FS Impact Finance

We are delighted to have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)! Our Managing Director Martin Cremer says: "We look forward to jointly developed innovative financing solutions in the cotton sector that complement BCI’s great work done in this area. Our goal is to improve the situation of smallholder farmers and contribute to the development and professionalization of players along the local value chains." Alan McClay | Luca Soppelsa | Florian Sigmund | Rebecca Owen | Klara Shepherd

Last week, Andreas Kueppers, together with Ina Bovenkerk, led the 8th edition of the Entrepreneurship & Startup specialization series within the Business Administration studies at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. The two days on campus had a lot in store: exceptional speakers from the start-up scene shared their first-hand experience and deep insights into their respective business models, all originating from an unsolved problem. ⏺ Svenja Büsching, COO and Co-Founder of Croowy GmbH Under the motto "Leave the middlemen, commission, and hassle behind," Croowy GmbH connects airlines and hotels worldwide. Their platform standardizes and automates the procurement of crew hotels with maximum efficiency, transparency, and compliance, making outdated and tedious manual processes a thing of the past. Svenja Büsching has worked for the Hilton and Flemings Group for many years and also serves as a lecturer for Master's students in the "Hospitality Management & Leadership" program at the Dresden School of Management. ⏺ Philipp Neveling, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Ebb & Flow Keg GmbH Ebb & Flow Keg GmbH is revolutionizing the wine industry with an innovative wine packaging solution: instead of serving wine from a single-use bottle with a cork, it’s tapped from sustainable stainless steel kegs directly into the glass. Ebb & Flow Keg handles the return, cleaning, and refilling process of empty kegs. The rental of empty kegs through a “Package as a Service” (PaaS) model is another part of their business. Philipp Neveling, who studied biodynamic viticulture, discussed with the students the challenges of getting the hospitality industry to adopt the sustainable use of stainless steel kegs and potential solutions. ⏺ 🔎 Markus Schaarschmidt, Managing Director of getsteroo GmbH getsteroo GmbH has developed software that automates the process of returning lost, stolen, and found items wherever they are reported. Among the start-up’s clients are international airports and railway companies. Together with Markus Schaarschmidt, a computer science graduate, the students worked on a specific request from a major airline on how to efficiently and effectively organize the return of items lost on airplanes. A big thanks from Andreas and Ina to the speakers and their heartfelt congratulations to all students on reaching an important milestone in their professional careers! 🏆🏅

🌍 What's new in sustainable fashion? Check out the latest strides in the fashion industry's sustainability journey: ✔️ Zara and Circ® have launched their second collection using Circ Lyocell, made from 50% recycled poly-cotton waste and 50% FSC-certified wood pulp, continuing their focus on circular textile solutions. ✔️Shinkong Synthetic Fibers is investing $10 million in Ambercycles facility to increase production of cycora®, a recycled polyester from end-of-life textiles. ✔️Pakistani denim maker Soorty Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. has had its greenhouse gas reduction goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), aligning with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. ✔️The Ethical Supply Chain Program will publish data from 700 ethically certified factories on Open Supply Hub responding to rising demands for supply chain transparency. ✔️ Better Cottonand FS Impact Finance have launched a fund to support gender equality and sustainability among cotton farmers in India. Additionally, Better Cotton is working with Punjab’s PULSE initiative to improve cotton farming transparency using advanced geospatial technology, benefiting smallholder farmers. ✔️The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is now in effect, enforcing stricter standards for product durability, reusability, and recyclability, and banning the destruction of unsold textiles. Companies must also report on discarded products. Stay tuned and learn all about the latest sustainable trends! #SustainableFashion #sustainability #fashioninnovation #FashionTech

In July, the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund granted four new loans with a total volume of EUR 8.6 million. The latest monthly report highlights our partner IDH Microfinanciera which has been active in Honduras for the past 45 years. IDH grants loans to individuals as well as groups for, among others, solar systems or water storage tanks. The institution demonstrates maximum sensitivity and responsibility in its aim to improve the lives of its customers both economically and socially. The fund recently disbursed a loan of EUR 2.8 million in local currency to IDH. GLS Investment Management GmbH | Gerardo Talavera | #microfinance #financialinclusion

To date, the Seed Capital Assistance Facility (SCAF) has partnered up with 24 fund managers and project developers to increase investments in the renewable energy sector in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Lately, the SCAF team has been busy performing due diligence on potential new partners, like here in Bangkok at the end of July. Fantine Dutronc | Indileni Nambala | Rakesh Shejwal

Six facts about ecosystem services and why we should care a great deal about them 👇 More about the topic on our blog: https://lnkd.in/ez_Svtyc #ecosystems #biodiversity #ecosystemservices

We are excited to share that we have just published our Impact Report 2023! 👉 https://lnkd.in/da5CkvAv At FS Impact Finance, we believe that it is truly our responsibility to work together within a growing investment community that is conscious of the need to cure planetary damage. In other words: if we are able to destroy the planet, we must also be able to stop destruction and go on to restore, conserve and rebuild. 🌱🌎

FS Impact Finance and Better Cotton have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop and launch a fund directed at smallholder farmers in the cotton sector. The fund, initially piloted in India, will help incentivise cotton farming communities to invest in field-level work related to women’s empowerment and climate resilience by eliminating traditional financing barriers.   Smallholders, who make up more than 90% of the world’s cotton farmers, often struggle to access adequate financial support due to their Farmer Producer Organisation’s (FPO) lack of credit history. In India, with 16,000 FPOs representing over 5.8 million farmers, only a few large and well established FPOs have access to formal financial markets. However, the vast majority lack the turnover and credit history to qualify for finance, which is a prerequisite for growth.   Under this new fund, FPOs will be supported in the implementation of gender and climate resilience activities with the goal of fast-tracking field-level results and improving their bankability. This will enable less developed FPOs to improve their credit history and benefit from services that will help them to create strategic and sustainable growth plans for the future. #climateadaptation #adaptationfinance #BetterCotton Alan McClay | Martin Cremer | Luca Soppelsa | Florian Sigmund

So far, we have provided 34 million USD of co-financing for clean energy projects in frontier markets under SCAF II. 🤝

In June, the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund granted three new loans with a focus on southeast Europe and a total volume of EUR 3.75 million. The latest monthly report introduces Delta Mikromoliya Tashkiloti LLC from Uzbekistan. Since 2013, Delta has been offering loans at favorable terms to private clients and small businesses. Just recently, in May 2024, the GLS AI – Microfinance Fund granted its first loan to Delta. The loan amount, with an equivalent value of EUR 750,000, was disbursed in local currency. GLS Investment Management GmbH | #microfinance #financialinclusion #uzbekistan