 countries for empathy-building conversations that combat stereotypes and build cross-cultural understanding. These companies are turning peace from an abstract goal into measurable, scalable outcomes enabled by technology.

9. Market-building initiatives

Finance for Peace, incubated by Interpeace and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and UK FCDO, is developing peace impact frameworks and standards for different investment categories. PeaceInvest in Geneva is structuring investment products for institutional clients. The UNCDF Blue Peace Financing Initiative is using water as an entry point for multi-stakeholder cooperation. The OECD-DAC peace marker helps identify and align broader development investments with peace objectives. These organizations aren’t making investments directly. They’re building the market infrastructure that allows everyone else to invest with confidence. When peace has clear metrics, verified outcomes, and credible due diligence processes, capital can flow at scale.

10. Advisory and field-building organizations

The Alliance for Peacebuilding is a network of 200+ organizations working in 181 countries, focused on field-building, policy advocacy, and learning. Pax Strategies bridges peacebuilding expertise with business advisory, offering risk analysis and strategic consulting for governments, corporations, and investors operating in fragile contexts. Search for Common Ground and International Alert bring decades of operational experience. These organizations don’t deploy capital directly, but they’re essential connective tissue. They translate between peacebuilding and business languages, convene actors who wouldn’t otherwise meet, and maintain the institutional knowledge that prevents the field from reinventing the wheel.

The bottom line

The peace economy isn’t a monolith. It’s a network of actors with complementary roles. Philanthropies take early risks. Catalytic funders de-risk opportunities. Impact investors and DFIs deploy capital at scale. Businesses protect their operations to provide goods and services that enable life on earth to thrive. PeaceTech ventures back the startups. PeaceTech companies build the products that foster peace in modern life. Market-builders create the standards. And advisory organizations connect it all.

Are you part of the peace economy? Should your organization be in the stakeholder map? I’d love to hear from you. Once again, I’m collecting feedback here to make improvements to the ecosystem map.