ICO, through Axis, participates in the BSocial Impact Fund, an impact venture capital fund for Spanish startups

23 March 2021

  • The €5m investment will be made through the Sustainability and Social Impact initiative, part of Fond-ICO Pyme and worth a total of €50m.

Axis, the venture capital subsidiary of the Instituto de Crédito Oficial, will participate in the BSocial Impact Fund, the impact venture capital fund for Spanish startups promoted by Ship2B Ventures, the European Union and the European Investment Fund (EIF) in the framework of the EFSI Equity social impact pilot and Banco Sabadell, and whose target size aims to exceed 45 million euro after reaching a second closing of 38 million euro.

The fund was created with the aim of investing in impact startups that respond to three major social and sustainable challenges: improving the quality of life of vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, the disabled or chronically ill; climate change and academic failure.

The BSocial Impact Fund will be the largest impact venture capital fund for startups in Spain and already includes public investors such as Axis; private investors such as Repsol Impacto Social and Fundación Anesvad; leading family offices such as Puig, Castelló, Elias, Knuth, Pont and Ângela Impact Economy; and successful entrepreneurs such as the founders of Holaluz, Privalia, Socialpoint, SocialCar, Trovit, Cooltra and Glovo.

Axis' investment of 5 million euro is part of FondICO Pyme through the Sustainability and Social Impact initiative, launched in 2019 and endowed with a total of 50 million euro aimed at setting up funds specialised in promoting sustainable projects with a social and environmental impact. With this new investment, Axis consolidates this initiative, which also has stakes in two benchmark funds in Spain: Creas and Q Impact, with an investment of 5 million euro in each of them.

This action by Axis is part of the global strategy of the ICO Group, which has made sustainability a cross-cutting theme in its activity to support the Spanish business fabric by promoting a more sustainable economic growth model.

About Axis

AXIS is a venture capital company wholly owned by ICO. It has been operating in the venture capital market for 35 years and provides companies with equity and quasi-equity instruments to finance their growth. AXIS currently manages three funds: Fond-ICO PYME, which offers long-term support to companies in their expansion and growth plans through direct investment, co-investment with other professional investors or indirectly through funds; Fond-ICO Global, the fund of private venture capital funds that invest preferentially in Spanish companies, at all stages of development and Fond-ICO Infraestructuras, whose main objective is to invest in transport, energy and environmental infrastructure and social infrastructure.