Actor and movie producer Robert Downey Jr is launching a new rolling venture fund, Footprint Coalition Ventures, at the World Economic Forum’s Digital Davos event. The new rolling VC fund will be managed through AngelList.
The new fund will be focused on Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG).
FootPrint Coalition Ventures will be split between early and late-stage investment funds and will be looking to make 6 investments/year in early-stage companies and four later-stage deals.
The new rolling fund is part of Robert Downey Jr.'s sustainability focused initiative called the FootPrint Coalition, which the Iron Man actor unveiled in 2019's Amazon’s re:MARS conference. Footprint Coalition invest in high-growth, sustainability-focused companies. It also makes charitable grants to non-profits that advance the adoption of environmental technology.
Downey Jr. said in a statement -
Having spent the last 18 months in dialogue with scientists, engineers and technologists, I now have a firm grasp of the obvious: this global existential threat is not something that's going to be solved by a smattering of elite mega-corporations. I think that paradigm must be smashed in favor of innovation by a broad set of new companies.
Investment in sustainable technology is a critical pathway toward the discovery and scaling of better solutions for our planet. We need to mobilize more people and catalyze more capital. Thus - FootPrint Coalition Ventures, a group of investors, technologists, and storytellers committed to scaling enviro-tech solutions.
FootPrint Coalition has already invested in five companies:
- Arcadia Earth: A next generation exhibition and extended reality experience with a mission to positively impact our planet through environmental storytelling. Arcadia is the first platform of its kind to offer a powerful, intimately personal exploration of the plight of our planet through human scale art installations and the futuristic lens of augmented and virtual reality.
- Cloud Paper: A tree-free paper products company on a mission to save a billion trees. By using 100% ultra-renewable bamboo, plastic-free packaging, and carbon neutral deliveries Cloud Paper provides a sustainable alternative to traditional paper products like toilet paper and paper towels.
- RWDC Industries: A biotech company developing innovative and cost-effective biovanescent materials (materials that completely — 100% completely — break down to water and CO2, leaving no trace) to replace petroleum-derived plastics in a wide range of single-use consumer goods.
- Ÿnsect: the world leader in natural insect protein and fertilizer production, Ÿnsect uses pioneering proprietary technology protected by 260 patents to transform Molitor mealworms into sustainable, premium and high-value ingredients for humans, pets, fish and plants. Ÿnsect is currently building its second production unit, the first carbon negative and largest vertical farm in the world.
FootPrint Coalition Ventures’ latest investment, announced today alongside the fund, is into
Aspiration, a neobank which offers 100% clean, socially-conscious and sustainable cash management services and investment products, so individuals can make money while making the world a better place.
“For years, huge fortunes have been built off of actions that harm our planet. FootPrint Coalition is opening the door to allow real people to invest in the companies that are building businesses around the mission of saving the Earth for generations to come. We are honored to have them and Robert Downey Jr. as investors and partners in this worthwhile battle," Aspiration CEO and Co-Founder Andrei Cherny commented.
Rolling funds is different from traditional Venture Capital Fund in a way that it makes commitments on a quarterly basis and invest as they go, hence the “rolling.” Investors come on for a minimum one-year commitment and invest at a quarterly cadence. Rolling Funds are publicly marketable and remain continuously open to new investors.
The concept of rolling fund was introduced by AngelList in February 2020 and thereon this concept comes to the Venture Investing mainstream.
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