The Polestar Capital Circular Debt Fund is now closed with €240m in capital which will be used to finance 30 circular projects in the Netherlands.
The circular economy fund of Dutch impact investor Polestar Capital has raised an additional €43m in investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF), Invest-NL – the Netherlands’ main national promotional institution, Danish philanthropic association Realdania and regional Dutch development company Oost NL. The fund is now closed to investors.
The fund, Europe’s largest circular economy debt fund, aims to close the gap between capital supply and demand for sustainable technology companies, which often struggle to find funding because of their experimental business models and techniques, according to the firm. It focuses on achieving impact by reducing waste and carbon emissions, and by boosting the use of circular and more sustainable materials and products.
“It can take some time to make innovative circular manufacturing projects fundable,” said Daan van Kassel, fund director of Polestar’s circular fund. “This expansion allows us to financially support at least three to six additional circular companies at this crucial stage, enabling them to further scale up their circular technologies and business models, disrupting existing polluting value chains, and replacing them with more sustainable production chains.”
Circular chemical building materials
Last month, Polestar’s circular fund granted a €15m loan to BioBTX for the production of circular chemical building materials from waste plastics and biomass. It also plans to make €55m in loans available to five to six innovative circular manufacturing companies in the Netherlands in the second half of this year.
The goal of the circular fund “aligns perfectly with our focus on sustainable innovation”, said Ulrike Kostense, senior investment manager at Invest-NL. “By solving the financing gap for innovative circular manufacturing companies, Polestar Capital funds innovation and accelerates the transition to a circular economy, bringing both positive environmental impact and economic benefits”, Kostense said.
“We can achieve a lot by better managing resources and products and integrating circular thinking into our production processes,” said Marjut Falkstedt, chief executive of the European Investment Fund, which forms part of the European Investment Bank.
As previously reported by Impact Investor, Polestar Capital launched its circular fund in 2022 with an anchor investment of €100m by the Pensioenfonds Detailhandel – the Dutch pension fund for the retail sector.
