Mobilizing Private Capital.
Shaping the Future of Blended Finance.
Collaborate and innovate
Join us on Elgin Street, in the heart of Ottawa, for two collaborative days of practical learning, working sessions, peer exchange and evening networking events.
Images courtesy of TCC Canada.
Build a future in which capital flows more smoothly into sustainable development, private investment is mobilized at meaningful scale, development, trade and investment priorities are better integrated, and promising ideas convert into committed capital.
What must change to unlock greater momentum?
The session begins with a provocative, practitioner-led examination of the barriers, assumptions and opportunities shaping the movement of capital.
- What will it take to unlock meaningful institutional participation?
- Which structural, risk, governance, liquidity and portfolio barriers are critical, and what kind of pathways can unlock scale?
- How can stronger capital linkages and collaboration support impact funds within the Canadian ecosystem?
- Why do strong initiatives stall before capital is committed, and what can materially improve conversion?
- Are DFI and MDB balance sheets, risk-transfer tools and catalytic capabilities being used boldly and strategically enough?
- How can pipelines, platforms and ecosystems become credible pathways to investability?
- How can Canada integrate development, trade, investment and domestic priorities more effectively?
Where the conversation will go
1. Unlocking Institutional Capital at Scale
Move beyond aspiration to examine the barriers, structures, risk allocation, portfolio logic and market conditions required for meaningful participation at scale.
2. From Strong Ideas to Committed Capital
Explore why promising initiatives lose momentum, and what improves strategic clarity, stakeholder confidence, alignment and conversion.
3. Capital Corridors for Canada and Beyond
Connect development, trade, investment and financing around real priorities, growth markets and economic opportunities at home and abroad.
4. Building Pathways to Investability
Build strong transactions, sectors and ecosystems toward pipelines, platforms, portfolios and bankable assets that larger pools of capital can enter, aligned with economic opportunities.
Join leaders and practitioners for two days of applied insight and collaboration.
Registration opens July 16, 2026. Early Bird pricing is available until August 15, 2026.
Private Sector
Fund managers, corporates, banks, consultants, law firms, accounting firms, advisors, and service providers.
Public Sector
Government departments and agencies, DFIs, MDBs, public investors, and trade and investment bodies.
NFP & NGO
Not-for-profits, NGOs, foundations, and eligible civil-society organizations.
Bringing a team?
Contact us directly for group pricing for 3 or more participants from the same organization.
Your registration includes networking events, both collaborative days, session materials, light lunches, refreshments, and full access to the on-demand course. Prices are in CAD, per participant, and subject to applicable taxes.
A new era of capital mobilization is reshaping blended and sustainable finance. Are you ready?
Recent global fora such as the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, together with OECD and G7 initiatives, have reinforced the urgency of mobilizing investment for sustainable development and translating commitments into action.
As future international fora continue this work, attention must increasingly turn from ambition to implementation, including the structures, partnerships and practical pathways required to move capital.
Canadian institutions have a distinct opportunity to connect global financing priorities with Canada’s own development, trade, investment, infrastructure and climate ambitions.
Global capital flows are being reshaped by climate priorities, geopolitical change, constrained public resources, changing development mandates and growing pressure to mobilize investment differently. Financing gaps remain immense, while governments, development institutions, foundations and investors are being pushed to move from ambition to execution.
Blended and structured finance remain among the most important tools for connecting public-purpose priorities with private capital, but their potential depends on stronger structures, clearer propositions, more strategic collaboration and credible routes to execution.
The question is no longer whether these approaches matter. It is how leaders and institutions make them work at greater speed, credibility and scale.
Built for professionals seeking to lead, collaborate and mobilize capital more effectively
These sessions are designed to change how professionals and organizations operate across increasingly sophisticated financing environments, building the strategic insight, collaborative capabilities and practical confidence needed to advance blended and sustainable finance initiatives from concept to committed capital.
With on-the-ground practitioner engagement, the experience immerses participants in evolving blended and sustainable finance ecosystems through expert dialogue, current structures, interactive discussion and capital mobilization perspectives from global experts.
Professionals across the capital mobilization ecosystem
Designed for practitioners and leaders working across the institutions, markets and partnerships that shape how capital moves.
A highly facilitated practitioner experience
Crystalus will frame leading-edge and sometimes disruptive ideas, make sophisticated structures accessible, and guide disciplined dialogue among practitioners focused on how capital actually moves. The experience is designed to create insight, constructive debate and practical application rather than passive participation.
Two Collaborative Days. From Strategy to Scale.
Evening networking events are planned for both days.
DAY 1 | Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Strategic Orientation & Blended Finance Foundations
Day 1 begins with provocative questions, opening with the challenges that must be addressed to unlock greater momentum. It then creates a shared strategic foundation for senior dialogue and practical application before exploring the changing capital landscape, blended finance structures and emerging capital corridors.
Registration, coffee and informal introductions before the day begins.
A provocative, practitioner-led opening discussion on the barriers, assumptions and opportunities shaping the movement of capital.
- What will it take to unlock meaningful institutional participation?
- Which structural, risk, governance, liquidity and portfolio barriers matter most?
- Why do strong initiatives stall before capital is committed?
- Are DFI and MDB balance sheets, risk-transfer tools and catalytic capabilities being used boldly enough?
- How can pipelines, platforms and ecosystems become credible pathways to investability?
- Challenges and opportunities in mobilizing capital for ideas with clear impact potential
- How development finance ecosystem players think, operate and make decisions
- How mandates, incentives and institutional constraints shape what funders and investors can support
- Participants’ impact financing ideas, challenges, strategic questions and emerging insights
- Industry leader perspectives on how ODA, concessional capital and agency agendas are being reshaped—and what this means for mobilizing private capital at greater scale.
- Funders, managers and proponents are operating in an environment where capital scarcity, strategic priorities and execution demands are intensifying.
- Blended and structured finance remain critical tools for connecting public-purpose priorities with private capital, but success depends on stronger propositions, clearer structures and credible routes to execution.
Light lunch will be provided in the event space.
- How grants, technical assistance, loans, equity, guarantees, insurance, derivatives and hedging can underpin blended and catalytic finance structures
- Common structuring concepts, including capital stacks, funding continuums, first-loss positions and risk-sharing arrangements
- Key terms such as concessionality, additionality, risk, return and impact metrics, and how they are understood by funders and investors
- Canada’s development finance architecture and key funding envelopes
- Informal Q&A on financial terminology, structured finance concepts, transaction design and participant-specific questions
- Identify where development, trade and investment priorities can align around real market opportunities.
- Surface the catalytic capital, risk-sharing tools, partnerships or platforms needed to move from strategy to transactions.
- Explore how stronger capital linkages and collaboration can support investable pathways across global markets.
Close the day by connecting the strategic orientation, blended finance foundations and lab insights to the more advanced structuring and execution agenda on Day 2.
An informal opportunity for participants, speakers and invited guests to continue the conversation and build relationships following the session.
DAY 2 | Wednesday, September 23, 2026 From Structure to Scale: Unlocking Capital & Driving Commitment
Day 2 moves from foundations into practical execution: institutional capital, transaction structures, deal spotlights, investability pathways, conversion readiness and senior practitioner insight on what it really takes to mobilize capital.
Coffee and informal conversation before the day begins.
- Institutional capital, including pension funds, insurers and other large pools of long-term capital, holds tremendous promise for scale but remains difficult to mobilize.
- Explore barriers to participation, including credit risk, tenor, ticket size, liability fit, governance, hidden risk, liquidity, portfolio relevance, transparency and credible exits.
- Examine practical ways to reduce friction, strengthen investor confidence and unlock larger pools of long-term capital.
- Using IDB Invest’s synthetic risk transfer / securitization structure and IFC securitization examples, participants unpack how MDB balance sheets, portfolio risk transfer and credit enhancement can mobilize institutional capital.
- The session makes sophisticated transactions easy to understand: showing why they matter, how they work and what they may signal for the next generation of blended finance structures.
Light lunch will be provided in the event space.
- Scaling and mobilizing capital increasingly depends on building investable platforms, portfolios and ecosystems.
- Explore how assets can be de-risked, aggregated and matured over time to support deeper investability.
- Can ecosystem-building approaches be transformed into bankable assets over time, and what would it take?
- Participants explore pathways for building ecosystems that strengthen scale, track record and investor confidence over time.
- Why some deals stall while others gain traction, and what practical factors shape whether capital mobilization efforts slow down, fail or succeed.
- How strategic clarity, stakeholder constraints, risk/return logic, concessionality, alignment and execution agility influence conversion.
Participants use the Conversion Readiness Framework to test how proposals, partnerships and structures can move closer to credible commitment.
- Senior industry perspectives on what it takes to align public priorities, private capital and institutional investment around credible opportunities.
- Candid reflections on what helps capital move, where promising ideas lose momentum and how to build trust, alignment and confidence across partners.
Participants work through a practical spreadsheet-based example to see how required returns, minimum return thresholds and upside limits interact, and how concessional capital changes the economics of a blended finance structure.
- Bring together the most resonant insights on institutional capital, risk transfer, investability, conversion readiness and practical execution.
- Close with a forward-looking reflection on how participants can apply the two days to strengthen proposals, partnerships and pathways from structure to scale.
A final opportunity for participants, speakers and invited guests to continue the conversation and build relationships following the session.
The Complete Course in Blended and Sustainable Finance 2026
Participants receive full online, on-demand access to the course, providing shared fluency and deeper learning before, during and after the in-person sessions.
- Foundations of blended and sustainable finance and capital mobilization
- Debt, equity, guarantees, insurance, grants, derivatives and hedging
- DFIs, development agencies, institutional investors, banks and impact funds
- Capital stacks, concessionality, additionality and risk allocation
- Pathways from early-stage concepts toward bankability and participation
- Hurdle rates, waterfalls and collaborative structuring strategies
Session leaders and industry practitioner voices
Learn from Crystalus session leaders and invited practitioners working across public institutions, private capital, impact investing and blended finance markets.
Deborah Brean
Deborah is a globally recognized expert in blended finance, sustainable finance and risk management, with decades of senior-level experience across international finance, structured finance and capital mobilization. She has held senior leadership positions with Export Development Canada, International Finance Corporation and Green Municipal Fund, and has led and advised on billions of dollars in structured financing transactions worldwide.
Patrick Brean
Patrick has advised globally on more than $10 billion in blended and sustainable finance initiatives for public, private and philanthropic clients. Prior to establishing Crystalus, he held senior management positions in treasury, capital markets and structured finance, and he is regularly engaged as a speaker, advisor and facilitator on blended finance, sustainable finance and capital mobilization.
Private Capital Mobilization
Senior executive with deep experience mobilizing private capital through innovative financing, strategic partnerships, and investment platforms across emerging markets.
Impact Investing
Recognized leader advancing impact investing through fund management, catalytic capital, and scalable investment solutions.
Development & Philanthropy
Senior leader shaping development and philanthropic strategies to unlock partnerships, innovation, and sustainable impact.
Institutional Investing
Institutional investor bringing perspectives on fiduciary decision-making, portfolio allocation, risk, and scaling investment opportunities.
Specific leaders and session contributors will be confirmed as invitations are finalized.
What learners and participants are saying
This was the best learning session I’ve had in my career.
More learner and participant commentsSelect to expand
“…exceeded my expectations…excellent overview of key concepts whilst highlighting important nuances.”
“Great content…opens up one’s mind on the potential innovations in inclusive finance.”
“Excellent. Well detailed & with sound clarity.”
“I’ve been interested in blended finance and the impacts we can have globally. This course has given the basics and the high-level insights that I needed.”
“This course is excellent! I appreciate how the concepts are explained in straightforward, easy-to-understand terms that directly apply to my professional context.”
“This course helps understand the players and their motivations across the spectrum!…helps you structure better.”
“A great investment and highly recommended for ALL development professionals.”
“It exceeded my expectations in every way. They…clearly know their stuff!!”
Note: These reviews are from Crystalus online courses and in-person learning sessions. Participant names have been omitted.
Demystifying complexity and helping capital move
Crystalus is a blended and sustainable finance advisory firm specializing in public-private capital mobilization, climate finance, impact investing, innovative finance, fund structuring and capacity building. The firm helps clients and learners understand complex financing clearly, partner more effectively across the capital spectrum and move worthy ideas from concept toward committed capital.
Participation, transfers and refunds
Registration includes both collaborative days, evening networking events and the integrated on-demand learning experience. Cancellations received more than 21 days before the session are eligible for a full refund less administrative processing costs. Registrations may be transferred to another participant within the same organization at no additional cost. Agenda elements and speakers remain subject to refinement.
Reserve Your Place
Complete the registration form below to reserve your place for the in-person Crystalus Innovation Series | Ottawa 2026.
September 22–23, 2026
Two collaborative days in Ottawa
Evening networking events on both days
Registration Form
Complete your registration, review HST and total, then choose credit card payment or invoice / EFT.