Sustainability
At United Ventures, we believe that companies must responsibly pursue growth to create enduring value and impactful returns. To this end, we must double our efforts toward sustainable investing and establish our strategic objectives.
VC firms play an essential role in building a fairer technology ecosystem through business operations and investment activities. Thus, accelerating sustainability across our internal operations, portfolio, and dealflow has become an urgent priority.
On this page, you will find all the relevant information about how we tackle sustainability matters at United Ventures.
Our ESG Policy sets out our commitment to high standards concerning Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) criteria. We aim to set out the principles that the firm aspires to and the procedures that United Ventures has implemented to meet our ESG goals.
This ESG Policy is reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of United Ventures and will be subject to an annual review to integrate any new guidelines or regulations in this matter. All ESG strategies and procedures adopted will also be reviewed under policy changes, financial considerations, and new rules. United Ventures is committed to maintaining its stakeholders informed and updated on Policy reviews and updates.
We are a carbon neutral company. This means that we have calculated our greenhouse gas emissions, are continuously reducing them, and offset unabated emissions through carbon offset projects.
Learn more about how we measure, reduce, and offset our business carbon footprint while building an empowered, climate-driven work culture.
As part of our ongoing effort towards sustainable investing, in February 2023 we have joined the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
The PRI is an international global network of asset owners, investment managers and service providers working together to put responsible investment into practice. The principles, which are voluntary and aspirational, aim to further understanding of the implications of sustainable investing and support signatories to incorporate ESG issues into their decision making and ownership practices.
United Ventures makes the following disclosures in accordance with Articles 3(1) and 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (i.e. Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, “SFDR”).
Integration of sustainability risks into the Fund Manager’s investment decision making process
A sustainability risk means “an environmental, social or governance event or condition that, if it occurs, could cause an actual or potential material negative impact on the value of the investment”, according to Art. 2(22) of the Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (SFDR).
Sustainability risks are risks which, if they were to crystallize, would cause a material negative impact on the value of the portfolios of the funds managed by United Ventures. Before any investment decision is made on behalf of any managed funds, United Ventures identifies the material risks associated with each proposed investment contained within the ARA (i.e. Asset Risk Assessment) and FRA (i.e. Fund Risk Assessment) models in the Risk Management Policy, including sustainability risks (supplemental due diligence may also be conducted by an external professional firm when deemed necessary) which contribute to the determination of the overall Risk Rating at asset and fund level. United Ventures considers such risks as part of its fund risk management process having regard to the fund’s investment policy and objective.
No consideration of adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors
United Ventures, primary independent operator of Venture Capital in Italy, was authorized to operate in 2013. United Ventures’ funds have as their main investment target (i.e. “Target Companies”) new innovative companies/startups and digital enabling technologies that require long-term financial resources to accompany their development.
United Ventures, which is endowed with an ESG Policy available on its website, believes that the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors (namely, “ESG factors”) in the investment process can allow for a broader and more in-depth understanding of the risks and opportunities of Target Companies.
Therefore, during the identification and selection of investment opportunities phase and primarily in the phase of analysis and Due Diligence, United Ventures makes an in-depth analysis of the environmental, social and corporate governance issues of the Target Companies, as these ones represent an integral part of the final decision-making process.
The investment decisions made by United Ventures take into account the studies conducted and the results of the assessments carried out on the ESG aspects during the investment process, also involving an external info provider and the Risk Management Function for the assessment competence activities.
United Ventures, which at the closing date of the latest available financial statements directly employs less than 500 employees, declares in compliance with Art. 4, paragraph 1(b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (i.e. Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, “SFDR”) and with Art. 12 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288, to integrate ESG factors in their investment assessment but not to be in the condition to comprehensively consider, at entity level, the principal adverse impacts of investment decisions on the sustainability factors, adopting an “explain” approach.
This is due to the intrinsic investment characteristics of its financial products, which fall within the so-called “early stage” operations, understood as procedures with an investment supporting companies in the first stages of life through participation in one of the first investment rounds (seed, round A and round B), which generate a positive environmental and social impact but they are not always able to provide a structured flow of information regarding their impacts on ESG factors.
Nevertheless, United Ventures intends and is working to consider the principal adverse impacts of investment decisions on the sustainability factors, at entity level, in order to monitor the impacts of investments on the different sustainability aspects. Currently, United Ventures has decided to take into account the principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors for its Funds UV III and UV III Lombardia, which promote social and environmental characteristics according to Article 8 of Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU) n. 2019/2088.
The Fund UV III, and its parallel Fund UV III Lombardia, promote social and environmental characteristics according to Article 8 of Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU) n. 2019/2088.
Please find below the relevant SFDR documentation for UV III and UV III Lombardia:
UV III e UV III Lombardia – Disclosure ex art. 10 SFDR
UV III – Allegato Informativa Precontrattuale (Annex II SFDR)
UV III Lombardia – Allegato Informativa Precontrattuale (Annex II SFDR)
UV III – Modello di informativa periodica (Annex IV SFDR)