Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) is a mission-driven investment fund that provides debt and equity financing, alongside strategic business advice, to independent media and information ventures. For 30 years MDIF has invested in independent media around the world providing diverse news and facilitating the exchange of information and views needed to build free, thriving societies.
We spoke with Patrice Schneider, Chief Strategy Officer about how MDIF engages in blended finance, how they measure impact, gaps and opportunities in the blended finance market, and more.
What does MDIF do and how does it engage in blended finance?
In our blended finance approach, philanthropic capital plays a catalytic role. Grant funding, guarantees, and concessional capital allow us to crowd in private investors. Crucially, we use blended finance not just to manage risk, but to enable investments where market-rate returns are less feasible, but the societal value is high. We advocate for a third way of media financing that fills the space between grants and commercial capital and recognizes the public value of independent information often overlooked by the market.
As leading economists, including Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Daron Acemoğlu, have written: “Access to reliable information is the fundamental resource that fuels our 21st century economy (…), no less than previous eras relied on the power of steam or coal for industrial development.” However, despite its essential role, the independent media sector remains systemically overlooked in impact investing. While conventional media investment often prioritizes profit at the expense of public interest, eroding standards and weakening the sector’s mission, our work helps ensure this critical infrastructure receives the long-term investment it needs to serve the public good.
MDIF is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year – and blended finance has been part of your strategy since the very beginning. What achievements are you proud of?
With 30 years of experience, MDIF has been investing in independent media and information ventures long before terms like “impact investing” or “blended finance” entered the mainstream. From the outset, we’ve combined grants, concessional funding, and commercial capital to support public-interest media with financing aligned to their mission.
Our achievements are best reflected in the long-term impact of our clients. Since 1996, we’ve invested $270.9 million in debt and equity across 157 media and information companies in 50 countries. Many have grown from startups into trusted national institutions, withstanding political pressure, navigating economic shocks, and seizing opportunities to expand their reach and impact.
They inform millions, hold power to account, support democratic participation, and help drive progress in their communities. That enduring contribution to more informed, resilient societies is the legacy we are most proud of.
Can you describe one or two blended finance transactions that MDIF has been involved in?
One example is Plūrālis, a media investment vehicle that provides mission-driven, blended capital and strategic media growth expertise to independent media in Central and Eastern Europe to support media plurality. Managed and co-funded by MDIF, it brings together a coalition of prestigious European media companies, foundations, and impact investors. Its blended structure combines concessional and grant capital from philanthropy, industry expertise from leading media organizations, institutional capital interested in impact, and contributions from private wealth seeking both financial and societal returns. To expand access to capital, MDIF partnered with leading German ethical bank GLS to issue Europe’s first impact bond for media plurality.
Another example is MDIF Media Finance (MMF), a blended-value loan fund providing affordable loans to independent media in OECD-DAC countries, launched with the backing of Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Through a 55% first-loss guarantee, Sida enabled MDIF to raise capital from private investors, reducing their risk exposure while allowing MDIF to expand financing for independent media in challenging environments.
These transactions illustrate how blended finance can align public and private capital behind a common goal: ensuring that independent media have the resources to serve the public interest, even when the market alone falls short.
How do you measure the impact of your blended finance activities?
Blended finance runs through MDIF as an organization, as well as specific funds, so the impact of MDIF as a whole is a reflection of the impact of our blended finance activities. Our investments strengthen builders of informed societies so that they can fulfil their vital role—sharing information that drives change, from new laws to better lives. Research shows that free, viable, and diverse media are essential for democracy and human progress. Their work supports peace, justice, and strong institutions under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.10, while advancing progress across all SDGs.
We track impact on two levels. First, we assess how our financing and strategic support help strengthen our clients—looking at metrics such as revenue growth, reach, or operational resilience. Second, we examine how our clients contribute to society—whether they are informing public debate, exposing corruption, enabling civic participation, or holding power to account. These findings are published annually in our impact reports, combining data with case studies that show what independent media can achieve when they have the capital to support their mission.
What gaps or opportunities do you see in the blended finance market?
While there is growing recognition of blended finance, impact-first funding continues to fall short, especially for sectors like independent media that are essential to democratic resilience but difficult to serve through purely commercial models.
A key gap is the lack of flexible catalytic capital. Much of the current market is designed to reduce risk for private investors, rather than to enable impact-first investments. This limits the ability to reach sectors that deliver high public value but can’t promise market-rate returns. In MDIF’s case, blended finance is not simply about risk adjustment. It’s about making transactions possible where they otherwise would not be, due to structural market failure.
We believe what’s needed is not just more blended finance, but the growth of an ethical financial sector: a space for investors, donors, and financial institutions willing to prioritize public-interest outcomes over purely financial performance.
How do you see MDIF’s blended finance activities evolving in the future?
As information becomes increasingly central to how societies and economies function, the need for long-term, mission-aligned financing for independent media will only grow. Yet market failures persist. MDIF will continue to evolve our blended finance activities to meet this growing structural challenge.
We see a future where blended finance is not just a mechanism to de-risk investment, but a core strategy for enabling access to reliable information, especially in contexts where commercial capital alone cannot deliver. For MDIF, this means continuing to mobilize flexible, catalytic capital and structuring it in ways that reflect the unique realities of media businesses: long time horizons, non-linear growth, and a public service mission that often resists easy monetization. We will also continue to expand the role of the ethical financial sector, building partnerships with donors, development finance institutions, and values-driven investors who understand that supporting independent media is not just a democratic imperative, but an economic necessity.
