Family offices: Meet 25 European dynasties open to new impact investments

Family offices – privately-owned firms which manage the wealth of an individual or family – are growing as a potential source of impact investment capital, with estimates of hundreds of billions of euros in potential funding.

Although family offices still represent a small part of the overall impact investing landscape, that now appears to be changing.

"Interest is growing," says Sarita Gosrani, Director of ESG and Responsible Investment at bfinance. The firm works with a lot of family offices, and "we're encountering a lot more considerations around impact-first investing."

That's good news for a sector a little rocked by the recent stumbles in funding and scale-ups.

"There was a kind of burning of hands when climate tech lost its boom," says Gosrani. "What I am seeing is there is more opportunity now, and it's broader environmental tech as well."

Family offices, given their particular structure, offer an interesting proposition to impact founders looking for funding, with some advantages over traditional VCs.

"The time horizons with which they can invest, the lack of regulatory red tape, and the ability to really reflect the ambition and core values of the family," are some of those advantages, says Gosrani.

So which family offices could invest in your impact company? Impact Loop has done a big deep-dive into the topic and pulled together a list of 25 of the leading and most interesting family offices around Europe who are to some extent investing in impact companies.

25 European family offices investing in impact companies:

1. Grosvenor

Family: Grosvenor

Country: UK

About: The family office for one of the UK’s richest families, the scion of which is Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, worth around $12bn. The firm describes itself as pursuing the family’s goal to deliver commercial, social and environmental benefit.

Niches: Agri-Tech, Real Estate

Selection of portfolio companies: Aerofarms, Vytelle, Ostara

2. Adequita

Family: Adserà

Country: UK

About: Founded by Spanish-British businessman Xavier Adserà, Adequita invests in a range of setors, with one investment focussed on cleantech.

Niches: Real estate, hospitality, energy

Selection of portfolio companies: Alder Renewables

3. Vala Capital

Family: Jasper Smith

Country: UK

About: Founded by British tech entrepreneur and environmentalist Jasper Smith, Vala Capital has a strong focus on impact companies, with dozens of companies in its portfolio.

Niches: Climate tech, clean tech, sustainable biomaterials

Selection of portfolio companies: Pipeline Organics, Switchd, FlexSea

4. UCEA

Family: Paz Teixeira

Country: UK

About: UCEA has spent 15 years investing in various sectors, including a recent push into clean-energy in West Africa, along with a fund for cleantech in India.

Niches: Health, financial inclusion, energy, sustainability

Selection of portfolio companies: Chakra Growth Fund, Pure Drive, Intuition Robotics

5. Salvia

Family: Helmut Jeggle

Country: Germany

About: A single-family office set up by serial businessman Helmut Jeggle, Salvia describes itself as an investor and ‘sparring partner’ for companies looking to meet novel challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity.

Niches: Energy, deeptech, drones

Selection of portfolio companies: InPlanet, GREENFORCE, Group14 Technologies

6. Wirtgen Invest

Family: Wirtgen

Country: Germany

About: The family office for the owners of the famed German construction multinational, Wirtgen Invest boasts proudly how much Co2 has been saved by its investments into renewable energies.

Niches: Wind, solar,

Selection of portfolio companies: N/A, the firm invests directly in solar and wind projects

7. Koehler

Family: Köhler

Country: Germany

About: The family office of tech entrepreneur René Marius Köhler has investments in a raft of non-Impact sectors, but one investment in a US-based alternative protein biotech sits firmly in the impact camp.

Niches: Real estate, biotech

Selection of portfolio companies: Perfect Day

8. Aqton

Family: Quandt

Country: Germany

About: German billionaire Stefan Quandt uses Aqton to pursue investments in a number of sectors, with a notable interest in renewables and smart grids.

Niches: Energy, climate tech

Selection of portfolio companies: Solarwatt, Kiwigrid, Heliatek

9. Aqal Capital

Family: Bozesan

Country: Germany

About: Serial angel investor and author Mariana Bozesan uses her single-family office to invest specifically in tech companies which contribute to furthering the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Niches: Green tech, renewables, AI, mobility

Selection of portfolio companies: Kipu Quantum, Proxima Fusion

10. Korys

Family: Colruyt

Country: Belgium

About: The Colruyts are one of the wealthiest noble families in Belgium (yes, they still have those), and their investment office has a wide range of impact companies for energy transition and wellbeing.

Niches: Energy transition, health

Selection of portfolio companies: Greenely, OroraTech, Virya Energy

11. Alychlo

Family: Couke

Country: Belgium

About: Founded by pharma CEO Marc Coucke – and named for his daughters Alysée and Chloé – Alychlo has a wide range of investments, including two prominent environmental plays.

Niches: Environment, water healthcare, tech

Selection of portfolio companies: Ekopak, EnergyVision

12. DOB Equity

Family: Tobé

Country: Netherlands

About: DOB describes itself as pursuing ‘conscientious capitalism’ and its holdings reflect that, with a raft of social and environmental impact investments in Africa.

Niches: Clean water, energy, logistics, health

Selection of portfolio companies: Spouts International, PowerGen, Africa Logistics Properties.

NAME: Navus Ventures

13. Navus Ventures

Family: Lely

Country: Netherlands

About: Linked to the Dutch agri-manufacturers Lely, Navus has a keen interest in making horticulture and food production more efficient and sustainable.

Niches: Energy transition, agritech, foodtech.

Selection of portfolio companies: Agurotech, Cultivated Biosciences, FOTONIQ.

14. PFC

Family: Marzotto

Country: Italy

About: PFC, spawned from the legendary Marzotto textile empire, does not hide its impact ambitions, with its ethos emblazoned on its website – "A world of social and environmental justice for everyone."

Niches: Environment, water, energy, social impact.

Selection of portfolio companies: ARAG, Landi Renzo, Air Liquide SA

15. Evolem

Family: Rousset

Country: France

About: Evolem – self-described as “the impulse behind initiatives” targets mid-sized businesses working on environmental sustainability, among others.

Niches: Climate tech, energy, sustainable materials

Selection of portfolio companies: Inovalp, acoem, NO-NAIL BOXES

16. Noria

Family: Guillaume

Country: France

About: Set up by agro-industry veteran Christophe Guillaume and his wife Céline, this family office explicitly looks for investments in the energy transition.

Niches: Energy, climate

Selection of portfolio companies: Kyotherm, WAGA Energy, newHeat

17. Otium Capital

Family: Stérin

Country: France

About: Founded and run by French billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin, Otium has a very large portfolio, within which many environmental impact companies can be found.

Niches: Circular economy, energy, greentech

Selection of portfolio companies: Revibe, BeFC, IB2

18. Armada

Family: Aegerter

Country: Switzerland

About: The investment office of Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist Daniel Aegerter, Armada counts among its portfolio big tech success stories like N26, but also a number of ambitious clean energy companies.

Niches: Climate tech, AI, fintech

Selection of portfolio companies: CarbonCapture, Cerabyte, Oklo

19. KIRKBI Climate

Family: Kirk Kristiansen

Country: Denmark

About: One of the various branches of the family office behind the famous Lego dynasty, KIRKBI climate focuses specifically on environmental investments, with a lot of money behind it.

Niches: Energy transition, circular materials, land sustainability

Selection of portfolio companies: Adapture, monolith, ambercycle

20. Boyser

Family: Boyser

Country: Spain

About: The Boyser family office in Barcelona does not have much of a presence online, but records show investments in a few impact companies over the last decade.

Niches: energy, biotech

Selection of portfolio companies: Spacewell Energy, Vytrus Biotech

21. Zubi Capital

Family: Multi-family

Country: Spain

About: While slightly different to the rest of this list in that it’s a multi-family asset manager, Zubi gets its place for a strong emphasis on investments pursuing the UN SDGs.

Niches: Environment, energy, diversity and inclusion, agri-tech

Selection of portfolio companies: Matteco, Kausal, Tupu

22. Philian Invest

Family: Persson

Country: Sweden

About: The private office of H&M chairman Karl-Johan Persson – separate from the general Persson family office – is well known in the Nordics for its focus on environmental impact investments.

Niches: Environment, energy, climate tech

Selection of portfolio companies: Supernormal Greens, Epishine, Ljusgårda

23. Longrun Capital

Family: Ljungberg

Country: Sweden

About: Founded by Cristina Ljungberg, of the famous real estate family, Longrun is explicitly a climate venture, with the goal to make every krona spent count towards practical implementation.

Niches: Climate tech, energy, sustainable housing, water

Selection of portfolio companies: Ekolution, Greeniron, drupps

24. Navigare Ventures

Family: Wallenberg

Country: Sweden

About: One of Sweden’s wealthiest families, long known for major investments in industry and financial services, the Wallenbergs have recently expanded into impact investing.

Niches: Sustainability, Energy

Selection of portfolio companies: Nordic Forestry Automation, Ligna Energy, Arevo.

25. Neptunia Invest

Family: Karlsson

Country: Sweden

About: The Karlsson family set up Neptunia in 2014, investing in a broad range of sectors but also with a focus on green innovation.

Niches: Energy, sustainable materials

Selection of portfolio companies: Ekolution, Blykalla, Ligna Energy

(Pictured, clockwise from top left: Jasper Smith, Christophe and Céline Guillaume, Karl-Johan Persson, Hugh Grosvenor, Cristina Ljungberg, Helmut Jeggle, Mariana Bozesan and René Marius Köhler.)