Tag: consortium

Impact investor Consortium invests €49 million in Fairphone

An international consortium of impact investors led by new shareholders Invest-NL, the ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund and existing shareholder Quadia with its Regenero Impact Fund, joined forces with other existing shareholders DALHAP, DOEN Participaties and PDENH to invest €49 million in Fairphone, the Dutch sustainable smartphone company.
The investment enables Fairphone to accelerate growth and scale impact while pursuing its impact-driven mission towards fairer electronics. Furthermore it is used for the settlement of existing loans and partial exit of current shareholders, including PYMWYMIC and over 1000 crowdfunders.
Eva Gouwens, Fairphone CEO, comments: “Over the past years, Fairphone has been able to transform from a social movement to an impactful mission-driven company. I would like to thank all shareholders who have supported us over the years. With a growing base of mission-aligned investors, we will further raise awareness for fairer electronics and accelerate the growth of our company and impact.”
Funding to accelerate growth, product development and impact Fairphone will use the growth capital to strengthen brand positioning and create further awareness around fairness and sustainability in the electronics industry. The funding will also be used to accelerate integration of fair and recycled materials in Fairphone’s full product portfolio, for example by extending its mining value chain programs in Africa & South America, and fair wage programs in Asia. Moreover, Fairphone will invest in product development and improved customer service to ensure users enjoy keeping their Fairphone in use longer.
“We are excited to support Fairphone’s growth ambitions, as a truly circular lighthouse case within the electronics industry. With its unparalleled approach to creating ethical products with both people and planet in mind, Fairphone sets new standards for the entire industry. Together, we are disrupting a short-term way of thinking that the world can no longer afford, creating a sustainable and fair future for all stakeholders,” said Elisabeth Storm de Grave, Principal at Invest-NL.
Hanna Zwietering from the ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund says: “Fairphone is a frontrunner in the sustainable electronics industry. The company has proven it can develop high-quality modular and fair smartphones in most competitive markets. Consumers love the Fairphone for impact and quality alike, in line with a growing trend towards conscious consumer behavior. We are proud to support the company in their mission and accelerate Fairphone’s growth to further increase their impact in the industry.”
Towards a fairer electronics industry.
By establishing a market for ethical electronics, Fairphone inspires the entire electronics industry to act more responsibly. This means taking a holistic approach to fairness for people and planet. With every phone sold, Fairphone shows that there is demand for ethical electronics in combination with a profitable business model. Fairphone gains influence in the industry to motivate suppliers and manufacturers to continue to invest in improving working conditions, worker satisfaction and sustainable business practices, as well as providing better opportunities for the communities linked to its supply chain.
Josep Segarra, Senior Investment Manager from Quadia states: “We are very pleased to further support Fairphone through this significant investment alongside new mission-aligned co-investors. Fairphone perfectly fits in our vision of the sustainable electronics sector, in which we have already supported companies in the refurbished smartphones and home appliances segments. We look forward to continuing to strengthen the uniqueness of the company and aspire to accelerate Fairphone’s growth while creating value for all stakeholders and safeguarding its long-term mission”

Irish consortium led by ServBlock and Irish Manufacturing Research win EU funding to build Manufacturing Data Space

Blockchain and pharmaceutical compliance company ServBlock has received funding alongside Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) to build a trusted data exchange system for outsourced pharmaceutical manufacturing. Wicklow based ServBlock leads a consortium that includes NEXA | EAM (Cork), Ingeniero Solutions (Dublin) Unison Process Solutions (Limerick) and Plant Quest (Waterford) as a pioneering test case for trusted data transfer in pharma supply chains.

The project is supported by the EU’s i4Trust program, which provides funding for innovative research and development projects. The funding will enable the consortium to bring together experts from various fields, including data science, manufacturing, and engineering.

Welcoming the funding announcement, Adrian Hovenden, IMR’s Industrial Solutions Architect said: “Irish Manufacturing Research is delighted to have worked with IMR Member, ServBlock, to successfully secure the i4Trust funding for MANU SPACE. Collaborating with IMR members to create impactful solutions for the Irish manufacturing industry such as this Data Space, is key to ensuring the continued growth and development of the sector. IMR are excited to participate in this consortium and facilitate improvements in patient outcomes through improvements to pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain.”

In pharmaceutical manufacturing 20% of executives in management cite disparate systems and data sources among key challenges in addressing top manufacturing objectives for life sciences companies. A dataspace is a way of bringing together data from different sources and making it accessible and usable for a variety of purposes, such as research, analysis, or decision-making.

Data spaces can be used in a variety of contexts, such as in business, science, or government. The manufacturing data space will bring together data from different factories, production lines, and supply chains, to gain insights into the efficiency and competitiveness of the manufacturing process.

In the pharmaceutical industry 60% of all manufacturing is outsourced, companies outsource business activities to external partners for a variety of reasons – cost, flexibility, time to market, and core competence. This outsourcing leads to an increased risk of non-compliance to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) procedures which in turn could be a risk to the brand reputation of the company. By utilising the Manufacturing data space pharmaceutical companies can ensure contract manufacturers adhere to the same integrity, compliance, and quality operations as in-house manufacturing.

John Ward, CEO and founder of ServBlock, said: – “We are excited to be a part of this important project and look forward to working with our partners to bring the manufacturing data space to life. Coming on the back of our recent collaboration with Microsoft, this opportunity will allow ServBlock to continue to accelerate growth while being at the forefront of the Data Space movement.”