European foundations are making progress on their impact measurement and management journey but “blind spots” must be addressed in order to “future-proof philanthropy”, according to report by Esade Center for Social Impact and BBK.
New regulation for sustainable finance is changing the job market for impact professionals, with universities increasingly offering courses to prepare the next generation.
What does it take to succeed in frontier markets? Barthout van Slingelandt, managing partner at Dutch fund manager XSML, talks about investing where most investors stay away.
BNP Paribas, Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, Rabobank and Oneplanetcrowd back health impact bond to fund a fall prevention programme for the elderly launched last week
The new fund will enable faith-based asset owners to invest in large-scale projects aimed at supporting vulnerable communities with the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Less than 2% of philanthropic capital is directed towards fighting climate change. But targeting “big wins” in this field can lead to more investment, according to research commissioned by the IKEA Foundation.
The climate crisis cannot be solved without involving women, some of the world’s leading investment funds, foundations and financial institutions said in a joint letter published ahead of COP27
The UK government-backed £30m fund aims to bring back Britain’s lost rainforests, which once covered large parts of its western coastline and inspired a classic crime novel.
The fund will invest in digital business models aimed at boosting the wellbeing of individuals through health and education and is backed by Germany’s Bank für Sozialwirtschaft as its anchor investor
Ocean impact investing is picking up speed as international institutional investors flocked to the Blue Ocean Fund, launched last year by Paris-based asset manager SWEN Capital Partners.
The new fund is targeting an additional €200m as it searches for companies offering scalable, disruptive technologies capable of slashing the carbon footprint of the transport sector.
With global leaders due to meet next month in Egypt at COP27, the mayors of some of world’s biggest cities have announced a record investment in climate projects for cities in the Southern Hemisphere.
Lightrock’s inaugural climate fund backs tech companies focused on energy transition, decarbonisation, sustainable food & agriculture and sustainable transportation
A report by think tank Carbon Tracker shows that only 2% of the world’s biggest polluters adequately disclose climate risks in their financial statements
The Article 9 fund is one of Europe’s largest cross-border residential investment vehicles, with a portfolio of around 30 properties in seven countries
The investment will support Tilabras Aquaculture’s growth plans, including building new hatchery and breeding facilities and expanding its existing farming and processing plants
Carbon Equity is trying to remove the barriers preventing young, affluent investors to access impact-driven private equity investments, a market which offers huge growth opportunities
Anita Bhatia urged investors to back solutions that respond to both gender and climate challenges, speaking at the Impact Summit Europe. Diversity and inclusion and the need for mobilising capital at scale to tackle systemic risks were also at debate
Despite being a frontrunner in sustainable investing, the Netherlands might be missing out on opportunities to contribute more towards the Sustainable Development Goals, according to a study by the Netherlands Advisory Board on impact investing
Dutch cooperative lender Rabobank and venture capital fund Future Food Fund have invested in Clear, a health-tech company which has developed a self-help app for type 2 diabetes patients
Launched in 2017, the Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond has helped 95,000 East Africans out of poverty during the pandemic, supporting more than 14,000 first-time entrepreneurs in Kenya and Uganda
InvestEU funding programme has been given a guarantee of €19.65 billion by the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the European Investment Fund, to support investment projects across Europe
Institutional investors and wealthy individuals have embraced impact investing over recent years. But, what will it take to unlock the market for retail investors? Impact Investor tries to find the answers
Representatives of 175 nations have committed to develop a legally binding agreement to beat plastic pollution, hailed as the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris accord on climate
The Hague, best known as the city of peace and justice, wants to put itself on the map as the leading impact city in Europe. We talk to ImpactCity The Hague about their accelerator programme for startups that want to change the world
Private equity funds account for more than half of all impact funds, according to the latest report on the sector by Phenix Capital. A total of €136 billion has been committed to impact-focused private equity funds since 2015
Infinity Recycling aims to create a circular economy for plastics. Its new fund has landed Dutch investment agency Invest-NL as a cornerstone investor, and will invest in companies offering advanced recycling technologies
Protix, which produces commercially viable insect-based food ingredients, eyes internationally expansion after securing backing from new and existing impact investors in its latest fundraising round
Verdant Capital’s Edmund Higenbottam has helped raise more than a quarter of a billion dollars for inclusive financial institutions and fintech companies in Africa since 2017. Impact Investor talks to him about about fintech, impact investing and their latest fund
Capital commitments to impact funds dropped last year due to Covid, but the sector has shown “remarkable resilience” throughout an unprecedented two-year crisis, Phenix Capital said in its annual report on the industry
SDG-focused fund, managed by Sweden’s Summa Equity, becomes Europe’s largest impact fund closing at €2.3 billion, as more return-driven investors move into the impact investment space
InnovationQuarter, the regional economic development agency for the greater Rotterdam-The Hague area in The Netherlands, last week expanded its IQCapital fund with €63.6mn to a total size of €140mn.
Payroll giving, or donating part of your wages to charity, may be common in other countries, but it didn’t exist in the Netherlands. Until Sandra van Beest spotted an opportunity and founded The Social Handshake.
Financial institutions will achieve greater impact if they focus on so-called place-based impact investing in regional regeneration, instead of lending to certain sectors.
Climate Investor Two, the second blended finance climate financing fund launched by investment manager Climate Fund Managers, announced its first close at $675mn.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands, an environmental group which won a landmark climate court case against Royal Dutch Shell in May, said it may target the banks that finance polluting companies.
Britain’s Prince Charles called it “the last chance saloon,” for our planet, while UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned world leaders at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow the “doomsday clock is still ticking.”
Only 13% of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are registered for any digital service to boost production. The newly launched Digital Agri Hub is hoping to improve this statistic.
Invest International officially went live on October 1 with a low-key launch of its website. But the new government-backed Dutch investment institution has huge ambitions.
On the sidelines before the pandemic, digital due diligence is playing an increasingly important role when it comes to investment decisions by impact funds.
Retail investors who want to invest in microfinance in emerging and developing countries can now do so through the Actam Impact Financial Inclusion Fund.
The Healthy Food Systems Impact Fund II, a recently launched fund by Pymwymic, a cooperative of European impact investors, has made its first investment.
Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO and Rabobank have invested €10mn each in the world’s biggest public-private impact fund for smallholder farmers in emerging markets.
This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic shifted priorities. This week: Philip Tan, managing director of Polestar Capital.
This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic shifted priorities. This week: Nanouk Grootendorst, programme manager social enterprises at Rabo Foundation in the Netherlands.
No need to reinvent the wheel – in The Expert View impact investing pros share their lessons learned. Nico Blaauw tells us how the pandemic changed fundraising practices at Goodwell Investments.
The Netherlands must scale up its climate investments before it is too late, the Dutch central bank (DNB) warned in a recent report. Impact Investor asked a large public investor in Europe’s biggest seaport for a reaction.
Future Food Fund, a €12mn Dutch specialist venture capital fund that provides early-stage capital for agriculture technology (agtech) startups, is considering launching a second fund next year.
A GPS cattle tracker, a harvester robot for white asparagus and a packaging-free online supermarket. These are some of the investments of the €12mn Future Food Fund (FFF), a Dutch seed capitalist that invests in innovative agricultural and food technologies.
Goodwell Investments, the oldest impact investor in the Netherlands, has started a €50mn fund aimed at fast-growing small and medium-sized companies in Africa.
The job market for sustainable investment roles has become so overheated that some firms are being priced out of the market for the best talent.
Impact investment funds, however, can still pick and choose. “I’ve got a plethora of candidates that really want to get into impact.”
No need to reinvent the wheel: in our regular column ‘The Expert’ impact investing pros share their lessons from the field. This week, Alexander Gangnus of Dennemeyer IP Consulting on assessing impact in company valuations.
The creation of a single, standardised approach to measuring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) won’t absolve investors of the need to do their own due diligence, a panel of asset owners told the Phenix Virtual Impact Summit last week.
With so many companies jumping on the impact investing bandwagon in recent years, the risk of ‘impact washing’ is growing. “Just with a good budget, you can sell an impact report to investors.”
“B Corp is for business what Fairtrade is for coffee.” That’s according to Stefanie Kneer, head of impact management at London-based fund manager Bridges Fund Management. “For us, B Corp is probably one of the most relevant social and environmental accreditations.”
A European guarantee instrument played a major role in Invest NL’s decision to invest €7.5 million in Protix in the form of a convertible loan. What is the so-called InnovFin SME Guarantee?
Protix, the Dutch pioneer company breeding insects, receives boost from new investment capital and EU food watchdog’s safety decision to approve its mealworms for human consumption. Operating at full capacity, it is aiming for two to three new production facilities in next five years.
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