The Dutch venture capital fund, which focuses on climate change, biodiversity loss and natural resource depletion, is backed by a range of institutional and European investors.
SHIFT Invest has raised €92m at first close for its fourth fund, which plans to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies developing new technologies in the energy, industry, mobility, food and agriculture sectors. The Amstelveen, Netherlands-based firm is targeting a final close of €150m.
The fund is backed by the European Investment Fund (EIF), as well as a range of Dutch institutional investors, including Rabo Investments, state-owned impact investor Invest-NL, and regional partners such as Oost NL, Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij, ROM Utrecht Region, NV NOM, LIOF and the Investeringsfonds Groningen.
“We are excited about SHIFT Invest because they are true pioneers in impact investing. They dare to step in at an early stage, when the risks are still high but the impact potential is high. We can learn a lot from them and act together at a later stage,” said Fay Kitzen, investment analyst at Invest-NL, which invested €7.5m in the SHIFT Invest IV fund.
The fund will focus on early-to-growth stage investments in technology-driven startups with solutions to climate change, resource scarcity and biodiversity loss in the Netherlands and Northwestern Europe.
It is targeting investments in both hardware and software solutions, from circular materials and precision agriculture to smart energy technology. Ticket sizes range from €250,000 to €4m, while SHIFT Invest typically stays invested for a period of between 4 to 7 years.
More than 60 investments
Founded in 2009, SHIFT Invest supports early-stage innovative Dutch companies in smart food and agriculture, green industries, energy transition and sustainable mobility and logistics. Since its inception, it has made more than 60 investments in companies including e-mobility and energy management platform Maxem, geothermal energy company Canopus, precision weather forecaster Whiffle and circular packaging producer Pieter Pot.
The firm is also supported by corporate backers such as Royal Schiphol Group, as well as Wageningen University & Research and several family offices and entrepreneurs.
