Vækstfonden, Denmark’s sovereign investment fund company, has become one of the pioneers in providing an intensive training process to green startups in EU taxonomy.

With the entry into force of EU Taxonomy regulations, several large companies such as Novo Nordisk, Carlsberg, Maersk, and Danish Crown, have been unable to adapt to more sustainable and environmentally friendly business models, due to a lack of help. Startups are now stepping in to take this initiative. Recently, the Global Accelerator and Venture Capital Fund Startup Wise Guys (SWG), have become the first startups in Europe in the EU Taxonomy, that is adapting to a sustainable and greener business model. The collaboration between Vækstfonden and SWG is all set to work with the green taxonomies.

The European Commission describes the EU Taxonomy as; “a tool to help investors, companies, issuers and project promoters navigate the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and resource-efficient economy”. The purpose of EU Taxonomy is to help companies, and investors improve their environmental performance by identifying which activities are sustainable and which are not.

“In our program, we are not satisfied that startups only talk about the 17 UN SDGs and about creating sustainable impact. We see so many entrepreneurs pitching these buzzwords without knowing how to implement it. So, we coach them to develop a theory of change, set goals for long-term change, collect data, and report on the change they create in the world that increases the conditions for a sustainable environment, a better nature, improved conditions for people and, or, a planet with a balanced ecosystem, not to mention reducing CO2 emissions. We have our own method for this, which we call Impact Business Modeling. To be able to implement the EU taxonomy, as a guideline for our startups, has been on the table since last summer. If that is not possible, we will not invest in them, even if we consider that they will make a lot of money. ” Richard Georg Engström, General Partner and Director of Sustainability at Startup Wise Guys, explains. 

In addition, the SWG has developed a training course with Planetary Impact Ventures, Denmark’s first venture capital fund dedicated to green solutions that affect the climate and the environment. They also partnered with Ida Mosegaard, investment associate in Planetary Impact Ventures, to organize the training course for startups in EU taxonomy.