Bonventure has set a target volume of €40 million for its fourth fund. The fund's investments are based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations, focuses on areas such as education and equal opportunities, organic farming, renewable energy and mobility, inclusion and equal opportunities, health, resource conservation and climate protection measures.
"Over the past 20 years, we have financed and supported more than 50 social enterprises. Recently, the market has been changing rapidly: Social enterprises are more professionally positioned, want to grow faster, and can raise more capital. This also extends their leverage for social impact,"
says Erwin Stahl, Managing Partner at Bonventure.
Individual investments up to 2.5 million euros
Bonventure is planning a ten-year fund term. The investment period will be five years, with an extension option of two years. The Munich-based company plans to disburse the first capital from the fund to companies as early as early 2021. The targeted investments range from €500,000 to €2.5 million. Bonventure will act as lead or co-lead investor. The funds will flow exclusively to companies for which social impact is a central component of their business model.
In addition to financial participation, Bonventure also supports social enterprises in business development, impact measurement and with its network. Angela Lawaldt, Partner at Bonventure, says:
"In addition to providing financing, many of our investors want to work with entrepreneurs to solve problems and help them on their path to success. At the same time, companies need specific support, typically with finance and marketing, or simply with the right contacts. We want to leverage this synergy potential even more."
“Social enterprises offer products and services that society really needs”
Social enterprises not only help to mitigate the effects of the crisis, but they have also proven themselves to be less vulnerable to crises, the investor said. Jochen Herdrich, Partner at Bonventure, says:
"The companies in our current funds, BonVenture II and III, tend to be less affected by the crisis than traditional companies. And within the funds, we're also observing that a social impact embedded in the business model is good for the risk profile. We see that a focus on social impact gives teams and founders better cohesion and greater staying power. In addition, social enterprises offer products and services that society truly needs."
