Our sustainability policy

StartGreen Capital's sustainability policy dated 1 September 2024 consists of three components:

1. The impact policy: what impact StartGreen Capital wants to make and how it intends to achieve it. And also: how impact is measured and reported in the StartGreen Impact Report. With this policy, StartGreen Capital's main focus is on how it will manage the positive contribution of companies wants to increase. Indeed, all funds from StartGreen aim to make a measurable positive impact on the environment and society (in line with the SFDR's definition of 'sustainable investment').
2. The ESG policy: how StartGreen Capital identifies relevant ESG risks and opportunities at companies and how this is integrated throughout the investment process. This policy mainly focuses on how StartGreen Capital addresses any unfavourable aims to reduce companies' impacts on the environment. In it, we identify sustainability risks and analyse their financial impact.
3. The internal sustainability policy: how StartGreen Capital also tries to be as conscious as possible internally with people and the environment.

Our focus on sustainability
Sustainability is a broad concept. Different organisations and experts give it their own interpretation. StartGreen Capital takes a broad approach when financing companies. We finance both companies with an explicit sustainability objective and those that are making every effort to make a transition to sustainable operations. StartGreen Capital believes that this broad approach has more impact than funding only new, fully sustainable initiatives.

Sustainable Development Goals
StartGreen Capital has chosen to use the Sustainable Development Goals as its framework for determining its intended and realised impact. The SDGs are 17 sustainability goals established by the United Nations. They provide a blueprint for solving today's biggest societal challenges, such as the world food problem (SDG 2) and energy transition (SDG 7). Together, the SDGs act as a roadmap to the realisation of peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future (read more about the Sustainable Development Goals). StartGreen Capital only provides financing to companies that contribute positively to at least one of the SDGs.

StartGreen Capital aims to transform impact investing from a niche activity to mainstream. StartGreen Capital's ultimate impact goal is to contribute to the 17 SDGs through funding to entrepreneurs. To make concrete how entrepreneurs contribute to these goals, we have defined some fixed indicators (KPIs) for each SDG by which we can measure and monitor progress and results. We have formulated these indicators as objectively as possible and can preferably be aggregated. Examples are the number of kilowatt hours of renewable energy generated, the number of sustainable products sold or the amount of CO2 saved.

Theory of Change
In 2018, StartGreen Capital launched a Theory of Change drawn up to make clear what the organisation does, for whom and why. A Theory of Change is a visual description of the activities an organisation undertakes, and how they lead to certain effects (outcomes) and social objectives (impact) in the short or longer term. Through the activities made possible by StartGreen Capital, the organisation creates value for entrepreneurs and investors. It also contributes to the development of the impact investmentsector in the Netherlands.

Target
StartGreen Capital wants to measure its impact to communicate this to stakeholders and improve strategic decisions. The organisation wants to show stakeholders that financial and social returns can go hand in hand. Financial returns - like regular funds - are already clearly communicated to investors. Since social returns are also part of StartGreen Capital's vision, the most concrete possible reporting on this is important. In addition, StartGreen Capital wants to be able to make strategic investment or portfolio management decisions based on accurate impact data.

Process
The impact measurement process is similar for all labels of StartGreen Capital and looks broadly as follows:

Every year, we present the impact made in our Impact Report. In it, you will read about developments in the past year, among other things. You will also find interviews and several examples of companies we have financed. Read our Impact Report on 2023. 

StartGreen Capital aims to provide financing (investments and/or loans) to companies that fit within the standards and values of its funds and today's society. The complication is that some companies (often unconsciously) do not (yet) meet these on some environmental, social or governance facets at the time the company is in discussion with StartGreen Capital about a possible financing. To identify and, where possible, bridge this gap between the current and desired situation, StartGreen Capital applies its ESG policy. This involves explicitly examining whether a company in question has adverse effects ("adverse impact") on sustainability factors (environmental, social and employment issues, respect for human rights, and combating corruption and bribery). In addition, each company is analysed whether there are significant sustainability risks (an environmental, social or governance event or circumstance that, if it occurs, could cause a material adverse effect on the value of the investment). Here, the aim of the ESG policy is to identify both risks and opportunities (opportunities for improvement). The ESG policy covers the following three stages in the investment journey:

StartGreen Capital aims to enable impact through its financing of various enterprises. It also strives internally to be as mindful as possible of people and the environment.

Sustainable housing at SDG House 
StartGreen Capital holds offices at the SDG House, located at the KIT Institute in Amsterdam. The SDG House is a community of about 50 entrepreneurs and organisations focusing on one or more SDGs. Through exchange and collaboration, members seek to accelerate the realisation of impact.

Fully sustainable
In doing so, SDG House provides sustainable and social housing for its members, with care and attention to issues such as waste separation and organic catering. By 2023, the KIT Institute's old gas-fired boilers will have been replaced by heat pumps using a gas-free underground heat storage system to heat and cool the historic building.

StartGreen Capital also takes its own sustainability measures. For example, the organisation works virtually paper-free. StartGreen Capital also encourages sustainable commuting. Employees use public transport and shared-bike subscriptions as much as possible, and when they use a leased car as part of their work, they drive hybrid. In 2021, the StartGreen Capital office was redesigned, using recycled and sustainable materials and furniture as much as possible.

Diversity and gender balance
For StartGreen Capital, an inclusive society in which everyone gets equal opportunities is very important - which is why we strive for diversity within our own organisation as well. In addition, research has shown that diverse teams are more innovative and perform better. We have had a balanced management team from the start and all our departments are gender diverse: women make up 60% of the management team (50% by 2022), 44% of the investment team (31% by 2022) and 50% (41% by 2022) of StartGreen in general, including support staff. To encourage female entrepreneurship, StartGreen Capital established the Borski Fund in 2019 together with Simone Brummelhuis of The Next Women.

Knowledge sharing and development
The sustainability team organises annual internal workshops and brainstorming sessions where knowledge is shared on sustainability, financial products and services, and relevant laws and regulations. StartGreen Capital also offers employees the opportunity to further develop job-related and/or personal competences through internal and external training courses. In its work, the StartGreen Capital team consciously and actively tries to propagate the DNA and mission of the organisation, in order to jointly increase understanding about and support for sustainable investing and entrepreneurship. Employees of StartGreen Capital regularly give presentations at events or universities to inform and inspire others about how financial and social returns can go hand in hand.

B Corp
StartGreen Capital is B Corp certified. B Corps are companies that meet requirements on social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. B Corps strive for an inclusive and sustainable future with a good balance between social impact and profit making. Based on a long-term vision, they continuously work on improving the value chain, optimising impact and creating good working conditions. In doing so, the hallmark provides access to a valuable network of other B Corp certified organisations.