Circular economy

Plus, UK farmers offered finance scheme to reduce costs and decarbonise | Wattron, a specialist in digital heating systems for the packaging industry raises €12m.

Leo Holwerda, director capital, Invest-NL, the Netherlands’ main national promotional institution, on why it pays to make finance available for what may seem ‘unfinanceable’.

Swiss-based Una Terra has invested €2m to support the global growth and impact goals of the New York-based luxury ready-to-wear firm which focuses on circularity and sustainable supply chains.

The investment in Nepra addresses “a clear climate challenge”,  the Swiss specialist impact investor said.

The fund has invested in Rift Labs, a lighting company helping to increase crop yields and reduce water consumption and pesticide use, and Looping, a company tackling transport plastic packaging waste.

The Dutch insect breeder also gets the backing from the InvestEU programme to scale up its sustainable protein production.

The idea of a ‘smart social factory’ of the future – what some call ‘Industry 5.0’ – is gaining momentum in different and surprising ways, and will have implications for impact investors.

Protix, a pioneering Dutch insect breeder backed by a wide range of impact investors, has landed a two-fold investment from Tyson Foods, the biggest meat company in the US.

Paptic has developed its eponymous packaging material from renewable wood fibres as a more sustainable alternative to plastic.

The European Investment Fund is backing Infinity Recycling’s Circular Plastics Fund which invests in companies developing advanced technologies for the recycling of plastics.