Invest-NL has launched a successor to its Dutch Future Fund I. | Companies with emissions reduction targets are more aligned with the EU taxonomy | Triodos IM on SFDR.
Invest-NL and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have announced the launch of Dutch Future Fund II (DFF II), which will dedicate a minimum of €200m to Netherlands-based venture capital funds specialising in the energy transition, deep tech, circular economy, and agrifood.
The new fund will invest in between ten to twelve funds, which will support growth financing to over a hundred Dutch startups. Invest-NL and EIF expect the new fund to mobilise at least €400m, both parties said in a joint press release.
The emergence of the new fund comes off the back of a successful launch of its predecessor, the €150m Dutch Future Fund I. Since its inception in October 2020, DFF I has allocated €848m in around twenty mainly Dutch investment funds. These funds are expected to invest at least €1.1bn in startups and scale-ups in the Netherlands.
“Since its establishment, Invest-NL has effectively filled its role as the National Promotional Institution,” said Rinke Zonneveld, chief executive officer of Invest-NL, whose main task is to attract European funds to support Dutch societal transition challenges.
“Europe offers abundant opportunities to enhance the financeability of startups and scale-ups. I am delighted that we can continue the success of the first Dutch Future Fund and attract additional private capital for the funds.”
EU taxonomy
Companies with emissions reduction targets are more aligned with the EU taxonomy, joint research by CDP and Clarity AI showed.
The study by CDP, a non-profit that runs the global environmental disclosure system for companies, and Clarity AI, a global sustainability technology platform, is the first to explore the link between EU taxonomy metrics and indicators of corporate transition, such as GHG emissions and science-based targets.
“EU taxonomy reporting is still in its early stages but is already illuminating the path towards a more sustainable economy,” Patricia Pina, head of research at Clarity AI, said in a joint press release.
But she warned the EU taxonomy “is not a silver bullet. To effectively leverage this powerful tool and have a holistic view of environmental progress, the financial market should use the EU taxonomy in conjunction with transition plans to truly assess the credibility of corporates’ commitments when it comes to environmental progress.”
Triodos Investment Management
Triodos Investment Management, a globally active impact investor which manages €5.7bn assets, is calling for a new investment categorisation system, following a consultation initiated by the European Commission to review the current Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Triodos IM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, is proposing “a simple, clear and comparable categorisation system that informs all investors about the sustainability efforts of a financial product”, it said in a press release.
In order to improve the SFDR, Triodos IM wants all products to be comparable. They should also be easily understood, and contribute to the original objectives of the SFDR. And finally, the categorisation should be able to stand the test of time.
