🌍🌱 VentureESG goes (truly) global - with three exciting new partnerships! Over the last 1.5 years, we have started key partnerships with two key DFIs (British International Investment and FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank) and Germany's Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH. With these partnerships, we are extending our work on meaningful ESG integration with VCs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Here’s what happened in our emerging markets work so far based on three recent updates: 1. 🔎 ESG Due Diligence Toolkit & White Paper The first output of our partnership with BII and FMO is an ESG due diligence framework, accompanied by a research-based white paper, to enhance ESG integration in VC funds across emerging markets. Find links to both in the comments. 2. 🏋️♀️ In-Person ESG Trainings in emerging markets Last month, we kicked off the first ESG training cohorts in Dakar, Senegal – joined by 10 representatives from 7 VC funds based in West Africa. Working with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and their CATAL1.5°T initiative, we will convene another ~ six cohorts across Africa and Latin America. The picture is of our first cohort! 3. 👥 Emerging Market Community of VCs and LPs In July, we launched our emerging market community in parallel to our Europe/US-focused VC community; the first quarterly call showed that there is a vibrant group ready to collaborate to foster ESG best practices among VCs and LPs in emerging markets. Let us know if you want to join and get access to our free Notion resource hub and a lot more at zecheng@ventureesg.com A big thank you to Rob Borthwick, Giulia Rigazio, Guy Alexander as well as Marta J., Charnez Jacobs and Milena Stolz for your trust - looking forward to continuing our work together over the coming years! 📚 Read more on our Medium post (link in comments), and don’t hesitate to reach out!
VentureESG
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Creating a community around ESG in venture, and helping VC firms integrate ESG practices into their end-to-end processes
About us
Our mission is to help the VC sector recognise the importance of ESG and to provide resources to make this topic standard part of diligence, portfolio management and fund management. We believe that adopting ESG principles across all fund processes from due diligence to portfolio management is going to become the new standard. ESG means better business - and is not a philanthropic cherry on the cake. ESG principles help us as funds as well as our portfolio companies to create sustainable value. VentureESG is working to provide an open and collaborative forum that enables: - community engagement for learning, knowledge sharing, and trouble-shooting - practical guidance for funds and their teams around design and implementation of ESG processes - access to ongoing research, resources and expertise
- Website
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https://www.ventureesg.com
External link for VentureESG
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Type
- Nonprofit
Employees at VentureESG
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Sharon Vosmek
CEO, Astia & Managing Partner, Astia Fund. Series A/B Investor, Board Member, Advisor, Speaker, fierce advocate for her portfolio
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Christian Jølck
Co-founder and General Partner @2150 & UrbanPartners | Kauffman Fellow | Young Global Leader at World Economic Forum
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Cecile Blilious
Head of Impact & Sustainability, Pitango Venture Capital Expert on combining the worlds of high-tech with Sustainability and social impact in…
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Rosalind Bazany
Partner, Head of ESG and Impact
Updates
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💡 Taking ESG Beyond Due Diligence: Post-Investment Support for VC Portfolio Companies While in buyout funds, the practice of ESG value-add has become standard over the last few years, VC has been lagging behind — a missed financial opportunity. As with ESG integration in due diligence, funds in our community are experimenting with where, when, and for whom value-add activities make sense in VC. These examples from thirteen funds, across geographies, fund sizes, and sector focus, show the large variety of ways VCs are helping with: 1. Specific and material ESG lapses identified in due diligence 2. Compliance with existing and future regulation and reporting requirements 3. Designing effective action plans and progress management structures to lock ESG into companies' growth 🙏 Many thanks to our contributors for sharing their insights and best practices: 2150: Peter Hirsch Antler: Rosalind Bazany blisce/: Clara Cohade Cusp Capital: Dr. Carolin Althoff daphni: Damien Didier HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds: Dr. Adrian Fuchs & Claudia Raber Kindred: The Kindred team Lightrock: Mehdi L. Maki.vc: Mona Saurén Molten Ventures: Grace Savage Oxford Science Enterprises: Emily Matthews Pitango: Cecile Blilious Revaia: Anaïs Blarel Read all the insights here: https://lnkd.in/dT5jEfVt
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❓ What are the biggest topics in VC rights now...? That's what we asked ourselves when planning our first conference, FRAME. And we landed on four big VC topics (which also happen to have an ESG angle) covered by four keynote speakers : 1. AI AI has been drawing in the majority of VC funding over the last years. There are enormous dangers associates with it - and the FOMO driving investors is not helping with 'being careful'. We are very happy that Gina Neff, (Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge) will help us see more clearly on that front. 2. Climate Beyond AI, climate (and green/clean tech) investments have become a big driver of VC since John Doerr's prophecy in the early 2000s. What is the business case and where do we need to invest, especially for the long term? We hope to hear about some controversial truths from Cameron Hepburn (University of Oxford) in his lightning speech. 3. DEI Is there really a drawback on DEI initiatives? While some institutions in the US have become quiet on the matter, Europe is only warming up. And when done right, DEI is a real driver of value. We are really glad that Megan J Smith is coming over to tell us about her experiences as the US' CTO under Obama and the progress of some of the big shifts in DEI thinking since then. 4. ESG Despite big narrative ups and downs (and FT headlines), ESG is obviously not dead. We couldn't really run a conference as VentureESG without an impulse on ESG. We are very much looking forward to welcome Alex Edmans (London Business School) to the stage to deliver what will surely be some counter-intuitive insights on the topic. 🚀 If you are interested to hear those four - and many more - check the FRAME programme and register for your ticket here: https://lnkd.in/e4KA7dyT
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📣 FIRST SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FRAME: We're really happy about the fantastic GPs who make up our panel on 'Responsible Venture Capital'! 1. Marie Ekeland - Founder & CEO of 2050 2. Paul Murphy - Partner at Lightspeed 3. Rainer Märkle - Partner at HV Capital 4. Maya Horgan Famodu - Founder & Partner of Ingressive To hear from these four but also to participate in the safari breakfast hosted by 10 VCs and LPs across London, the afternoon breakouts, an ESG debate and an ESG game (yes, ESG can be fun...), make sure you secure your ticket now! Register for your tickets and find out more here: https://lnkd.in/e4KA7dyT We can wait to see you in London on September 19!
FRAME Conference — 19.09.24
frameconference.info
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📣 We’ve just published our June 2024 Community Newsletter! In this issue: 🤝 We provide more info on FRAME: the first-of-its-kind ESG for VC conference, hosted by VentureESG on 19th September 2024 📚 We cover the new tools & resources we've produced to make your job easier, including research on sector-specific materiality, emerging markets, dual-use and defence tech, ESG incidence, and ESG due diligence best practice 🎓 We provide a recap of the progress of our Leading in ESG training programme, with upcoming sessions in London, Berlin, and Toronto 📅 We detail our packed series of events and sessions throughout July, August, and September 🗞 And finally, we link to some of the news, events & interesting reads from us and the VentureESG community! Read and subscribe here:
VentureESG June 2024 Community Newsletter
theventureesgteam.substack.com
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EXCITING UPDATES - GET YOUR FRAME CONFERENCE TICKET NOW! We are hosting FRAME, our first ever conference-size event, on September 19th at 180 Studios in London! FRAME is a community-led gathering exclusively for 200 VCs and 50 LPs to inspire more collective engagement around ESG and responsible investing. We are really excited about our agenda - here is a glimpse: 🚀 Sector-specific 'safari’ breakfasts hosted by VCs and LPs, including Balderton Capital, AlbionVC, Kinnevik, Dawn Capital, Atomico and British International Investment 🚀 Lightning speeches from leading experts on AI, ESG, DEI and Climate 🚀 Panels with leading GPs and LPs, including from Lightspeed, 2050 and HV Capital among others 🚀 Roundtables tackling specific issues and functions, hosted by our VC and LP community, including Base10 Partners, Better Society Capital, British Business Bank, Diversity VC and others 🚀 An Oxford-style debate arguing for/ against the motion: ‘VC needs more ESG' 🚀 The ESG Game (!) We will be releasing more details on speakers and lineup over the coming weeks as we're releasing more tickets. Find more information on our agenda and most important GET YOUR TICKETS on the FRAME website here: https://lnkd.in/e4KA7dyT
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ESG IS NOT DEAD ... and that is good for startups, VC funds, pensioners and taxpayers. The 'war on ESG' is played by some exceptionally visible American opponents - against the evidence for a financial business case for meaningful (material) ESG integration. ESG is not about 'moral obligation' - it is about doing better business. Taking more risks into account leads to better decisions. Not 'doing ESG' is exceptionally disadvantageous for the people whose money the ecosystem is playing with: pensioners, endowment donors and tax payers. 📣 Looking at the whole VC value chain helps us understand: we all need to use our voice to put more pressure on the institutions managing our money to act in our best (financial) interest - and that means MORE (and better) ESG integration. Fortunately, the European state LPs - from KfW Capital and Bpifrance to European Investment Fund (EIF) - are aligned on this and are pushing forward from the top. We hope a similar alliance will also form in the US. Find the link to our co-directors' (Hannah Leach and Johannes Lenhard) Fast Company piece in the comments.
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💡 ESG due diligence has become a standard part of many venture capital investors’ due diligence. LPs are asking for it more and more and they want to see ‘evidence’. 🛠 Across our community and membership, many funds are experimenting with different ways of integrating ESG into the steps leading up to the investment decision and the IC. These examples from twelve funds, across geographies, fund sizes, and sector focus, show the large variety of approaches. 🌿 The goal of this post — and the forthcoming one on post-investment ESG integration — is to take away the fear of ‘doing something wrong’ and inspire action. 🙏 Many thanks to the contributors and participating funds for their insights into what best practice looks like: Atomico - Ashleigh Brown HV Capital - Marie Bos Kinnevik - Rebecka Elming Saidac Balderton Capital - Elodie Broad Project A - Paola Compés Tatay Northzone - Sanna Blomkvist PreSeed Ventures - Emma Kjellander daphni - Damien Didier Maki.vc - Mona Saurén NGP Capital - Monica Johnson The Westly Group - Shaun Chaudhuri AENU - Elena Harumi Stark
How the Best in Venture Capital are Nailing ESG Due Diligence — 12 Best Practice Examples from our…
medium.com
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📢 We're hiring for another Research Fellow - this time to tackle the much-needed topic of ESG for Start-up and Scale-up Boards! The regularity of board meetings and the decision-making ability of board members, presents a unique opportunity to raise the ESG conversation and drive forward material ESG action points and accountability. Board meetings are the perfect moment to surface ESG concerns, set and track progress on ESG goals and coordinate among fellow board members, c-suite team and investors. In partnership with VentureESG member, Balderton Capital, this project will build on existing industry startup board guides, and go one step further in specifically tackling the subject of ESG in that context. More details below - do apply and share! #esg #startups #venturecapital #boards #boardmanagement #responsibleinvesting
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💥 The biggest week of the year so far is coming up for VentureESG: it's time for SuperVenture in Berlin! We're excited to see our community in so many forms next week in Berlin - and to try our best to push the conversations that matter to us forward on and off the stage, too. 1️⃣ DINNER-TIME (I) before the conference even starts: on Monday, Laura and Iñigo (Base10 Partners) are co-hosting a dinner with us where we will pick up the transatlantic DEI conversation; really happy that Francesca will join us to share her Diversity VC-hat thoughts! 2️⃣ BOARDROOMS at SV: Hannah and Johannes are hosting LP and VC boardrooms at the main conference on Tuesday to talk about - what else - the state of ESG in VC. We're among others joined by our friends Theresa, Suzanne, Elodie, Moritz, Ashleigh and Shaun! 3️⃣ PANELS at SV: Johannes will moderate a discussion on the real way forward for DEI on the main stage (with Laura, Theresa, Francesca and Chris) on Wednesday while Hannah will lead a discussion on 'responsible investing in VC' with Suzanne, Tony, Ashton and Hussein on Thursday. Join the conversation! 4️⃣ DINNER-TIME (II): the second year in a row we're happy to co-host a dinner with Ashton (Lowercarbon Capital) with a bunch of LPs and GPs to close of the main day of SV. We're also really looking forward to the side events hosted by friends Ada Ventures (art at the bunker - thank you Diarra), Revaia (thank you Sandra), FoodLabs ( 🙏 Sophie), BACKED VC / Morphais (Andre and Eva-Valérie), Cherry Ventures and HV Capital / Cusp Capital (DANKE Marie and Dr. Carolin)! 💚 It will be a big week and we're very excited to see so many of you! Give us a shout if you're around and we don't know yet!
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