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Divestment of Three Scandinavia’s telecom tower business and assets

Investor

2020-11-12 13:00 GMT+01

Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, has agreed to divest its 40 percent share of Three Scandinavia’s tower business and assets by:

  • Transferring its share of Three Scandinavia’s passive network infrastructure assets to CKH Networks, an operator of CK Hutchison’s European tower business with assets in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
  • Participating in the divestment of CKH Networks for EUR 10bn to Cellnex, the leading European independent operator of wireless telecommunications infrastructure. The consideration attributable to Patricia Industries will be 5 percent of the total consideration.

“This is a value creative transaction that will further strengthen our balance sheet,” says Investor AB President and CEO Johan Forssell.

“We believe this transaction creates value by finding a good, focused home for the tower assets, and allowing Three Scandinavia to focus on its core business of providing customers with high-quality mobile services. Three Scandinavia will continue investing in its network and services,” says Christian Cederholm, Co-head of Patricia Industries.

For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2020, Three Scandinavia’s reported EBITDA amounted to SEK 4,042m. Following the transaction, the company will establish service contracts with Cellnex for the utilization of the divested passive infrastructure.

The transaction is expected to close on a country by country basis, subject to regulatory approval, into 2021.

About Three Scandinavia
Three Scandinavia, founded in 2000, is a provider of mobile voice and broadband services in Sweden and Denmark. CK Hutchison owns 60 percent and Investor AB 40 percent of the company.  

About Patricia Industries
Patricia Industries is a long-term owner that invests in companies and works to develop each company to its full potential. Patricia Industries is a part of the industrial holding company Investor AB, whose main owner is the Wallenberg Foundations.

For further information:

Viveka Hirdman-Ryrberg, Head of Corporate Communication and Sustainability,
Phone +46 70 550 3500
viveka.hirdman-ryrberg@investorab.com

Magnus Dalhammar, Head of Investor Relations,
Phone +46 73 524 2130
magnus.dalhammar@investorab.com

Our press releases can be accessed at www.investorab.com

Investor, founded by the Wallenberg family in 1916, is an engaged owner of high quality global companies. We have a long-term investment perspective. Through board participation, as well as industrial experience, our network and financial strength, we work continuously to support our companies to remain or become best-in-class. Our holdings include, among others, ABB, Atlas Copco, Ericsson, Mölnlycke and SEB.

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Mindful Chef finds new home with Nestle after 5x growth

Piper

We are delighted to announce that Mindful Chef has been bought by Nestlé. In a wonderful two-year journey since we invested £6m in December 2018, sales have increased fivefold to £50m.

It’s astonishing how something so special has been built in such a short period of time – school friends Giles Humphries, Myles Hopper and Robert Grieg-Gran only founded the company in 2015. Since then, it has delivered over 9.5 million meals to households across the UK and become the nation’s highest rated recipe box according to Trustpilot.

As the name suggests, it has come to embody a mindfulness about the suppliers it chooses, the healthy ingredients it uses, and the brand’s impact on the environment. As well as being a certified B-Corp, for every meal sold, a school meal is donated to a child living in poverty through the firm’s ‘One Feeds Two’ initiative, which has seen more than five million meals donated so far.

The brand’s focus on health and nutrition has also seen Mindful Chef appointed the official nutrition partner for the English Institute of Sport while its partnership with the British Heart Foundation aims to raise awareness of how a healthy, balanced diet can help support heart and circulatory health. Testament to this, Sir Andy Murray, Victoria Pendleton CBE and Will Greenwood MBE are among its legions of fans.

As a truly purpose-driven brand, we are proud to have backed a team that embody our own values. We love nothing more than finding great custodians for our partner brands and, in Nestle, they now have a lifelong partner that can help them achieve their mission of getting more people to eat healthily.

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Quantum Motion appoints Cadence founder and industry expert Prof. Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli as Chair

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Inkef Capital

Quantum Motion is pleased to announce that it has appointed Professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, University of California, Berkeley, as Chair, aligning his significant experience in the electronics design industry with the Company’s commitment to building a scalable and manufacturable quantum processor.

The appointment follows Quantum Motion’s recent oversubscribed £8m fundraise and will support the Company’s strategy of developing a fault-tolerant quantum computing architecture that is compatible with the CMOS manufacturing process.
Prof. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is a major figure in both commercial and technological developments in the electronics industry and brings significant experience of direct relevance to Quantum Motion and the development of its technology. A founder of both Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys – the two industry leaders in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) – he has also served in many advisory roles, ranging from Intel, HP and ST microelectronics in the semiconductor industry to BMW, General Motors and UTC in systems and has chaired UltraSoc from 2017 until their acquisition by Siemens in June 2020.

Prof. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli replaces outgoing Chair, Dr Manjari Chandran-Ramesh, who steps down having served as Quantum Motion’s Chair since 2018. She remains a director of the Company, representing IP Group on the board. During her tenure, the Company spun out of Oxford and UCL and became the first UK quantum computing hardware company to raise a series A.

Professor Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is a distinguished academic and has been with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, since 1976. He has authored over 1000 papers with an h-index of 118 and received numerous academic and industry awards, such as the IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award recognising his “groundbreaking contributions that have had an exceptional impact on the development of electronics and electrical engineering”. He is also a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and holds honorary doctorates from Aalberg University, Denmark; KTH Stockholm, Sweden and IAG Krakow, Poland.

Prof. Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli said: “It is clear that making perfect systems from noisy components will be the key to realising a useful quantum computer. However, this idea on its own is not enough, execution will be critical. The Quantum Motion team has the competence needed to deliver a scalable silicon architecture but, as importantly, it has the focus to realise it in a manufacturable process.”

Dr Chandran-Ramesh commented: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the Quantum Motion team and to help grow the business from start-up to a successful, over-subscribed series A round backed by high-quality investors. I am proud to be handing over to Prof. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli who has exceptional experience in this area and I look forward to working with him and the team as we start the next chapter of this exciting journey.”

Prof. John Morton, founder of Quantum Motion comments: “We would like to thank Dr Chandran-Ramesh for her excellent chairmanship over the past two successful years and are delighted to be welcoming Prof Sangiovanni-Vincentelli on board. He shares our vision for leveraging silicon to produce truly scalable quantum processors and brings unique insights from his experience in building world-leading companies in semiconductor IC design”

Media Enquiries:
Quantum Motion
media@quantummotion.tech
www.quantummotion.tech

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C5 Capital Appoints Rob Meyerson, former President of Blue Origin, as Operating Partner

C5 Capital

WASHINGTON and LONDON, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —C5 Capital USA LLC (“C5“), the specialist venture capital firm that invests in the secure data ecosystem, including cybersecurity, AI, cloud and space announces Rob Meyerson as its newest Operating Partner joining C5’s new Impact Partners Fund based in Washington DC.

Rob Meyerson is responsible for advancing C5’s deal flow and investments with innovative technologies at the intersection of space, cloud computing and cybersecurity. Rob will help C5 to identify founders and technologies at the leading edge of space as one of the fastest growing new markets for cloud computing and cybersecurity.

Rob is the founder and CEO of Delalune Space, a consulting company focused on the aerospace, mobility and technology sectors. Rob is the former President of Blue Origin, one of the leading private space companies in the US, and worked directly for Jeff Bezos. He brings more than 30 years of space experience with him.

Rob oversaw the growth of Blue Origin from 2003 to 2018, building the company from its early days as a think-tank into a leading space company. Under Rob’s leadership, Blue Origin developed the New Shepard system for suborbital human and research flights, a new liquid rocket engine business (developing and offering the BE-3 and BE-4 engines), the New Glenn launch vehicle and the Blue Moon lunar lander. During this time, Rob oversaw Blue’s growth from 10 people, to a more than 1500-person organization with facilities in six locations. Prior to joining Blue, Rob was a Senior Manager at Kistler Aerospace. Rob began his career as an aerodynamicist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).

 

 

 

Rob has undertaken a career transformation since leaving Blue Origin, to broader leadership in shaping the direction of the exciting space sector. Rob serves as the Executive Producer of ASCEND, a new innovative platform created by AIAA to build our off-world future. He also serves on the boards of several for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Andre Pienaar, Founder of C5 Capital stated: “The future of cybersecurity will be decided in space. Space is the strategic high ground for cybersecurity. We look to the successful US launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon as an acceleration of the growth of the low earth orbit space economy that opens new opportunities for private investors. Rob Meyerson is a pioneering leader with exceptional deep domain expertise in space. Rob will help C5 to invest in building cybersecurity and cloud computing as critical infrastructure in space to secure the future for all.”

Rob Meyerson, stated: “The world is becoming more and more reliant on space for communications; positioning, navigation and timing (PNT); weather monitoring; earth observation and other services. These space systems now serve as utilities and are part of our critical infrastructure that we rely on for everything, from predicting weather events to tracking wildfires to pumping gasoline. C5 Capital is committed to building companies that will make this critical infrastructure resilient and available to a broader population. I’m honored to be joining the incredible team of professionals at C5 Capital.”

Press Contact – C5 Capital
Charlie Jack/Andrew Leach/Michael Celiceo/Mary Magnani
hsclarity@hudsonsandler.com
020 7796 4133

About C5 Capital
C5 Capital Limited (C5) is a global specialist investment firm that exclusively invests in the secure data ecosystem including cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and applied data analytics. The firm is dedicated to nurturing a secure digital future and our investment strategy is based on an approach of building long-term relationships with innovative companies that share in our mission. For more information, visit: www.c5capital.com.

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AEGIS Hedging Expands into Metals with Acquisition of Nexidus Commodities

Baird Capital

Transaction marks first strategic acquisition fueled by growth financing from Trilantic North America

The Woodlands, Texas, November 11, 2020 – AEGIS Hedging Solutions (“AEGIS” or the “Company”), a leader in technology and expertise for commodity and rate hedging, announced today that it has acquired Nexidus Commodities (“Nexidus”), a commodity trading advisor and pioneer in metals hedging.

Founded in 2017, Nexidus provides research, strategy, execution, and administrative support to companies in the industrials and manufacturing sectors hedging their exposures to base and precious metals. Nexidus has capitalized on significant, growing demand from financial sponsors seeking visibility into and management of metals exposures across their portfolio companies, as commodity pricing and rate exposures have a significant impact on cash flow and related valuations.

“The acquisition of Nexidus is a significant step in extending our hedging technology and expertise beyond the energy sector,” said Bryan Sansbury, Chairman and CEO of AEGIS. “With increasing global volatility, we are committed to serving companies across industries as they manage their commodity and rate risks.”

“We are excited to bring AEGIS’ scalable technology and approach to hedging metal price risk for new and existing clients,” said Adam Jackson, CEO of Nexidus. “AEGIS has shown a commitment to continually investing in its platform and client experience. We look forward to extending our reach with any company exposed to metals, energy, and rates-pricing.”

 

Trilantic North America Investment

AEGIS’ acquisition of Nexidus was made in partnership with Trilantic North America, a leading private equity firm, which recently invested in the Company to support the execution of its growth strategy and accelerate its expansion across the metals, refined products, interest rates, and FOREX sectors. The Company’s co-founders, Bryan Sansbury, Chris Croom, and Justin McCrann, who serve as CEO, President, and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, continue to lead the business and have retained significant equity stakes in the Company.

“We have known Bryan and the AEGIS team for several years and have watched them build the Company into the leading software-based hedge advisory services business within the North American energy market,” said Chris Manning, Managing Partner at Trilantic North America and Chairman of Trilantic Energy Partners North America. “The acquisition of Nexidus represents an exciting first step in the Company’s next phase of growth as we look to aggressively expand AEGIS’ presence in new end markets.”

“With the Company’s industry leading software platform and focus on value-added hedge advisory services, AEGIS is uniquely positioned to capitalize on an increasingly volatile market environment and expand into adjacent areas of risk management,” added Chris Murphy, Principal at Trilantic North America. “We’re thrilled to partner with the AEGIS team.”

“Trilantic North America has a strong record of partnering with founder-led businesses to build leading-edge companies within the North American energy, services, and consumer sectors,” said Chris Croom, President of AEGIS. “The team quickly understood our growth objectives and their investment will help us leverage our existing technology platform to accelerate AEGIS’ expansion.”

Baird Capital, which first invested in AEGIS in 2019, will retain a material ownership stake.

 

About AEGIS

AEGIS, formerly AEGIS Energy Risk, enables companies to manage their commodity price and interest rate risk through leading software and advisory capabilities. AEGIS provides unique insight into commodity and rate markets, develops and executes cash flow protection strategies, and manages all hedge program activities through a SaaS technology platform. AEGIS was recently named the Hedge Advisor of the Year for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.

AEGIS is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, and has offices in Dallas, Denver, Knoxville, and Pittsburgh. To learn more, visit AEGIS’ website at www.aegis-hedging.com.

 

About Nexidus

Nexidus provides commodity hedging, risk management, and analytical services to industrial clients with exposure to the prices of base and precious metals. Nexidus offers clarity, direction, and strategy to better manage metals pricing volatility that impacts profitability and cash flow.

 

About Trilantic North America 

Trilantic Capital Management L.P. (“Trilantic North America”) is a private equity firm focused on control and significant minority investments in North America. Trilantic North America’s primary investment focus is in the business services, consumer and energy sectors. Trilantic North America has managed six private equity fund families with aggregate capital commitments of $9.7 billion. Trilantic North America has been recognized by Inc. Magazine’s 2019 list of Top 50 Founder-Friendly Private Equity Firms.

 

For more information, visit www.trilanticnorthamerica.com.

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The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited – Acquisition of interest in East Anglia One offshore wind farm in the UK

InfraRed Capital Partners

The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited

(“TRIG” or “the Company”, a London-listed investment company advised by InfraRed Capital Partners (“InfraRed”) as Investment Manager and RES (“Renewable Energy Systems”) as Operations Manager).

The Board of TRIG is pleased to announce that the Company has exchanged contracts to acquire a 14.3% indirect equity interest in East Anglia One, a 714MW newly constructed operational offshore wind farm located off the coast of Suffolk in the North Sea (“the Project”), from Green Investment Group (“GIG”). The investment has been made in a 50% interest in the holding company through which GIG’s initial investment was made (the “Holding Company”). The investment is subject to a consent from The Crown Estate and is expected to complete by Q1 2021. Following completion of the transaction, offshore wind investments are expected to represent approximately 29% of TRIG’s portfolio.

TRIG has partnered with InfraRed European Infrastructure Income Fund 4 (“IREIIF4”) for the transaction, a fund managed by InfraRed, which will acquire a 5.7% indirect equity interest in the project alongside TRIG. This is consistent with TRIG’s strategy of partnering with aligned co-investors on larger transactions. TRIG’s investment will be financed from a combination of its existing cash balance and a drawdown from the Group’s revolving acquisition facility.

The Project was developed by ScottishPower Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, a global energy leader with 34GW of installed renewables capacity.  The turbines utilise Siemens’ direct drive technology, with Siemens providing maintenance services in relation to the turbines under an initial contract with the Project. The Project benefits from an attractive Contract-for-Difference (“CfD”) subsidy for the next 15 years with inflation indexation. Debt financing at the Holding Company level (the consortium level for GIG, TRIG and IREIIF4) is fixed rate and fully amortising within the subsidy period.

The investment fits well into the Company’s investment strategy, providing subsidised revenues for the next 15 years, lowering overall power price sensitivity of the portfolio and strengthening the Company’s position in the attractive offshore wind market. Offshore wind projects will be crucial to the UK’s ambition to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and East Anglia One provides enough clean energy to power the equivalent of more than 630,000 homes.

Helen Mahy, CBE, Chairman of TRIG, said:

“We are delighted to be investing in this high quality asset which marks our continued commitment to supporting the global transition to a more sustainable future, and to be joining with such well-established and respected partners in Green Investment Group and ScottishPower Renewables. East Anglia One is TRIG’s fourth investment in the offshore wind sector and its second offshore wind investment in the UK. Offshore wind is essential to the UK meeting its 2050 net-zero targets.”

More Information

The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG)

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (“TRIG” or the “Company”) is a leading London-listed renewable energy infrastructure investment company. The Company seeks to provide shareholders with an attractive long-term, income-based return with a positive correlation to inflation by focusing on strong cash generation across a diversified portfolio of predominantly operating projects. TRIG is targeting an aggregate dividend of 6.76 pence per Ordinary Share for the year to 31 December 2020.

TRIG is invested in a portfolio of over 70 wind, solar and battery storage projects with aggregate net generating capacity of over 1.5GW. TRIG is seeking further suitable investment opportunities which fit its stated Investment Policy.

Further details can be found on TRIG’s website at www.trig-ltd.com.

 

InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (InfraRed)

TRIG’s Investment Manager is InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (“InfraRed”) which has successfully invested in over 200 infrastructure projects since 1997. InfraRed is a leading international investment manager focused on infrastructure and real estate. It operates worldwide from offices in London, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul and Sydney. With over 170 professionals it manages in excess of USD 12 billion of equity capital in multiple private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors across the globe. InfraRed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The infrastructure investment team at InfraRed consists of over 85 investment professionals, all with an infrastructure investment background and a broad range of relevant skills, including private equity, structured finance, construction, renewable energy and facilities management.

InfraRed implements best-in-class practices to underpin asset management and investment decisions, promotes ethical behaviour and has established community engagement initiatives to support good causes in the wider community. InfraRed is a signatory of the Principles of Responsible Investment.

Further details can be found on InfraRed’s website at www.ircp.com.

 

Operations Manager

TRIG’s Operations Manager is RES (“Renewable Energy Systems”), the world’s largest independent renewable energy company.

RES has been at the forefront of wind energy development for over 38 years, with the expertise to develop, engineer, construct, finance and operate projects around the globe. RES has developed or constructed onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage and transmission projects totalling more than 17GW in capacity. RES supports over 6.3GW of operational assets worldwide for a large client base. Headquartered in Hertfordshire, UK, RES is active in 10 countries and has over 2,000 employees engaged in renewables globally.

RES is an expert at optimising energy yields, with a strong focus on safety and sustainability. Further details can be found on the website at www.res-group.com.

 

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Vector Capital Appoints Anupam Banerjee Managing Director and Head of Value Creation

Vector Capital

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vector Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing in transformational investments in established technology businesses, today announced Anupam Banerjee has joined the firm as a Managing Director and Head of Value Creation. At Vector Capital, Mr. Banerjee will work with the firm’s investment team to underwrite new investments and assist portfolio companies to develop and execute go-to-market strategies, drive growth, and improve profitability.

Mr. Banerjee brings nearly two decades of proven technology industry and operating experience to Vector Capital. He was most recently a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Technology, Media & Telecom and Marketing & Sales Practices and a leader in its global software team, where he executed large-scale B2B sales and marketing transformations on behalf of multi-national software, hardware, services, and telecom clients.

“Vector Capital’s value creation team is a fundamental element of our approach to driving operational improvement across the portfolio. In Anupam, we have added a capable leader with a proven track record of improving global technology businesses and a deep understanding of our core sectors,” said Alex Slusky, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Vector Capital. “Vector has had a very active 2020, and we look forward to leveraging Anupam’s expertise as we identify compelling investment opportunities and lead business transformations that deliver strong outcomes for our investors.”

“Vector Capital has built an impressive 23-year track record of investing in and transforming technology businesses and I am thrilled to be joining its leadership team of experienced investors, operators, and executives,” said Mr. Banerjee. “I look forward to leading Vector’s value creation team and driving value across its portfolio.”

Prior to joining McKinsey in 2005, Mr. Banerjee held positions at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs and Calix Networks. He studied Electrical & Computer Engineering and Economics and has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a PhD and Masters’ degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

About Vector Capital

Vector Capital is a leading global private equity firm specializing in transformational investments in established technology businesses. With more than $3 billion of capital under management, Vector actively partners with management teams to devise and execute new financial and business strategies that materially improve the competitive standing of businesses and enhance value for employees, customers, and all stakeholders. For more information, visit http://www.vectorcapital.com.

Contacts

For Vector Capital:
Nathaniel Garnick / Grace Cartwright
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170

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Online supermarket Pieter Pot raises € 2.7 million to make circular packaging for groceries the norm

Shift Invest

The Dutch startup Pieter Pot raises € 2.7 million to meet the great consumer demand for sustainable alternatives to single use packaging. The ‘packaging-free’ online supermarket now serves the whole of the Netherlands and in total some 30,000 consumers have signed up for the waiting list. Also, major brands are partnering with Pieter Pot. The capital injection will be used to scale operations and develop Pieter Pot’s own circular packaging.

Online supermarket Pieter Pot raises € 2.7 million to make circular packaging for groceries the norm

 

Martijn Bijmolt (28) and Jouri Schoemaker (30) have been working for just over one year on the online supermarket with a circular packaging system that makes the sustainable choice also the convenient choice. Often, the sustainable option still takes too much effort, energy and money. “Pieter Pot changes this. Online delivery means that no one has to carry around jars (‘pot’ in Dutch) and the product range can be much larger than in physical ‘packaging-free’ shops. In addition, we offer our products at prices that are comparable to ordinary supermarkets,” says Schoemaker. “With our playful brand and jars that don’t need to be hidden, we show that it’s much more fun to go shopping without all the packaging waste.”

The approach gets traction. Last year Jouri and Martijn operated from an attic room and they served their city, Rotterdam, on a cargo bike. After a crowdfunding campaign that raised half a million Euros at the end of 2019, Pieter Pot is serving all of the Netherlands. A year later, the ambition has increased which gets noticed. Three impact-oriented venture capital funds, SHIFT Invest (also the party behind Vandebron), Future Food Fund and InnovationQuarter, together invest € 2.7 million in Pieter Pot. Janneke Bik, Peter Arensman and Tijl Hoefnagels on behalf of the investors: “It is impressive what Pieter Pot has achieved in a relatively short period of time. With this investment, they will be able to scale up operations, serve the tens of thousands of people on the waiting list and develop their own circular packaging. Every person in the Netherlands uses an average of around 25kg of plastic per year. Pieter Pot’s solution can make an important contribution to the reduction of single-use packaging and make circular packaging for groceries the norm.”

120,000 single-use packaging reduced

Pieter Pot is having an impact in two ways: reducing of packaging waste and decreasing the CO2 footprint of consumers. In one and a half years, 121,318 single use containers have already been saved. The impact of this is enormous, even compared with recyclable packaging. Alternative packaging, which potentially can be recycled, have a higher CO2 footprint than the circular jars of Pieter Pot. “Even if packaging gets recycled, it still costs a lot of energy. You can compare it to a bottle or a can of beer: bottles are the more sustainable option after they have been reused around 10 times”, says Schoemaker.

Haribo, Heinz and Ecover partner with Pieter Pot

More and more A-brands want their products in Pieter Pot’s circular packaging. The first big brands that are now also available in the jars of Pieter Pot are Haribo, Heinz and Ecover. In the near future, their products will be sold in new jars, especially designed by Pieter Pot. These jars will be more user friendly and lighter, giving them an even lower CO2 footprint.

About Pieter Pot

Pieter Pot is the first online supermarket to deliver ‘packaging-free’ groceries by filling products in reusable jars and delivering them to consumers. The jars contain food and non-food products from both the Pieter Pot private label and well-known A brands, from rice to sweets, from olive oil to shampoo. Empty pots are taken back to be washed and refilled; a circular process which reduces the large number of (plastic) packaging.

About SHIFT Invest

SHIFT Invest is a Dutch venture capital fund that invests in innovations in food & agriculture, clean (bio-based) technologies, circularity and smart materials. Through its investments, SHIFT strives to create environmental impact alongside financial return. Together with the fund partners, SHIFT offers entrepreneurs a broad network and knowledge of the sector. SHIFT is managed by New Balance Impact Investors (NBI), an experienced team of investment professionals and entrepreneurs. NBI manages five venture capital funds, backed by strong and involved partners that share their mission of turning investments into impact

About FutureFoodFund

Future Food Fund is a € 12m seed capital fund, founded and funded by 30 entrepreneurs. Mainly with a background in food&agri and technology, these entrepreneurs wish to actively contribute to the success of the fund, not only with money, but also with experience and network. Future Food Fund is aimed at Dutch companies that want to impact the food&agri sector with innovative technology and / or disruptive business models.

About InnovationQuarter

InnovationQuarter is the regional economic development agency for Zuid-Holland. InnovationQuarter invests in innovative companies from Zuid-Holland with growth ambitions, assists international companies in establishing themselves in this unique delta region and organises (international) cooperation between innovative entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions and the government. Together with the business community, InnovationQuarter develops Zuid-Holland into one of the most innovative regions in Europe.

As a lifecycle financier InnovationQuarter provides companies with financing in different phases of growth. InnovationQuarter invests from three funds: IQCapital, UNIIQ and ENERGIIQ.

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Remote raises $35M to help orgs with global workforce payroll, benefits and more

Inkef Capital

 

Remote working has become the norm in many offices around the world this year, as organizations do what they can to help contain the rapid transmission of Covid-19 by reducing in-person interactions between workers. That’s also meant a renewed focus on how companies manage employees who have never worked in the office, and might even live outside the country. Today, one of the startups helping to manage those workers — appropriately, itself named Remote — is announcing a significant round of funding.

The startup has closed a round of $35 million, a Series A that is being led by Index Ventures, with participation also from Sequoia Capital and some pretty notable angel investors, including Aaron Levie, Zach Weinberg, and Kevin and Julia Hartz. It brings the total raised by Remote to $46 million to date after the company — founded in 2019 — raised $11 million in a seed round earlier this year.

Remote plans to use the funding to expand its business to 30 countries, from 17 at the moment, on the back of doubling its customer base every month since launching earlier this year.

The opportunity and challenge that Remote is tackling will be a familiar one to anyone who works in a company that has people spread across different countries.

You may have found the perfect person to fill a role, and if that person was in your city, he or she would be working in the office as a full-time employee. But because that person lives elsewhere, and it’s too complicated to sort out the employment terms, he or she instead gets paid essentially like a regular freelancer, with no benefits or other kinds of coverage you typically get in a full-time contract (which could include maternity leave, or redundancy terms, or shares in the company, and more). That poses tricky questions both for the employer and the employee: is the employer still legally bound to provide full-time benefits? Should the employee seek a job elsewhere to get a more complete package and more security?

Remote was built in essence to address all that and more. It acts as the middle man, working with the company and the employee in his/her home market to figure out how best to employ that person — whether as full-time or as a permanent contractor — and then handles payroll and more with a network of localised legal entities that it has built from the ground up to handle everything, from employer of record services, to payroll, benefits, taxes and visa and immigration services when they are needed, as well as a platform to cover payments when the employee in question is a contractor.

Its customers range in size from 10 employees to a few thousand, said Job van der Voort, the CEO, in an interview. “We are basically agnostic in that sense,” he added.

Remote was co-founded by two European transplants to San Francisco who have first-hand experience of the paradoxical pains and opportunities of being in an organization that uses remote workforces.

Van der Voort had been the VP of product for GitLab, which he scaled from 5 to 450 employees working remotely (and it’s now a customer of Remote’s). CTO Marcelo Lebre most recently had been VP of engineering for Unbabel — another startup focused on reducing international barriers, this time between how companies and global customers communicate.

Remote is part of a veritable wave of startups that have emerged with significant funding this year to bring more services to businesses to better manage international workforces. They include Deel ($30 million raised in September), Papaya Global ($40 million also in September), Lattice ($45 million in July), Factorial ($16 million in April) and Turing ($14 million in August with another round coming soon), among others.

There are also others like Gusto and Rippling who handle payroll domestically (taking on incumbents like ADP) but clearly will have their eye on international markets and global workforces to fuel their growth longer term. Some of these, like Deel, are direct competitors, while others are working in areas adjacent to it and could potentially become more competitive over time.

Van der Voort says that the unique thing with Remote (apart from having the most obviously well-branded name) is that it has taken care to build each part of its business from the ground up.

“There are many companies that message the same thing: payroll for remote teams,” he said. “But they tend to rely on third parties which we don’t.”

That is partly what stood out for investors, too. Hannah Seal at Index said that her firm has been investing in Remote since the pre-seed round, and that relationship has helped her and the firm with other deals in recent times.

“When we first invested in Remote they were in Portugal, and we never met them in person,” she said of the San Francisco startup. “It wasn’t because of the pandemic that we did the pitch over Zoom, but because of how they were set up. That meant we had to build that relationship remotely. It has its challenges but we are working through that and making it work and we are increasingly open to investing in the best founders, regardless of where they live.”

“The future of work will involve many remote employees. Remote is addressing a key area of friction in the global economy by opening up the availability of talent to all businesses and the range of opportunities to individuals,” said Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia Capital, in a statement. “We are excited to support Remote in its drive to reshape the global talent market.”

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AEGIS Hedging Expands into Metals with Acquisition of Nexidus Commodities

Trilantic

Transaction marks first strategic acquisition fueled by growth financing from Trilantic North America

AEGIS Hedging Solutions (“AEGIS” or the “Company”), a leader in technology and expertise for commodity and rate hedging, announced today that it has acquired Nexidus Commodities (“Nexidus”), a commodity trading advisor and pioneer in metals hedging.

Founded in 2017, Nexidus provides research, strategy, execution, and administrative support to companies in the industrials and manufacturing sectors hedging their exposures to base and precious metals. Nexidus has capitalized on significant, growing demand from financial sponsors seeking visibility into and management of metals exposures across their portfolio companies, as commodity pricing and rate exposures have a significant impact on cash flow and related valuations.

“The acquisition of Nexidus is a significant step in extending our hedging technology and expertise beyond the energy sector,” said Bryan Sansbury, Chairman and CEO of AEGIS.
“With increasing global volatility, we are committed to serving companies across industries as they manage their commodity and rate risks.”
“We are excited to bring AEGIS’ scalable technology and approach to hedging metal price risk for new and existing clients,” said Adam Jackson, CEO of Nexidus. “AEGIS has shown a commitment to continually investing in its platform and client experience. We look forward to extending our reach with any company exposed to metals, energy, and rates-pricing.”

Trilantic North America Investment

AEGIS’ acquisition of Nexidus was made in partnership with Trilantic North America, a leading private equity firm, which recently invested in the Company to support the execution of its growth strategy and accelerate its expansion across the metals, refined products, interest rates, and FOREX sectors. The Company’s co-founders, Bryan Sansbury, Chris Croom, and Justin McCrann, who serve as CEO, President, and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, continue to lead the business and have retained significant equity stakes in the Company.

“We have known Bryan and the AEGIS team for several years and have watched them build the Company into the leading software-based hedge advisory services business within the North American energy market,” said Chris Manning, Managing Partner at Trilantic North America and Chairman of Trilantic Energy Partners North America. “The acquisition of Nexidus represents an exciting first step in the Company’s next phase of growth as we look to aggressively expand AEGIS’ presence in new end markets.”

“With the Company’s industry leading software platform and focus on value-added hedge advisory services, AEGIS is uniquely positioned to capitalize on an increasingly volatile market environment and expand into adjacent areas of risk management,” added Chris Murphy, Principal at Trilantic North America. “We’re thrilled to partner with the AEGIS team.”

“Trilantic North America has a strong record of partnering with founder-led businesses to build leading-edge companies within the North American energy, services, and consumer sectors,” said Chris Croom, President of AEGIS. “The team quickly understood our growth objectives and their investment will help us leverage our existing technology platform to accelerate AEGIS’ expansion.”

Baird Capital, which first invested in AEGIS in 2019, will retain a material ownership stake.

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