In this section
We invest in a thriving future
At Ananda, we invest in solutions that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Impact is at the core of what we do, and we focus on outcomes that drive measurable, scalable, and global change.
We believe no problem exists in isolation, which is why we are impact generalists. Our investments span industries and align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and Planetary Boundaries, ensuring we address challenges holistically.
By prioritising impact-driven business models, systemic change, and scalability, we ensure every investment contributes to a thriving future for people and the planet.
The Ananda Portfolio By Capital Invested
Here are some our latest investments:
Accelerating discovery of new sustainable materials with Quantum and AI
The production of raw materials for industry contributes an outsized proportion of global GHG emissions, with 19% from extraction and creation, and 3% from waste and removal. Sustainable alternatives are key to achieving net zero.
At Ananda, we believe that quantum chemistry, chemical simulations and AI have the potential to accelerate sustainable innovation, offering unprecedented benefits to industries seeking sustainable solutions.
Making reproductive healthcare more successful, patient-centric, and accessible with Artificial Intelligence
Globally, 17.5% of the adult population – roughly 1 in 6 – experience infertility and, on average, only 35% of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments are successful.
At Ananda, we believe that every individual should have access to compassionate and effective reproductive healthcare, making family a possibility for all.
Accelerating the bioeconomy with lab automation and artificial intelligence
The bioeconomy could replace 60% of physical inputs in industries like food and textiles, significantly reducing GHG emissions and resource dependency. Yet, scaling bio-based production remains costly and slow, limiting sustainable product adoption.
At Ananda, we believe the bioeconomy is a cornerstone of a more resilient, sustainable future. That’s why we’ve invested in Differential Bio, a company unlocking a new era of high-performance, scalable bioproduction.
Protecting coastal ecosystems at scale
Coastal ecosystems—such as mangroves, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs—store vast amounts of blue carbon and provide critical protection against extreme weather. Yet, they are disappearing at an alarming rate due to human activity and climate change.
At Ananda, we believe that if we want to build climate resilience, we need to protect the ecosystems that act as nature’s first line of defense—our coasts. This is why we invested in Ocean Ledger, a company leveraging satellite technology and AI to monitor and safeguard coastal ecosystems.
Making sustainability a central focus of design in manufacturing
Sustainability in manufacturing is too often treated as an afterthought. In the pharmaceutical industry alone, emissions account for an estimated 0.9–2.5% of global totals.
At Ananda, we believe that sustainability must be embedded from the start, not retrofitted later. That’s why we’ve invested in Elio, a company rethinking how products are designed and made.
Mitigating the global threat of Antimicrobial Resistance
AMR is one of the most significant global health threats of our time and could claim up to 10 million lives annually by 2050.
At Ananda, we are committed to addressing multi-faceted, systemic global challenges. By fostering collaboration, innovation and robustness in the environmental health sector, we believe we can make great strides toward a healthier and safer future for all.
Our Impact Journey
Impact is a key part of our investment process. In every investment we make, the business potential is assessed alongside its potential for impact. We then set impact KPIs with our portfolio companies and constantly measure them to ensure positive impact is created from start to exit.
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First meeting
- Is the venture impactful? Are founders mission-driven?
- Is impact measurable and inherently baked into the business model?
- Is the solution scalable?
- What are the risks? Can the company cause harm?
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Team review
- Deal presentation to the team
- Initial discussion about fit with Ananda’s scope
- Collect feedback and define focus areas for further impact due diligence
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Impact Assessment
- Structured analysis of impact focus & risks
- Theory of change
- Potential impact KPIs
- SDGs alignment
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Due diligence outcomes
- Verification of impact assessment
- Impact Map
- Define impact value chain
- Output and outcome definitions
- Alignment with founders on impact KPIs
- Approval process with Advisory Committee
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Impact Termsheet
- Impact requirement clause
- ESG clause:
- Diversity clause
- Founder’s health clause
- Environmental footprint clause
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Deal signing
- Welcome to Ananda
- Set-up of Impact KPIs targets
- Impact KPIs approval by Advisory Committee
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Investment Duration
- Yearly reporting
- ESG support
- Collect feedback and revisit KPIs as the business evolves
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Exit
- Impact review
- Celebrating outcomes
Our approach to ESG measurement
At Ananda, we strongly believe that all companies should incorporate aspects of ESG, meaning that business should be conducted in a fair, inclusive, and planet-friendly way. This applies not only to our portfolio companies but also to us at Ananda.
We address ESG topics as early as possible in our investment processes and include clauses on Diversity and Inclusion, Environmental Footprint, and Founders’ Health in the termsheets to be signed by our portfolio companies.
As active members of VentureESG, Leaders for Climate Action, and DiversityVC, we are in constant exchange with our peers to develop and observe best practices regarding ESG compliance, ESG reporting, and ESG actions both for us and our portfolio companies.
To further strengthen and formalise our approach, we have streamlined our ESG data collection and reporting. In doing so, we have gone beyond merely collecting data for regulatory compliance (SFDR Disclosure). We have added selected KPIs that we consider especially relevant for early-stage startups.
We are an SFDR Article 9 fund
At Ananda, we believe the SFDR is a step in the right direction to enhance transparency and promote sustainable investments.
We have always been an impact fund, which we consider to be a particularly rigorous subcategory of a sustainable investment objective. Therefore, we are an Article 9 fund.
Our efforts go beyond compliance; we strive to make a positive impact on the environment and society through all of our investments.
We are pleased to be listed in this Sifted article alongside many other VC funds committed to contributing to a more sustainable future.
For the overall market, we see SFDR as a significant step forward in combating greenwashing and standardising sustainability within European financial markets.
Nevertheless, we agree with many of our impact fund peers regarding the vagueness of the criteria for an Article 9 fund (‘sustainable investment objective’).
This ambiguity, we believe, leaves room for greenwashing and impact washing. To address this and push for clearer definitions, we have joined forces in the #UnitedForImpact movement along with 40+ other impact funds. This initiative advocates for more precise product categorisation, including the introduction of a new category aimed specifically at impact solutions.
Read more about the initiative here.
Florian Erber
General Partner & Founder
Ananda Impact Ventures
Read more on Aurum ImpactThe market often treats Article 9 as a label to choose, but it’s actually a regulatory requirement. For any fund positioning itself as sustainable, compliance with these disclosure standards is non-negotiable. From my view, every impact fund falls under this category.
Three Years of SFDR: A Deep Dive into Article 9 with Three of Europe’s Leading Impact Investors