Finnish venture capital firm Butterfly Ventures has completed the first closing of its €100 million seed entry capital fund based on the EU Article 8 and the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation with €47 million in capital. This new sustainable fund focuses on science-based deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics and Baltics. The firm’s second and third closing will be completed before the year ends. Butterfly VC will hold the final close of its Fund VI in spring 2023.
First closing of 47 million euros of 100 million euro Butterfly Venture Fund IV
The Fund is based on the EU Article 8 and the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation.
Butterfly VC announces today the first closing of 47 million euros of its new 100 million euro seed entry capital fund, which focuses on science based deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics and Baltics. The Fund is based on the EU Article 8 and the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (“SFDR”). It is one of the first venture capital funds based on EU Article 8.
“Responsibility and impact are in our DNA – we are committed to ensure that sustainability factors are a part of our investment decision procedure. From the beginning, our built-in mission is to make investments that matter in the world. We believe that sustainable operations also guarantee better financial results, value development and impact are directly linked. The new EU Article 8 fund is a natural continuation of our sustainability and responsible investment policies, ” Juho Risku, co-founder and partner of Butterfly Ventures comments.
In addition to a number of private investors the state-owned private equity companies Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd.) from Finland and Saminvest AB from Sweden are both participating in the fund’s first closing.
Butterfly Venture Fund IV invests initially in the seed phase, but it also has significant capacity for further investments in the A and B rounds. The impact of the operations and product development of the investee companies is measured on four primary dimensions, which are society, knowledge, health, and environment.
Second closing of the fund is in Q3 of 2022, third closing in Q4, and the final closing will be in spring 2023.
”Butterfly Ventures differentiates in the Finnish market with its close cooperation with local universities and research communities. This cooperation can generate new deep tech and hardware startups among others, and the commercialization of their innovations. The fund manager thus has a noticeable impact on the society, and we at Tesi are glad to be able to support the continuation and development of such operations,” comments Enni Rautio, Investment Manager at Tesi.
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