Welcome to our 2023 Impact Report, which highlights the transformative outcomes driven by our investments in companies with social and environmental impact. This comprehensive review examines our achievements and sets the stage for future endeavours.
Grab a cup of coffee and scroll through it below – or head HERE to download.
A huge thank you to our portcos!
This 60-page report represents all the impact our portfolio has driven in the last year, played back with concrete data points. We couldn’t have produced all this without the superstars from each portfolio company, and we want to extend a massive thank you for your support and collaboration. Seeing how shared collective efforts drive change and create a better world is amazing!
The rise of impact reporting
Impact reports are becoming the norm for us and many VCs, generalists and impact funds alike. While no one loves the nitty-gritty of reporting, we believe it’s necessary work to drive transparency, comparability and a path forward for impact companies in the future. Plus, it helps continually normalise impact investing as an asset class, allowing people to see the win-win in this sector that drives positive environmental/social impact while also driving outsized financial returns.
Highlights from our 2023 report
Don’t have time to read the whole thing? Here’s a snapshot of the wins:
- Exceeding impact targets: Our portfolio companies collectively achieved 208% of our 2023 impact targets (238% for fund one companies, 115% for fund two) and 72% of our long-term targets (92% for fund one, 10% for fund two – which is not surprising given these are naturally early stage).
- Energy efficiency and electrification: Investments in companies like 1KOMMA5° have led to 2.6 megatonnes of lifetime avoided emissions through installed energy systems in 2023. For context, that’s the equivalent emissions from approximately 1.1 million one-way flights from New York to London
- New investments: We made 7 new investments from our second fund, NVC 2, and 8 follow-on investments. In total, our portfolio companies raised €2.1Bn last year, which they are putting to good use in building solutions to the greatest challenges of our time. Talk about really shifting capital to impact!
- Job creation: Our portfolio companies have created 2,461 jobs, showcasing the tangible impact of our investments on employment.
- Board diversity: 79% of our portfolio companies’ boards have at least one woman – the industry average in Europe is 37%.
- Diverse founders: 34% of our portfolio companies’ founding teams have at least one woman, versus the EU average of 22%. While it’s good to see we’re tracking positively versus the average, we acknowledge there’s room to grow.
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But hey, nobody's perfect
While we’ve made great strides, we know there's always room to grow. Our diversity data highlighted areas for improvement. For instance, although we strive for inclusivity, only 29% of employees at our portfolio companies identify as women. This shows that we must intensify our efforts to support gender diversity across levels and pay it forward with more diverse venture partners finding more diverse founders/teams to invest in. Diversity breeds diversity.
On a positive note, we're proud to report that Norrsken VC has its own internal gender pay gap at -10.89% in favour of women due to over-indexing on women in senior positions, compared to the VC industry standard of 12.70% in favour of men. This reflects our commitment to equitable compensation and a more balanced workplace.
Let's build together
Whether you're a generalist or impact-focused, we're all about learning, collaborating, and engaging with like-minded VCs. We want to hear from you if you're passionate about building a better future – or if you have a hot take on our report that could help us improve. Let’s join forces and support companies that matter, driving growth and impact together.
Thanks for reading. Here’s to another year of making meaningful progress and forging impactful partnerships!
