ESG and Sustainability
The rise of ESG factors in investment decision making will have a dramatic impact on returns and opportunities in the 21st century. A recent survey by LGT Capital Partners and Mercer showed that 57% of respondents believe that incorporating ESG standards into investment decisions will raise returns. Just 9% argued they reduce returns on investment.
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Revaia, Europe’s largest female-founded venture capital firm, has successfully raised €150 million ($160 million) for its second fund, Revaia Growth II. The funding was secured from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and institutional investors across Europe, with support from existing partners like Bpifrance and new backers such as mutual insurer Carac and the European Investment Fund.
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More Stories on ESG and Sustainability
Alternative Investments/ESG: The World’s First “Return On Character” ETF Makes Its Debut
ROC Investments, a California-based investment company that aims to be the market leader in measuring the character habits of public company senior leadership, has launched the ROC (Return On Character) ETF (BATS: ROCI).
Alternative Investments/ESG: New Active Global Carbon Transformation ETF From KraneShares
Global asset management firm Krane Funds Advisors launched the KraneShares Global Carbon Transformation ETF (Ticker: KGHG) on the NYSE on March 16. To be managed by award-winning portfolio manager Roger Mortimer, the ETF will address the theme of decarbonization amidst climate targets.
Digital Assets: Stronghold Digital Uses Energy From Coal Waste To Mine Bitcoin
Millions of tons of coal waste litter across Pennsylvania at coal mining sites that were abandoned after their useful coal was mined and sold to steel mills and power plants. Stronghold Digital Mining (NASDAQ: SDIG) has devised a method to turn these waste mountains into energy that can be used to mine bitcoin.
Alternative Investments/ESG: The CICC Carbon Futures ETF Launches Today In Hong Kong
The China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Asset Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of China International Capital Corporation Limited, launches today the CICC Carbon Futures ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Investors will therefore get access to one of the largest carbon markets in the world.
Alternative Investments/ESG: BNP Paribas Launches ETFs Targeting Hydrogen And Sustainable Real Estate
BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched ESG-filtered thematic ETFs targeting real estate and the hydrogen economy. The BNP Paribas Easy ECPI Global ESG Hydrogen Economy UCITS ETF (HYDRO FP) provides thematic equity exposure to companies involved in hydrogen economy. Meanwhile, the BNP Paribas Easy FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Developed Green CTB UCITS ETF (GRCTB FP) offers exposure to developed market REITS and real estate companies while tilting towards the most environmentally friendly securities.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Global X Launches Four China ETFS, Including Clean Energy And EVs, In Europe
Global X has launched in Europe four new thematic, China-focused ETFs that address the clean energy, electric vehicles and batteries, cloud computing , and biotech megatrends. The new ETFs follow Global X’s recent thematic launches focusing on solar, agtech and food innovation, hydrogen and wind energy. The firm also introduced bitcoin and ether ETPs earlier this month.
Venture Capital: TPG Rise Climate Invests In A Renewable Natural Gas JV
TPG Rise Climate comes on board Monarch Bioenergy, a joint venture between Roeslein Alternative Energy and Smithfield Foods as an equal partner with an undisclosed investment. Monarch uses Roeslein’s technology and Smithfield’s farming practices to convert methane emissions from animal farming into renewable natural gas (RNG) that can power homes, businesses and cars.
Alternative Investments/ESG: VegTech Invest Launches Plant-Based Innovation & Climate ETF
VegTech Invest advisory has launched the VegTech Plant-based Innovation & Climate ETF (Ticker: EATV), its first financial product. The ETF offers exposure to publicly traded companies actively innovating with plants and plant-derived ingredients and producing primary products that are animal-free. These companies also have a beneficial impact on the environment and solve certain pressing global problems.
Venture Capital: Swedish Battery Maker Northvolt Rolls Out Its Inaugural Li-Ion Cell
On December 28, the first lithium-ion cell to have been fully designed, developed and assembled at a gigafactory by a homegrown European battery company marked Northvolt Ett’s commencement of production at its Skellefteå facility in northern Sweden. The company is a rival to Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) battery division.
Alternative Investments/(non)-ESG: The BAD Investment Company Launches ETF for Betting, Alcohol, Drugs
The BAD Investment Company has launched a new ETF as “an intriguing alternative for a new wave of retail investors who may be frustrated with aspects of the ESG movement.” The BAD ETF tracks the EQM BAD Index (BADIDX).
Venture Capital: Israel’s Future Meat Raises $347M To Build US Facility
In what is claimed to be the largest investment round for a cultured meat startup till date, Israel-based Future Meat announced the close of its $347 million Series B round co-led by ADM Ventures, the venture investing arm of ADM (NYSE: ADM), the Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund which manages over $85 billion in assets, and S2G Ventures.
Venture Capital: Nicola and Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation Launches $100M Strategic Impact Fund
The Strategic Impact Fund is entirely women-led. The $100 million Strategic Impact Fund by Minderoo Foundation, owned by Nicola and Andrew Forrest, will invest in ‘impact’ projects that address issues such as gender inequality, ending modern slavery, and freeing the oceans of plastic and making them more sustainable. The fund’s investing aims to have a…
Venture Capital: Stenon, Which Is Out To Disrupt Labs For Soil Testing, Nabs $20M
Stenon, a German agtech that is providing laboratory independent real-time soil analysis, has raised a $20 million Series A round from Founders Fund, David Friedberg’s The Production Board and existing investors including Cherry Ventures and Atlantic Labs.
Alternative Investments/ESG: BNY Mellon Launches Trio Of Active, Transparent, Equity ESG ETFs
The BNY Mellon Sustainable US Equity ETF (BKUS), BNY Mellon Sustainable International Equity ETF (BKIS) and BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Emerging Markets ETF (BKES) are three new actively managed, sustainable ETFs launched by BNY Mellon Investment Management this week on the New York Stock Exchange.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Goldman Sachs Launches U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF Tracking The Paris Climate Agreement
Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Asset Management launched the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Paris-Aligned Climate U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GPAL). The ETF may be attractive to investors seeking equity exposure colored with responsibility towards climate change and carbon emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets.
Artificial Intelligence: French Regulator Cracks Down On Clearview AI With Order To Delete Data
French privacy watchdog Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertes (CNIL) has deemed the facial recognition start-up Clearview AI to be in default of the privacy laws of the country because it unlawfully collected and used the personal/biometric data of the French people in the absence of a legal basis, and did not comply with individuals’ rights to access or delete their data.
Venture Capital: European Vertical Farming Startup Infarm Raises $200M, Including From The Qatar Wealth Fund
Infarm’s vertical farming technology uses 95% less water, 90% less transport and zero chemical pesticide. Infarm, the fast-growing Dutch vertical farming startup, raised a $200 million Series D round that launched it into ‘unicorn’ status. The Qatar Investment Authority, Partners in Equity, Hanaco, Atomico, Lightrock, and Bonnier and other existing and new investors participated in…
Venture Capital: Norwest Venture Closes On $3B Fund NVP XVI
Norwest Venture Partners, the Silicon Valley-based VC firm, closed on Norwest Venture Partners XVI, LP, a $3 billion fund to finance “paradigm-shifting” business across the consumer, enterprise and healthcare sectors. The announcement of the new fund, its biggest so far, coincided with the firm’s introduction of an ESG policy in parallel with its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Alternative Investments/ESG: J.P. Morgan Asset Management Launches Climate Change ETF
J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) announced Tuesday the launch of its first active, sustainable ETF that will give investors exposure to companies addressing the huge challenge of climate change and are poised to benefit from it. The JPMorgan Climate Change Solutions ETF (TEMP) will invest in companies that are producing less carbon-intensive energy such as wind or solar power; improving the electric grid; investing in less carbon-intensive forms of agriculture, construction, or transportation; or developing technologies to reduce waste.
Venture Capital: Jack & Annie’s Raises $23M For “Meat” From The Jackfruit Plant
Annie Ryu discovered the jackfruit and its meat substitute potential while working in India as a pre-med student in 2011. She has since succeeded in building Jack & Annie’s into a leading vegan frozen food brand that just announced its $23 million Series B funding round led by Creadev, Desert Bloom, Wheatsheaf, and existing investors Beta Angeles and Investco.
Artificial Intelligence: “AI Will Never Be Ethical,” Says An AI Tool In A Debate
The topic of the debate: ‘This house believes that AI will never be ethical.’ An AI tool debating on the above topic has issued a blunt warning that AI will never be ethical. And it should know: It was trained on 63 million news articles, Wikipedia and Reddit Discourse. The AI tool, which has the…
FinTech: Circular Economy-Focused Twig Buys Loopster, A Marketplace For Pre-Loved Clothing
London-based fintech Twig describes itself as “the next generation banking, powering the circular economy,” that enables you “to turn your things into cash, instantly.” In a strategic move designed to broaden its offerings, Twig announced Friday its acquisition of Loopster, a marketplace that pays upfront for clean, unwanted clothes. Like Twig, Loopster encourages customers to join the circular economy and close the loop between use and reuse of clothes.
Artificial Intelligence: Chinese AI Company And IPO-Hopeful SenseTime To Land Up On US Blacklist
In protest against human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the US is likely to place SenseTime, the Chinese AI company, on an investment blacklist, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Washington will take the action against SenseTime on Friday, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, and alongside similar steps against a host of other countries, sources familiar with the matter told the FT.
FinTech: Mambu Scores Largest Private Fundraise For A Banking Platform
Mambu is valued at more than $5.3 billion after $266 million Series E raise. SaaS banking platform Mambu raised €235 million (about $266 million) in a Series E round led by EQT Growth that valued the company at €4.9 billion post money (~$5.3 billion). The funding marked the largest ever financing round for a banking…