As the climate continues to change at an unprecedented speed, international venture capital and accelerator firm, Brinc, announces today the future focus of their global investment programs.
Coinciding with its 6th birthday on December 1st, Brinc has published key criteria that all future investments must commit to in order to receive investment and support. This is part of their drive to only back businesses that showcase a commitment to building better alternatives and understand the importance of climate action in their business decisions. Choosing a plant-based diet over animal-based diets, choosing climate conscious brands, and reducing unnecessary energy usage are just a few examples of their criteria, which spans sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and distribution. The full list of criteria and recommendations can be found HERE.
The new commitment comes in recognition that Brinc and its global business partners need to do their part to slow down the effects of climate change. With over 120 global mentors already signed up to their new programs criteria — ranging from large corporates to institutional investors and governments — 2021 is shaping up to be a significant year of impactful growth.
Brinc’s investment goals will be driven predominantly through their accelerator programs. Brinc currently runs 11 global programs that invest in approximately 100–150 companies per year. They plan to scale this to 20+ programs over the next few years with similar investment volumes, enabling its ability to drive impact in over 1,000 investments over the next five years. Current programs include:
FoodTech: Startups that use technology to solve the deep-rooted inefficiencies in the food system by creating a more productive and sustainable food supply chain, minimising food wastage & packaging, and replacing traditional resource-heavy & animal-based products to meet the demands of an ever-increasing global population.
CleanTech: Startups that have developed solutions to help reduce our environmental impact by addressing the climate urgency, tackling air pollution & water pollution, and accelerating the transition to renewable energy with clean solutions in areas of carbon footprint reduction, renewable fuel and clean energy production, sustainable agriculture & forest management, and, eco-friendly transportation.
Learn more about all the programs Brinc will be running in 2021 HERE. Callouts for new startups also open today. Interested founders can APPLY TODAY for funding & support.
Brinc plans to set up syndicates across industries where it runs programs, utilizing leading players in each vertical, to drive investments and activate POCs & scalable commercialisation opportunities for purpose driven startups that match its investment mandate. They have also signed onto the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) along with many others around the world, adopted a comprehensive ESG framework, and are raising their $100M Emerging Market Access Fund in partnership with Artesian to showcase their commitment to this global initiative. Their first close of the fund will be in Q1 2021, with a goal to continue to provide capital through their current & future global programs as well as direct deals that fit the mandate and ESG framework. A major university, a large corporate and a sovereign are in late stage conversations to back the fund and their initiatives. Brinc believes that integrating ESG factors into our investment process will lead to better long-term performance and create value for all of our stakeholders.
Brinc CEO, Manav Gupta says, ‘Our goal is to sign up all our global accelerators under the sustainability umbrella as we continue to invest in game changing founders that are building businesses that mitigate climate change by developing more sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, supply chains, etc. In a nutshell, backing businesses that are more efficient at creating high outputs (at the same quality and price) with less inputs (water, land usage, energy, etc.). As strong believers that change can be driven through business — Brinc has been an active investor in climate mitigation technologies over the years and we’re committing to go even further in the years to come.”
In 2020, Brinc’s portfolio company Jetbrain Robotics, who builds game-changing robots to support the operations within hospitals through disinfection, automated delivery, logistics and customer service, was acquired by Solaris. The acquisition paired Jetbrain’s robots with Solaris’ technology that is capable of eradicating more than 99% of pathogens in less than 10 seconds. Their combined strengths will play a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. Many of Brinc’s portfolio companies have launched initiatives to combat COVID-19 throughout 2020, as a show of unity and opportunity during a very trying year for all. Learn more about them here.
Gupta goes on to say, ‘COVID has highlighted the fragility & interconnectedness of our global ecosystems, illustrating how actions in one place can have ripple effects all around the world. In the same light, it has also shown how if we work together we can rapidly develop groundbreaking solutions. This is a very unique opportunity to highlight the importance of keeping this global spirit and developing the tools, technologies and processes to drive true change for the long term — this is a commitment that will take us at least 10–20 years, and we need to set regular 2–3 year milestones to ensure we stay on track’.
