Annual Impact Review 2024
Unwavering in Uncertainty
A word from Trill Impact’s Founder & Managing Partner, Jan Ståhlberg
Reflecting on 2024, I'd say it was a year of economic stability and even recovery in some ways, yet clearly colored by geopolitical volatility and challenging market conditions.
From a micro perspective, 2024 brought several achievements for Trill Impact, despite a turbulent backdrop. There were new investments, the closing of the inaugural Ventures fund and recognition as the Best ESG Investment Fund within Private Equity. Within the inaugural Buyout Fund portfolio, Trill Impact advanced into phase two in the impact value creation approach, with tailored portfolio company actions to drive commercial growth and impact value creation in tandem.
Overall, we're proud of the perseverance that the Trill Impact portfolio upholds, with businesses and innovations that are progressing even in challenging times. Regardless of what the future holds, Trill Impact will continue to steer capital towards impact private investments and focus on transforming businesses for the benefit of investors, planet and society at large.
Targeting Returns across three Impact Themes
Resilient Society
Sustainable Planet
Healthy People
Trill Impact's investment approach is based on three specific impact themes: Sustainable Planet, Healthy People, and Resilient Society. Within these themes, relevant megatrends are integrated through a sector-agnostic approach to guide Trill Impact in assessing investment opportunities and screening the market for potential new investments.
Although the megatrends are quite stable, the investment opportunities that arise from them are ever evolving, as new technologies and innovations are developed to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.
Investment Strategies
Ventures
Impact Themes
Trill Impact Ventures focuses on investing in start- and scale-ups in Western Europe addressing the world's most pressing environmental and health challenges, backing entrepreneurs within Green Tech and Life Science Solutions.
Trill Impact Ventures makes minority investments alongside other venture capital firms, angel investors, and/or other sources of non-dilutive funding, such as research grants. The Life Science Investments focus on global health challenges within the pharma/biotech, vaccine, medical device, and diagnostics sub-sectors. The Green Tech investments target the global challenge of climate change across multiple sub-sectors. Trill Impact Ventures also invests in Impact Enablers– e.g. companies that support digital/data transformation, within the Green Tech and Life Sciences sectors
SDG Split of Equity Invested
49%
18%
13%
8%
5%
5%
2%
Portfolio Highlights 2024
Trill Impact Ventures co-led Series B round in May Health to advance PCOS treatment
In May, Trill Impact Ventures co-led a USD 25 million Series B financing round in May Health, a French-American medical device company focused on addressing infertility related to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The funding will support ongoing clinical development and help achieve CE marking for potential market entry in select European countries
Trill Impact Ventures led investment in regenerative agriculture company Soil Capital
In September, Trill Impact Ventures led a EUR 15 million Series B investment in Soil Capital, a Belgium-based company advancing regenerative agriculture. Soil Capital supports farmers in their implementation and monitoring of regenerative agricultural practices, helping them to monetize their capture of carbon while promoting biodiversity, water retention, and ecosystem health
Progress across Trill Impact Ventures’ portfolio
Several portfolio companies demonstrated strong growth over the year. Cinclus Pharma raised approximately SEK 715 million to support ongoing clinical development, including preparations for its Phase 3 program following its IPO on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in June. The capital raised will support a pivotal clinical trial in the US, as well as the filing of CE marking, enabling market entry in select European countries. Open Cosmos more than doubled its annual revenue, reaching £30 million, while maintaining EBITDA profitability and delivering multiple large-scale satellite projects on schedule.
Portfolio Companies
Buyout
Impact Themes
Trill Impact's Buyout strategy focuses on control or co-control investments in established mid-sized companies, primarily in Northern Europe, that demonstrate strong value creation potential, focusing on organic growth and often buy- and build, seeking to accelerate the business- and impact footprint.
The Buyout strategy intentionally targets companies that address environmental and societal challenges through their products and services, and where there is potential to use impact as a lens to unlock their full value creation potential. Trill Impact is convinced that integrating impact into the entire investment process and active ownership approach will generate high-performing organizations, deliver market-rate returns, and drive long-term sustainable value, for investors, businesses, and society at large.
SDG Split of Equity Invested
16%
13%
13%
12%
12%
10%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
2%
2%
Portfolio Highlights 2024
TT medic partnered with Trill Impact to drive growth in the European MedTech sector
In April 2024, TT medic, a MedTech development and manufacturing company for high-quality polymer components operating in the DACH region, entered a partnership with Trill Impact to accelerate its growth. This marked the first investment in Trill Impact's second Buyout Fund.
Strong progress on Impact and ESG targets across the portfolio
The majority of the Buyout portfolio companies met their Impact targets for 2024, which highlights their concrete contribution to the planet, society and the world around us. Their progress also shows that the Impact and ESG initiatives conducted across the portfolio have begun to yield results. In the first Buyout Fund, seven out of the ten portfolio companies met their GHG emissions reduction targets, implying that it is possible to increase a company's positive impact, while minimizing the adverse effects of that growth. All GHG emissions targets are absolute Scope 1-2 targets and have been developed in line with SBTi guidelines.
Impact-driven value creation takes center stage
During the year, there has been an increased focus on impact value creation in the Buyout portfolio. One of the initiatives undertaken, with the German portfolio company karriere tutor, is described in depth in this review to showcase how the application of an impact lens can be combined with an ambition to achieve commercial success. In this specific case, integration of impact criterion into the product development process resulted in new ways to increase the company's positive contribution to society while better serving market needs for business growth.
Since time of investment in the inaugural Buyout Fund
Portfolio Companies
Microfinance
Impact Themes
Trill Impact sees a Microfinance strategy as a private debt strategy focused on lending to Microfinance and SME finance institutions, as well as other impact-driven borrowers, supporting solutions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The strategy will aim to provide diversified exposure to high-growth economies through local currency investments across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, enhancing alternative asset portfolios and reducing emerging market macro risks. It will primarily invest in senior debt, with the flexibility to allocate a small portion to subordinate debt. The approach will be unhedged and focused on local currencies.
A Microfinance fund provides a loan to...
a Microfinance institution, who in turn provides a loan to...
Microentrepreneurs and Small & Medium Enterprises
Global Average Performance of Microfinance Institutions
These institutions often demonstrate strong portfolio performance, with global averages of ~3% non-performing loans and ~20% annual organic loan portfolio growth.
From Groundwork to Growth
"When high-performing companies embrace an impact lens to the full extent, they unlock powerful pathways for continued growth and value creation."
- Hetal Damani, Impact Partner at Trill Impact
