The Swedish impact investor’s inaugural venture fund was backed by institutional investors across Europe and will back companies developing solutions to address future health and environmental challenges.
Sweden’s Trill Impact has announced the final close of its first venture fund, which is aimed at backing innovative companies focused on solving future health and environmental challenges, after raising €90m.
The Ventures Fund secured backing by institutional investors across Europe, with Nordic financial services group Nordea and Swedish state-owned venture capitalist Saminvest being the biggest investors.
“The fundraising environment for venture capital has been undeniably challenging lately, with a cautious sentiment and lower risk appetite across markets,” said Johanna Levander, partner and head of investor relations at Trill Impact Advisory.
“We are therefore extra proud to have completed this fundraise while at the same time building a portfolio of what we see as very promising scale-ups.”
‘Milestone’
Trill Impact has raised €1.3bn since it was founded in 2019. Its funds have been invested in three categories: impact private equity, impact ventures and microfinance.
The firm’s venture fund has invested in a range of life sciences and green tech companies, several of which have made progress in clinical trials and market developments since receiving funding.
Trill said it will use the extra funding to continue to make minority investments in mid- to late-stage companies in Europe that have the potential to develop a globally successful product.
Nina Rawal and Alexander Domin, partners at Trill Impact Advisory and co-heads of Trill Impact Ventures, called the closing of the fund “a milestone” for their company which “represents an opportunity to invest in transformative technologies that can contribute to the climate and health challenges the world already faces and will continue facing ahead”.
The fund’s portfolio companies include Open Cosmos, a European producer of small satellites, and Cinclus Pharma, a Swedish clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of a novel treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
It has also invested in MinervaX, a Danish clinical stage biotech firm that’s working on the development of a prophylactic vaccine against Group B Streptococcus infection, which can lead to life-threatening infections in newborns.
