Investment Plan for Europe backs the largest impact venture capital fund for start-ups in Spain

• The BSocial Impact Fund, which already reached EUR 38 million in its second closing, is supported by Ship2B Ventures, the European Union and the EIF under the EFSI Equity social impact pilot as well as by Banco Sabadell.
• The objective of the fund is to invest in social enterprises that aim to improve the life of vulnerable groups, improve access to education and mitigate the effects of climate change.
• The fund is also supported by AXIS, Repsol Impacto Social, Fundación Anesvad, and leading families in the business environment such as Puig, Elias, Castelló, Knuth, Pont and Ângela Impact Economy, and by leading entrepreneurs such as the founders of Holaluz, Privalia, Socialpoint, SocialCar, Trovit, Cooltra and Glovo.

Ship2B Ventures, a venture capital management firm specialized in impact investing based in Barcelona, together with the European Union and European Investment Fund (EIF), under the EFSI Equity social impact pilot, and Banco Sabadell back the launch of the BSocial Impact Fund, an impact venture capital fund that already reached EUR 38 million in its second closing and aims to exceed EUR 45 million.

The new fund will be the largest impact venture capital fund for startups in Spain and it will focus on seed and early-stage social enterprises, targeting startups that aim to tackle three major challenges: improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups (e.g. the elderly, people with disabilities or with chronic illness), fight climate change and eradicate education skill gaps. With this transaction, the European Union and the EIF support social entrepreneurship and social impact investors, aiming to develop and scale up the European social impact ecosystem.

The fund is also supported by other institutional investors such as AXIS-venture capital subsidiary of Grupo ICO-, Repsol Impacto Social and Fundación Anesvad, by leading families such as Puig, Elias, Castelló, Knuth, Pont, Ângela Impact Economy as well as by successful entrepreneurs such as the founders of Holaluz, Privalia, Socialpoint, SocialCar, Trovit, Cooltra and Glovo.

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, said: “Thanks to the support of the Investment Plan and of the European Investment Fund, the Spanish BSocial impact fund will invest in early-stage social businesses. The new fund will be the largest impact venture capital fund for startups in Spain and address some of the main challenges of our times: increasing the quality of life for vulnerable people, mitigating the effects of climate change, and improving access to education for all.”

Maite Fibla y Xavier Pont, co-founders and managing partners of Ship2B Ventures, stated: “The attractiveness of the fund’s investment thesis among investors and institutions has pushed us near the EUR 40 million in our second closing. Looking at our commitments pipeline, we estimate a final closing above EUR 45 million”. “In the coming years we will invest in 20 highly innovative startups with extraordinary teams that respond to our challenges while providing strong financial returns for our investors.”

Alain Godard, EIF Chief Executive, also added: “We are proud to continue supporting one of the most recognised impact actors in the Spanish ecosystem to consolidate their social impact activity and continue playing a key role in developing the market. EIF´s collaboration since 2016 has proven fundamental for the General Partners to develop their investing activities; which together with the Foundation’s accelerator programmes, provide a value-added proposition for social entrepreneurs in the first stages of development. The fund´s three main challenges address three key priorities for the EIF.”

Raúl Rodríguez, director of BS Capital, added “impact investing is key for the future. Sabadell and its Foundation have a close relationship with Ship2B, so we were eager to be part of the BSocial Impact Fund and seek a social return through its investments. We decided to become an anchor investor and sponsor it from the very beginning.”

Leading investors, entrepreneurs and experts join Ship2B Ventures

Ship2B Ventures was founded by Maite Fibla and Xavier Pont and has a team of five professionals with expertise in investments, social and environmental impact, and health. Daniel Sánchez, partner of Nauta Capital, will be the non-executive chairperson of Ship2B Ventures. Further support will be provided by renowned experts from  the venture capital industry such as Lluís Seguí (Miura Private Equity), Carles Florensa (Business Angel), and Cristina Marsal (Sandman Capital); leading entrepreneurs such as José Manuel Villanueva and Lucas Carné (Privalia), Carlota Pi, Oriol Vila and Ferran Nogué (Holaluz), Iñaki Ecenarro (Trovit), Horacio Martos and Andrés Bou (Social Point), Oscar Pierre (Glovo), Mar Alarcon and Francesc Queralt (Social Car), and Timo Buetefisch (Cooltra); and leading sectorial experts such as Jaime del Barrio (EY and Asociación de Salud Digital), Consuelo Crespo (UNICEF España y Oxfam), Concha Oliu (BStartup), and Ainhoa Grandes and Clara Navarro (Ship2B Foundation).

The team has been investing in social and environmental impact startups for more than eight years through the Ship2B Foundation. It manages two investment vehicles, Impact Equity BF, and Equity4Good, which are co-invested by the European Investment Fund with Impact Equity BF. The total AUM of these investment vehicles is 4.5 million euros, invested across 23 impact startups such as Qida, Psious, ADmit Therapeutics and Fiction Express. The firm has already executed its first exit (Koiki).

About Ship2B Ventures

Ship2B Ventures a venture capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. Ship2B Ventures combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact.

About European Investment Fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.

About the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) Equity social impact pilot

EFSI Equity is a facility managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) that provides equity investments to or alongside financial intermediaries focusing on the areas of early stage, growth stage and expansion financing. Through the EFSI Equity social impact pilot, the European Union and EIF support social entrepreneurship and social impact investors, aiming to develop and scale up the European social impact ecosystem.

About Banco Sabadell

With a history stretching back 139 years, Banco Sabadell is Spain’s fourth largest banking group and one of the best capitalised Spanish financial institutions. Banco Sabadell has assets in excess of 230 billion euros, a network of more than 2,000 branches and has earned the trust of 12 million customers. Banco Sabadell has gone through a historic period of growth in the last decade, demonstrating its strength and its international footprint, as well as expanding into Mexico and the United Kingdom.