Our strategy to accelerate impact

Biodiversity, climate, and social equality

Guus van Puijenbroek explains: ‘When we began exploring impact investing, it quickly became clear that we needed to concentrate our efforts to create impact. That’s why we addressed three of today’s most pressing challenges: biodiversity, climate, and social equality.’ In VP Capital’s previous investment strategy, climate was already a major focus. ‘So it made perfect sense for us to continue investing in this area.’ VP Capital also decided to invest in biodiversity. ‘There is growing awareness that biodiversity loss could lead to an even more severe crisis. Biodiversity is fundamental to our survival, supporting the ecosystems and species that provide our homes, food, medicine, and recreation. Our economy and our businesses also rely on it. Without it, our way of life would be at risk.’

In addition to environmental sustainability, we are committed to advancing social equality. This subject is close to the family’s heart, including the next generation. One next-generation family member shared: ‘We’ve always had strong ties to our community, as demonstrated by initiatives like the Annetje van Puijenbroek Foundation. Additionally, our company HAVEP, founded five generations ago by our ancestor Hendrik van Puijenbroek, was ahead of its time in responsible business. He implemented a social policy for his employees – a legacy that continues to this day.’ Overall, family members remain very interested in the social responsibility aspect of the company. For instance, they are proud of the high scores we’ve received from Fair Wear for HAVEP, Van Heurck and Hydrowear, especially as the standards have become stricter.

Some family members also have a personal connection to social equality. One next-generation family member shared: ‘During my internship at a refugee centre, I heard heartbreaking stories about the discrimination and inequality they face here … The negative public discourse around refugees is something I find appalling. That’s why I personally focus on challenging the stigma. Of course, there are other important topics within social equality as well - like education, women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights.’

There is also a strong sense that the three challenges must be tackled together. Guus van Puijenbroek: ‘Some people see it as a trade-off between protecting nature and supporting people. But that’s simply not true. We are all part of one ecosystem. These issues are increasingly intertwined, as people are forced to flee regions suffering from climate change or biodiversity collapse. The reverse is also true: addressing one can positively reinforce the others.’

A new asset class: venture capital

This year, we’ve also added a new asset class.

The decision to invest in a new asset class entailed more expertise. ‘As we entered this space, we recognised the need for more specialised knowledge. To support this, we welcomed new team members with experience in venture capital.’ Within our new venture strategy, we focus on our six solutions, specifically in five domains with strong potential for positive impact. ‘The choice for these domains was also based on the expertise of our team.’

From challenge to change

So, how do we move from challenges to solutions? ‘These issues are complex and deeply interconnected. There is no single solution to address them,’ Guus van Puijenbroek notes. To define our focus, we formulated a Theory of Change. A Theory of Change helps to clarify how investments lead to real-world impact. It maps the link between specific initiatives and long-term goals – like restoring biodiversity, reducing emissions, or improving social equality. For example, to tackle biodiversity loss, we invest in regenerative, net-zero, bio-based, circular, and toxicity-free solutions across key domains like agrifood, energy, textile, and the built environment. These investments lead to outcomes like restored ecosystems, reduced emissions and waste, and ultimately contribute to reversing biodiversity loss. ‘For our renewed strategy, we used this strategic tool to help us assess the problems, activities, outputs, outcomes, and long-term impact of potential interventions. We identified six key solutions to guide our investments and actions.’

Impact is fully integrated into our investment cycle, from screening up to monitoring and engagement, and even exit strategies. ‘The initial screening and due diligence phases involve impact team members who can assess whether an investment aligns with our impact strategy. In addition to traditional risk and return analysis, we now apply a rigorous impact assessment.’

Three levels of impact

At VP Capital, our ambition goes beyond generating impact within our own organisation. We are committed to aligning our capital strategy with impact creation, while fostering an ecosystem where we can build, exchange, learn, and grow together. In practice, we aim to create impact on three levels: 

For each of these levels, we’ve developed a tailored set of key performance indicators (KPIs).