Netherlands-headquartered financial services firm ABN Amro announced a €425m ($507m) impact investment vehicle on Tuesday that will back companies developing products supporting sustainability and inclusiveness.
Sustainable Impact Fund (SIF) will invest between €500,000 and €4m per company across three areas: the circular economy, energy transition and social impact. It is seeking financial returns as well as social results and is targeting companies with a proven concept.
The first two Netherlands-based recipients of funding through the vehicle included Envision, a creator of smart glasses software that raised $1.8m last month in a round also backed by Impact Ventures, existing backer 4impact and various angel investors.
SIF also supplied an undisclosed amount for Foodlogica, the developer of an emissions-free last-mile cold chain logistics system, last month. The fund then provided an undisclosed sum for Denmark-based wind blade technology developer Fiberline Composites earlier this month.
Rutger van Nouhuijs of ABN Amro’s CEO for corporate and institutional banking, said: “Our bank finances countless sustainable initiatives, in the form of loans and credit. However, in some situations, companies need equity investments.
“Our new fund is able to offer this as a solution. Companies that link sustainable returns to a strong business plan can apply to ABN Amro SIF.”
