News

Good Fashion Fund makes new investments in India and Bangladesh
AMSTERDAM – The platform Impact-Investor.com published an article on The Good Fashion Fund (GFF), announcing the completion of two new investments, including its first investment in Bangladesh and its second in India.
Fund managers Fount have invested in Indian ready-made garment manufacturer Progress Apparels and Bangladeshi cotton yarn and denim fabric producer Sri Kannapiran Mills.

Organic Development Finance Fund partners with FOUNT
Organic Development Finance (ODF) and FOUNT are proud to announce their partnership for the scaling of ODF. ODF provides affordable finance to high-potential organic agricultural companies in low-income and emerging countries to increase organic production and achieve sustainable impact for the environment and small holder farmers. By providing finance combined with targeted technical assistance, the ODF catalyses equitable supply chains with high organic integrity,

AGRI3 Fund Transforming Sustainable Cattle Farming in Brazil
As the global food system needs to scale up production to feed a rapidly growing population, while reducing its carbon footprint, preventing deforestation and restoring ecosystems to meet global climate, biodiversity and land degradation targets. The AGRI3 Fund is strongly aiming to address these challenges by seeking to finance sustainable agricultural practices. The UN environment programme wrote a newsletter on AGRI3’s practices and how it aims to transform sustainable cattle farming.
Webinar Impact Investing in Justice Startups on February 23
What are the opportunities for Impact Investing in the field of justice? What does the Innovating Justice Fund launched by FOUNT and HiiL seek to achieve?
Each year, more than 1 billion people face a serious justice problem. Up to 55% of these problems remain unresolved or are resolved in a way that is felt as unfair. To address the gap in equal access to justice for all FOUNT and HiiL launched the Innovating Justice Fund. The Fund provides funding and technical assistance (TA) to early–stage start-ups that sustainably deliver innovative justice services in emerging markets. Read more in the press release of June 2022.
Join the webinar Impact Investing in Justice Startups on February 23rd at 15:00 PM CET to discuss why we need to drastically improve the allocation of capital in order to make justice available for all. The webinar will convene justice sector leaders and investors to discuss and share best practices and see how we could help each other close the justice gap.

AGRI3 Fund and Rabobank launch initiative “Renova Pasto”
AGRI3 Fund and Rabobank have launched a new initiative “Renova Pasto” in Brazil which will support the renovation of degraded pasturelands and accelerate forest conservation. A 10 year loan product from Rabobank and AGRI3 Fund will enable farmers to restore the health of their pastureland whilst simultaneously accelerate their compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code. A great blend of soil restoration, forest protection and higher production!
Watch the video to learn more

First investment of Good Fashion Fund demonstrates impact
The Good Fashion Fund jointly with its expert partners Fair Wear Foundation and Sphera, had its first on-site monitoring visit in December 2022. The investment is already showing fruitful results and positive financial, environmental and social impact in Pratibha’s spinning, processing and garmenting divisions. The impact of the investment is above expectations, according to Bernadette Blom, director of The Good Fashion Fund. This investment is in line with the goal of the Good Fashion Fund, working towards a more restorative and regenerative apparel supply chain.
Read the press release
Good Fashion Fund’s first investment demonstrates impact

GFF-directors highlight the importance of turning words into action
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the non-profit Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) have launched the Fashion Industry Target Consultation to agree on targets to help the fashion sector transition towards a net-positive industry. Bernadette Blom and Bob Assenberg, partners at impact investment firm FOUNT which manages the Good Fashion Fund, have shared their insights in an interview on Impact Investor: “We feel it is important that all stakeholders, including the brands go beyond words, and actually support manufacturers in their supply chains to become more sustainable.”
Read the article UN-backed global consultation on how to make fashion industry net-positive launched
New BIX 2 fund releases video
BIX Capital believes that no woman or child should suffer from a lack of access to clean and improved technologies for cooking. On 14th November 2022, the second fund, BIX 2 (USD 80m), was showcased by The World Bank in the COP27. BIX’s Investment Advisor Samira Saidi explains the success of the first fund, BIX Capital, and how the new fund, BIX 2, will monetise wider impact benefits in addition to gender and health, fight climate change and continue to accelerate the finance SMEs in the Global South.
BIX is an initiative of Cardano Development, Shell Foundation and FOUNT.
FOUNT is investment manager of the BIX Fund.

GFF back in India to amplify it’s sustainability initiatives
The Good Fashion Fund is back in India! FOUNT’s team member Jayanth Kashyap is in Tamil Nadu for an ongoing due diligence of a leading textile manufacturer.
The company is seeking to amplify it’s best-in-class sustainability initiatives through GFF’s potential support focused on upgrading and replacing legacy production equipment. This is expected to create significant consumption savings across energy, water and materials usage while ensuring fair working conditions for the factory workers.
GFF is an investment vehicle initiated by Fashion for Good and Laudes Foundation, managed by FOUNT. Read more on the website of Good Fashion Fund
Innovative finance
Banking On A Theory Of Change
A partner of FOUNT is Cardano Development, an Amsterdam-based fund manager that has created innovative financial business concepts in emerging markets. Cardano Development, FOUNT and Shell Foundation jointly initiated BIX Capital. An article in TheInnovator features BIX Capital and the principles of Cardano Development. Read the article “Banking On A Theory Of Change“.