Invest-NL invests €10M in Berlin-based VC fund Extantia Capital

Dutch private equity firm Invest-NL has invested €10 million in Extantia Capital, a Berlin-based  VC fund. In so much Invest-NL joins LPs including  Anglo American, Toyota Ventures, and top-tier family offices such as the Piëch and Oldendorff families.

Ruud Zandvliet of Invest-NL shares: 

“Our commitment to Extantia aligns with our strategic objective to organise financing for capital-intensive and impactful ventures. Extantia’s scientifically grounded approach to assessing impact ventures, coupled with robust operational support, will strengthen the Dutch investment landscape”

Carbon Math

While the terms ‘climate-first’ and ‘impact investing’ are becoming so ubiquitous that they run the risk of verging upon greenwashing territory, where  Extantia aims to stand apart from the field is in the fact that it’s offering not one, but two investment vehicles: Flagship and Allstars.

With its Flagship investment vehicle, Extantia is the firm’s direct investment strategy. An interesting pre-qualifier for Extantia portfolio hopefuls is passing the firm's Carbon Math assessment prior to any engagement. 

Essentially, this Carbon Math(s) process incorporates impact goals into the fund manager's compensation. 

The firm also uses a thorough methodology to verify that new technologies ‘do no harm’ and steer clear of both environmental and societal negative impacts. 

Notable Extantia portfolio companies include Magnotherm, H2Pro, BeZero, and Reverion.

Allstars

On the other side of the coin, Extantia also focuses on a fund-of-funds approach with its Allstars programme. 

Not just any fund-of-funds, where Extantia hopes to make a solid difference is through not only the selection of who gets what when it comes to funding funds, but also through bringing new investors into the climate investing fold, but perhaps don’t have a track record to speak of and/or don’t want to/can’t enter at a high-risk stage.

Members of Extantia's Allstars portfolio include 2150, Astanor, Lowercarbon Captial, Fifth Wall, Zero Carbon, and Counteract.

Extantia's Sebastian Heitmann concludes:

“We really enjoy working with value-add investors and believe that Invest-NL’s very progressive mandate is an example to follow.

“The collaboration has been off to a good start and we see plenty of opportunities to work with Dutch entrepreneurs. Building on the strong high-tech foundation in this region, we are excited to back the next generation of founders developing sustainable infrastructures.”

Lead image: Invest-NL team. Photo: Uncredited.