Press Release: New Conduit EIS Impact Fund launched to pursue profit and purpose
Conduit Capital, Conduit Connect and Ascension Ventures form unique partnership to launch new high-impact fund aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Conduit EIS Impact Fund brings together established fund management and impact experience with private businesses pursuing social and environmental impact.
The fund has a target net return of 2.5x, with added benefits of EIS tax reliefs.
Will enable retail and professional investors to support a sustainable future for people and planet.
Friday 26th February (London): The new Conduit EIS Impact Fund has been launched by industry experts, Conduit Connect, Conduit Capital and Ascension Ventures, to support and scale impact driven companies and to enable investors to build diverse portfolios, with the added benefits of EIS tax reliefs.
The fund will target a portfolio of eight to ten Seed to Series A investments across four key impact themes: Climate, Health & Wellbeing, Education & Financial Inclusion and Economic Opportunity. Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, these four themes have been selected as they represent the greatest challenges the world faces today, and the sectors with the fastest growing innovations and scalable impact solutions.
Companies will all go through a thorough screening process and an impact framework designed in collaboration with Deloitte to ensure all companies in the pipeline and portfolio have impact in line with sustainable development at the core of their business models.
With a proven track-record of sourcing and vetting high impact investment opportunities, this unique partnership will enable scale by leveraging the deep EIS investing expertise of Ascension Ventures, the Fund Manager, and the impact investing knowledge and networks of Conduit Capital and Conduit Connect. The Fund will invest in high growth impact investing opportunities sourced by the Conduit Connect, while Conduit Capital will leverage its investment expertise and ecosystem of impact experts, investors and partners to create value for the Fund’s portfolio companies.
The target first close is £3 million on 5th April with a total target fund size of £5 million. The minimum ticket per investor is £25,000, available to both retail and professional investors. The fund will be deployed across the 2021 to 2022 tax year.
Commenting on the fund’s launch:
Asha Lad, Head of Investment Partnerships at Conduit Capital, said: “we are delighted to be collaborating with such mission-aligned partners to launch the Conduit EIS Impact Fund. Through listening to our ecosystem, Conduit Capital understands impact businesses are in different stages and have varying needs of growth capital, which is why we are proud to help scale up the next generation of companies achieving impact throughout their investment lifecycle. We believe social entrepreneurs need more than just capital to be successful, they also need access to knowledge and networks, which we will enable through our global ecosystem of mission aligned communities. We also recognise options to invest in impact funds are scarce for retail investors, especially for those who are new to the space, so we are excited to provide this opportunity for them.”
Eva-Maria Dimitriadis, the Managing Partner of Conduit Connect, said: “this is a very exciting moment for the Conduit Connect’s ecosystem. With so much demand from our community we are thrilled that this fund will be providing investors with a vehicle to access a more diverse portfolio consisting of visionary entrepreneurs pursuing social and environmental impact. By backing purpose driven business, investors are assured they are supporting a sustainable future for our people and our planet.”
Jean de Fougerolles, the founder and Managing Partner of Ascension Ventures, said: “since its inception, Ascension has increasingly turned its focus towards impact investing, most recently with our Fair By Design and Good Food Funds. With its unique access to impact opportunities and mission aligned investors, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Conduit Connect and Conduit Capital on this purpose-led new fund proposition.”