Stockholm (NordSIP) – SEB Life & Pension announced it would invest SEK100 million in Norrsken Venture Capital Fund 1 (NVCF1). NVCF1 focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and companies whose main purpose is to find successful solutions to sustainability challenges, including environmental deterioration, climate challenge, unnecessary consumption, food waste, health and education.
Norrsken Venture Capital is an impact VC fund manager which evolved out of Norrsken Foundation, a non-profit foundation founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of Klarna. Both organisations believe that entrepreneurs building rapidly scalable businesses are the way to solving the hardest and biggest problems, such as poverty, famine, environmental issues, mental health, and integration. The fund manages a total of just over €120 million, equivalent to approximately SEK1.2 billion. It is managed by Norrsken’s founders Niklas Adalberth, Agate Freimane, David Frykman and Tove Larsson.
“This is an interesting investment for our traditional insurance portfolio with potential to generate good long-term returns for our customers while enabling us to reach our ambitious sustainability goals,” says Rebecka Elkert (Pictured), Portfolio Manager for Alternatives & ESG Responsible at SEB Life & Pension. “We hope this investment will contribute to creating meaningful enterprises – both financially and for the society.”
In connection with the investment, SEB Life & Pension is taking a seat on the fund’s Advisory Committee, which gives it the opportunity to closely monitor the investment in terms of both return and impact.
“We were looking to add one or several Private Equity VC managers focusing on the Nordics and with a clear sustainability focus combined with a strong drive and capability to create return,” Elkert tells NordSIP. “In our portfolio we already have international examples in this area, a bit more hard tech oriented, with proven track record of creating return combined with impact. We thought Norrsken might be an interesting alternative and reached out to the firm in early fall 2020.”
Discussing the appeal of NVCF1, Elkert highlights the strength of the team and its vision. “There were several interesting investment projects, we also liked the team living their values, their strong network and clear ambition to create ‘impact unicorns’ – combined with a return perspective.”
“The team and their network really stand out. They embody a sense of urgency and drive to make a difference and they convinced us through their care of details, like early awareness of sustainability regulations, as well as their visions on return created through impact,” Elkert concludes.
Image Courtesy of SEB IM
