News
Impact Expansion Reaches €150M Final Close
Impact Expansion closes its €150M Fund I above target, backing growth-stage SMEs across impact sectors in Western Europe.
The Impact Expansion Team is delighted to announce its oversubscribed final closing at its hard cap of €150m for Impact Expansion Fund I, far above its €120m target size.
This successful fundraising in a currently challenging environment demonstrates, on the one hand, that there is an increasing appetite from the investors' community to contribute to the emergence of a new growth model respectful of people and planet. And on the other hand, it indicates that investors are slowly understanding that performance and impact go hand in hand, which is validated by the strong track record of the Impact Expansion team in that regard.
Certified "Article 9" of the European SFDR regulation, the Fund has received the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF), Swen Capital Partners, BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, Ethias (Belgium Insurance company), Securex (Belgium Human Resources and Insurance company) and SFPIM (Belgian Sovereign Wealth Fund) as well as other institutional investors, and major entrepreneurial European family offices or families offices with a strong impact angle (VP Capital for e.g.).
"For over 10 years, we have been supporting SMEs whose main objectives are to address these growing societal and environmental needs, so it is now very pleasing to receive such support from such strong names", says François de Borchgrave, Partner at Impact Expansion.
Targeting the environment, skilling & inclusion, and healthcare sectors, the Fund aims to support profitable SMEs looking for €5 to €30 million of capital to accelerate their development and increase their impact. The particularity of this team is the complementarity between its four partners, two of whom, François de Borchgrave and Charles-Antoine Janssen, have close to 15 years of experience in impact investing as founders of KOIS, a pioneer impact investing firm, and the other two partners, Erick Rinner and Jérôme Fournier Le Ray, who have worked together for nearly 20 years at Milestone, a traditional private equity investor with a long solid track-record of supporting SMEs in their development via MBIs and MBOs in Western Europe.
The Fund has already invested in four companies - Potential Project, SomniPlanet, MonKitSolaire and BeliVert - which are respectively providing solutions to burnout in large organisations, sleep apnea treatment, renewable energy accessibility and energy efficiency for buildings.
The recently closed investment in BeliVert is the Fund's first in Belgium. The company is active in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency related solutions, including batteries, recharging for electric vehicles and energy solutions for buildings. BeliVert was looking for a partner to support its growth ambitions of becoming a leading supplier of integrated energy solutions, to expand geographically and to broaden its range of products and services on the B2B market and found in Impact Expansion a strong partner.
The three targeted sectors, identified by Impact Expansion in its Theory of Change, are in urgent need of solutions in Western Europe. The focus is being placed in the environment on renewable energy/energy efficiency, in healthcare on prevention, mental health and accessibility, and in skilling & inclusion, on long-life training and inclusion of vulnerable segments of the population (young, handicapped, elderly, minorities).
To measure its impact, the Fund uses the internationally recognised COMPASS methodology, developed by the GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network), which covers the three main pillars of impact: (i) intentionality, (ii) additionality and (iii) measurability. Impact KPIs are negotiated with the companies’ management teams prior to each investment, validated by an independent impact committee, and monitored throughout the investment period until exit. 50% of the investment team's carried interest is linked to the achievement of those impact KPIs.
Four investments and a strong pipeline
Impact Expansion is registered in Luxembourg, supervised by the CSSF, with teams based in Brussels and Paris. The Fund's objective is to invest between €5 and €30 million per company, through majority or minority stakes, which differentiates it from many impact funds that generally only take minority stakes.
“Our deal flow is of very good quality,” says Charles-Antoine Janssen, one of the Fund's Partners. “Our dual impact and private equity profile is very relevant in the eyes of entrepreneurs, who are increasingly selective. It has enabled us to sign the Fund's first four investments and to build a strong pipeline of opportunities.”
The Fund, which invests in Benelux, France, and more broadly Western Europe, aims to take participations in a dozen companies, and receives the support of Operating Partners specialised in specific sectors or areas of expertise.
“Philippe Croppi, operating partner with a 30-year M&A experience, for example, is working with us to support certain investments in their buy-and-build strategies, SomniPlanet for instance as well as other on-going projects,” adds Jérôme Fournier Le Ray, Partner in the Fund.
Contacts
François de Borchgrave - francois@impact-expansion.com
Elvire Perrin - elvire@impact-expansion.com
Jérôme Fournier Le Ray - jerome@impact-expansion.com
For more information:
www.impact-expansion.com
Legal counsel: Arendt & Medernach (Luxembourg); Argo Law (Belgium)
Custodian bank: Banque Internationale à Luxembourg
The Impact Expansion Team is delighted to announce its oversubscribed final closing at its hard cap of €150m for Impact Expansion Fund I, far above its €120m target size.
This successful fundraising in a currently challenging environment demonstrates, on the one hand, that there is an increasing appetite from the investors' community to contribute to the emergence of a new growth model respectful of people and planet. And on the other hand, it indicates that investors are slowly understanding that performance and impact go hand in hand, which is validated by the strong track record of the Impact Expansion team in that regard.
Certified "Article 9" of the European SFDR regulation, the Fund has received the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF), Swen Capital Partners, BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, Ethias (Belgium Insurance company), Securex (Belgium Human Resources and Insurance company) and SFPIM (Belgian Sovereign Wealth Fund) as well as other institutional investors, and major entrepreneurial European family offices or families offices with a strong impact angle (VP Capital for e.g.).
"For over 10 years, we have been supporting SMEs whose main objectives are to address these growing societal and environmental needs, so it is now very pleasing to receive such support from such strong names", says François de Borchgrave, Partner at Impact Expansion.
Targeting the environment, skilling & inclusion, and healthcare sectors, the Fund aims to support profitable SMEs looking for €5 to €30 million of capital to accelerate their development and increase their impact. The particularity of this team is the complementarity between its four partners, two of whom, François de Borchgrave and Charles-Antoine Janssen, have close to 15 years of experience in impact investing as founders of KOIS, a pioneer impact investing firm, and the other two partners, Erick Rinner and Jérôme Fournier Le Ray, who have worked together for nearly 20 years at Milestone, a traditional private equity investor with a long solid track-record of supporting SMEs in their development via MBIs and MBOs in Western Europe.
The Fund has already invested in four companies - Potential Project, SomniPlanet, MonKitSolaire and BeliVert - which are respectively providing solutions to burnout in large organisations, sleep apnea treatment, renewable energy accessibility and energy efficiency for buildings.
The recently closed investment in BeliVert is the Fund's first in Belgium. The company is active in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency related solutions, including batteries, recharging for electric vehicles and energy solutions for buildings. BeliVert was looking for a partner to support its growth ambitions of becoming a leading supplier of integrated energy solutions, to expand geographically and to broaden its range of products and services on the B2B market and found in Impact Expansion a strong partner.
The three targeted sectors, identified by Impact Expansion in its Theory of Change, are in urgent need of solutions in Western Europe. The focus is being placed in the environment on renewable energy/energy efficiency, in healthcare on prevention, mental health and accessibility, and in skilling & inclusion, on long-life training and inclusion of vulnerable segments of the population (young, handicapped, elderly, minorities).
To measure its impact, the Fund uses the internationally recognised COMPASS methodology, developed by the GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network), which covers the three main pillars of impact: (i) intentionality, (ii) additionality and (iii) measurability. Impact KPIs are negotiated with the companies’ management teams prior to each investment, validated by an independent impact committee, and monitored throughout the investment period until exit. 50% of the investment team's carried interest is linked to the achievement of those impact KPIs.
Four investments and a strong pipeline
Impact Expansion is registered in Luxembourg, supervised by the CSSF, with teams based in Brussels and Paris. The Fund's objective is to invest between €5 and €30 million per company, through majority or minority stakes, which differentiates it from many impact funds that generally only take minority stakes.
“Our deal flow is of very good quality,” says Charles-Antoine Janssen, one of the Fund's Partners. “Our dual impact and private equity profile is very relevant in the eyes of entrepreneurs, who are increasingly selective. It has enabled us to sign the Fund's first four investments and to build a strong pipeline of opportunities.”
The Fund, which invests in Benelux, France, and more broadly Western Europe, aims to take participations in a dozen companies, and receives the support of Operating Partners specialised in specific sectors or areas of expertise.
“Philippe Croppi, operating partner with a 30-year M&A experience, for example, is working with us to support certain investments in their buy-and-build strategies, SomniPlanet for instance as well as other on-going projects,” adds Jérôme Fournier Le Ray, Partner in the Fund.
Contacts
François de Borchgrave - francois@impact-expansion.com
Elvire Perrin - elvire@impact-expansion.com
Jérôme Fournier Le Ray - jerome@impact-expansion.com
For more information:
www.impact-expansion.com
Legal counsel: Arendt & Medernach (Luxembourg); Argo Law (Belgium)
Custodian bank: Banque Internationale à Luxembourg
