Over the past ten years of working with steward-ownership, the ecosystem around it has grown. And over the last years in particular, many of us sensed a shift: steward-ownership seemed to gain more momentum.
But … what does that actually mean? Is this “just” a feeling? Or can we understand it more concretely? How can we grasp this development?
These questions led us to take a closer look at where steward-ownership stands today, and how our work relates to that broader development, knowing that doing so is not straightforward. Change in complex social systems rarely follows linear paths. Effects unfold over time, across contexts, and often beyond the influence of any single organisation.
This is where our Developmental Evaluation began.
Together with an external expert, we developed an approach that fits the nature of this field. Instead of measuring predefined outcomes, we focused on “learning in complexity”. The methodology combines qualitative and quantitative perspectives to capture patterns, shifts, and emerging dynamism without reducing them to simple cause-and-effect claims.
Because steward-ownership is shaped by many actors, organisations, and contexts, we chose to centre the voices of the ecosystem itself. What follows is not a final judgement, but a snapshot: an honest attempt to understand what has changed, what is becoming clearer, and where learning is still unfolding.
Using the Most Significant Change methodology, complemented by contribution analysis and selected quantitative indicators, we collected stories from entrepreneurs, investors, field builders, researchers, policymakers, and the Purpose Group. These perspectives form the backbone of this report.
It’s not just our feeling! Across regions and roles, a shared perception emerges: steward-ownership gained maturity and traction. It shows up more often. And in more places. In research, media, policy conversations, startup programmes, and investment contexts, to name a few. It is increasingly encountered “in the wild”.
What matters is not visibility alone, but what comes with it. Many conversations have shifted: from explaining that steward-ownership exists to working through how it actually works in practice with concrete, more nuanced questions of governance, financing, succession, and long-term responsibility.
This shift did not come from a single breakthrough. It was built on years of patient, often invisible work: adapting legal forms, developing shared language, building trust, and learning through real-world practice.
The growing energy of the ecosystem became clearly visible in October 2025, at the SO:25 Conference in Berlin, the international conference on steward-ownership. For one day, more than 500 entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and supporters from around 20 countries came together. Many meeting in person for the first time, yet recognising themselves as part of something shared.
Next to the conference, many other highlights emerged along the year. To name just a few: The launch of the Steward-Ownership Financing Network (SOFN) creating space to work hands-on on steward-ownership and aligning capital. The Steward-Ownership Network (StONe) connected researchers across countries into a shared field. The Harvard Business School picked up the topic and it became part of their Ownership Project. In Germany, political signals around a new legal form became more concrete than ever. And internationally, from the UK to India and Egypt, more organisations started to explore what steward-ownership could mean in their own context.
At the same time, the development surfaces new layers of complexity. As the ecosystem enters more spaces, new questions become pressing: how to coordinate across actors, how to prioritise deep scaling over simple upscaling, and how to maintain coherence while diversity increases. Or in short, how to best steward steward-ownership together.
Aligned financing stands out as a key strategic field. And despite growing interest, one challenge remains clear: broader adoption in everyday practice is still missing. The current issue is no longer awareness. It is how to support the many organisations and investors who are ready to engage, but unsure how to start. Which feels like a good problem to have looking back, but still a challenge to be solved in the future.
Quantitative indicators back up this picture. The number of steward-owned companies, aligned investors, partnerships, regional field builders, academic publications, and online search interest continues to grow. These numbers are signals, showing that steward-ownership is taking root across sectors and geographies.
For the Purpose Foundation – and hopefully for more actors, this evaluation is both a mirror and a compass. It helps us remain accountable to our supporters while staying responsive to a changing ecosystem and keep on trying to do the best we can to help leverage the potential steward-ownership holds. It also marks the beginning of a learning journey: an approach we intend to refine over time as the field evolves. More broadly, this publication is an invitation to all actors: to reflect together, to recognise what has been built, and to orient future efforts toward strengthening steward-ownership as a building block for an economy that serves people, planet, and society.