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Vytal has entered into a partnership with PepsiCo to make a new model of circular reusable cups with dual-tracking technology. This dual technology helps the customers return the cups easily, thereby reducing wastage, a circular economy solution for the consumption of beverage products in massive events. The reusable cup has been launched at INTERNORGA, the leading trade fair for the Hospitality and Restaurant industry, under the motto “MORE THAN A CUP”. Known as the ‘Vytal Pepsi Cup’, these reusable cups will have an individual QR code and an RFID tag for scalable, operational processes. This will help the customer return the cup easily after use. Dr. Tim Breker, founder and CEO of Vytal says, "With our range of smart technology combined with services from logistics to flushing, we are hitting a nerve in the industry. Using circular economy principles operators save costs, gain efficiency and transparency, and open up exciting new opportunities in customer interaction.” This circular and recyclable cup is the first smart, branded, and reusable cup that can link customer experience with reducing waste, making it easy for the customer to return the cup once they’re done with it. Initially launched in Germany in 2023, Vytal plans to introduce 100,000 of these cups into the market in the next two years. Vytal, the global operating system for reusables and the software solution for circular economy has entered the event and entertainment sector by launching its subsidiary, Vytal Events & Entertainment Solutions. This move is part of the company’s initiative to focus on providing, circularity solutions, and eco-friendly products that are both convenient and cost-efficient. According to Torben Nielsen, Managing Director of PepsiCo DACH, "This partnership underlines our ongoing commitment to the Pep+ agenda and at the same time supports our business objectives. By partnering with Vytal, we are not only intensifying our focus on the away-from-home segment, but also initiating impactful changes that effectively contribute to minimizing plastic waste.” Click here to learn more about Vytal’s technology platform for the circular economy and reusable packaging. ABOUT VYTAL - Vytal is a reusable software provider that aims to become the world’s leading platform for circular economy and reusable packaging. The company replaces single-use packaging with sustainable and reusable packaging to reduce wastage. - Chi Impact Capital proudly supports Vytal's long-term vision, recognizing its potential to disrupt the market with its expertise in Circular Economy solutions. Through our investment since 2021, we have witnessed Vytal's innovative approach to sustainability, exemplified by its recent partnership with PepsiCo to introduce digitally trackable reusable cups. These cups, equipped with dual-tracking technology, represent a significant step towards reducing waste in the hospitality industry. By integrating individual QR codes and RFID tags, Vytal's system streamlines the return process, highlighting its commitment to circularity and environmental stewardship. - As Vytal continues to lead the way in circular, eco-friendly packaging solutions, Chi Impact Capital remains dedicated to supporting circular economy investments that drive positive change and protect biodiversity.
Sustainability has become a keyword in the World Economic Forum discussions in Davos. But will this translate into more radical climate action? At Chi Impact Capital, we hope so and will do all we can to make sure it does. By joining the discussions and pushing for a more holistic and sustainable approach to business, we can make a difference in the most influential forum in the world. On January 15-26, the World Economic Forum gathered in Davos for a conference on the financial state of the world. These conversations include some of the world’s most influential people, and the outcomes are felt in corporations all over the globe. The importance of having systems change and positive impact creation as key themes in the discussions can not be understated. Fortunately, these words seem to have taken center stage in Davos in the past few years. While attending the Forum, Chi Impact Capital took part in multiple events that covered positive impact from a variety of perspectives, highlighting that many companies consider sustainability a key factor to success. Despite this, radical climate action is too rare in the corporate world, and we want to be a part of changing that. One side discussion, taking place at the House of Trust, focused on the transformative role that luxury products can play in social and environmental change. By putting the spotlight on sustainable production and consumption, the luxury industry can create meaningful environmental experiences that inspire and encourage people to live more consciously. As private investors, we appreciated this conversation managed by Diana Verde Nieto, author of Reimagining Luxury and Co-founder of Positive Luxury, featuring an array of experts on the subject. Our CEO Christin ter Braak-Forstinger was also part of the judging panel for the Litestream Ventures Annual Impact Investment Gathering, alongside other impactful leaders from Una Terra, KOMPAS VC, Icos Capital, and more! We were also happy to have our co-founder Enrique Alvarado Hablutzel join the jury of Salesforce’s Dreampitch competition, evaluating the prowess of three entrepreneurs using AI and data to address some of the planet’s most pressing challenges. Highlighting solutions in such a direct way sparked a lot of interesting conversations! And these were only a few of the discussions that we were a part of. We joined the Green Accelerator, the Citi Innovators and Investors Reception, the Casper Labs Hub at Davos, and much more! As we move into 2024, we hope to see these conversations translate into more radical actions and collaborations between companies. We need to move much faster to secure a livable world, and only by working together and moving our funds to the right solutions can we solve the climate crisis fast enough.
We are happy to announce the release of our 2023 Impact Report, highlighting our investments' impact over the last 24 months. Read on to learn about the seven impactful companies we invest in through our Burning Issues Impact Fund, and understand how we use gender and multispecies lenses to find startups withthe potential to be truly sustainable. As of the end of 2023, we have made seven impact investments through the Burning Issues Impact Fund, a fund under the exclusive advisory of Chi Impact Capital with the purpose of investing in core-regenerative companies that are solving the most pressing global challenges. The fund focuses on five verticals that ensure a positive impact on our planet: Circular Economy & Conscious Commerce, Green Innovation & Climate Tech, Food Safety & Security, Smart Mobility & Smart Transport, and Care & Affordable Healthcare. In the Impact Report, we dive deep into the sustainability journeys of these seven companies, highlighting their efforts and celebrating their successes. Some highlights from these efforts include: - Mosa Meat, a Dutch company that grows beef using the same processes that build muscle in cows but without the cows, has opened the largest cultivated meat campus in the world to date! - Vytal, a German company that develops tech-enabled reusable food packaging solutions, has reduced food packaging waste by more than 6,500,000 packages since our investment! - Yasai, a Swiss vertical farming company, saved 10,540 m3 of water compared to what would have been used if their food was grown using traditional farming methods! - Neoom, an Austrian company at the forefront of providing decentralized and digitalized energy solutions, installed 151,211 kWh of energy storage since 2019! - Farmy, a Swiss online supermarket that allows customers to buy food directly from the producer, saved 118.9kg of CO2e by switching to delivery by electric vehicles! - World Data Lab, an Austrian company creating a platform for real-time data forecasts up to 2030, improved 42 Responsible Business Practices in the first half of 2023! - We Don’t Have Time, a Swedish company creating the world’s largest communication and review platform for climate solutions, on which you are reading this article, gained 223,000 Agrees on reviews from partners and users in the first half of 2023! We bring up these highlights because, at CHI, we are more than just investors. When we invest, we do so consciously to build value for people, the planet, and profit at the same time. Before we invest in a company we rigorously analyze their organization and operations to ensure that they match our standards of sustainability. Once we have determined that the company is a fit for us, we apply both gender and multi-species lenses to see the companies from a different perspective, to ensure gender equity as well as consideration for biodiversity and animal welfare in all companies that we invest in. If you want to learn more about our method, and about each of the companies that we highlighted above, you can read our full Impact Report below: https://chi-impact.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Chi_Impact_Report_2023.pdf
Impact investing is about much more than financial transactions. Our investments can create lasting, positive change in the world. Recognizing this, we at Chi Impact focus on what we call holistic impact investing. In a recent blog post, Chi Impact co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Enrique Alvarado Hablutzel explains what this means for us as investors and as individuals. A common question that we get when attending conferences and other events is “What does holistic mean in investing?”. Prompted by this question, Enrique Alvarado Hablutzel, co-founder and Chief Impact Officer of Chi Impact Capital, recently shared his personal perspective on this question in a blog post. “In my years of navigating the intricate landscape of impact investing, I've realized that it's much more than financial transactions; it's a profound commitment to creating positive and lasting change in the world. The term 'holistic' in impact investing encapsulates the essence of this broader, more encompassing approach.” Beyond Financial Returns Holistic impact investing is the acknowledgment that financial returns are vital to any investment strategy, but it’s far from the only impact an investment can have. Our investment choices can touch lives, empower communities, and heal our environment. “Impact investing should never be confined to numbers; it's about stories, transformations, and the profound ripple effects of our choices. It's about working with your investees as if they were part of you or your own family,” explains Enrique Alvarado Hablutzel. This philosophy is at the heart of everything we do at Chi Impact Capital – in fact, the H in Chi Impact stands for Holistic! We view the complexity of impact investing as a triad: 1. Financial Returns: We can measure these tangible outcomes in dollars and cents, providing the capital needed to sustain and scale impact initiatives. 2. Social Impact: It's the heartbeat of impact investing, where we address societal issues like poverty, inequality, and access to education and healthcare. Each investment should leave a positive mark on society, a legacy that extends far beyond the boardroom. 3. Environmental Impact: Our investments should tread lightly on the planet, promoting sustainability, reducing carbon footprints, and preserving our precious natural resources. This is our responsibility to future generations. A Symphony of Values Holistic impact investing means that each investment decision is more than a financial contemplation, it’s an expression of our values, beliefs, and convictions, reflecting who we are as individuals. Reflecting back on the question that started this discussion, Enrique realized that “impact investing, for me, is not just a professional endeavor but a personal calling. It's about channeling my resources and expertise to make a meaningful difference in the world. The term ‘holistic’ encapsulates this vision—a vision where investments are a vehicle for change, not just profit.” In conclusion, the holistic approach to impact investing is a path where financial returns coexist harmoniously with social and environmental impact, guided by a set of values that resonate deeply with who we are, and it is exactly what we do at Chi Impact Capital; we stand and embody this essential element of "holistic" impact investing. We are no longer just investors; we are catalysts for change, and every investment we make is a step toward a better, more holistic world.
Disrupting energy systems can be a risky business. Yet, there are disruptive solutions out there that can entirely change how we use energy to rapidly reduce emissions and enable the type of exponential climate action we need to solve the climate crisis. During Climate Week NYC, Chi Impact Capital urged investors to reduce the risk of these solutions by providing the capital needed for entirely new innovations to scale. Chi Impact Capital’s co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Enrique Alvarado Hablutzel was invited to speak at the Solutions House, supported by Futerra, the Exponential Roadmap Initiative (ERI), and Google. The session in question focused on how we can accelerate these disruptive energy solutions to transform our energy system fast enough to meet the target of halving emissions by 2030. The panel that Enrique was a part of included representatives of IKEA, Ørsted, Accenture, and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in New York, so a discussion on how we must collaborate to accelerate the green transition was inevitable. Enrique raised the importance of gaining support from energy users like households, by making them understand their own energy consumption: “It’s very interesting, what is coming in terms of innovation for storing energy in the household and using it in the right way, analyzing it and having your own app, knowing that type of energy you are using and when you are using it.” This knowledge and interest from consumers, coupled with starting capital from other companies, are important pieces in getting the right disruptive technologies off the ground and used at scale. And this is happening across the globe, from energy analysis solutions in Haiti to household batteries in Austria. What we need is more interest from investors. “What we need is more investors that want to take the ‘risk’, because it is also a huge opportunity and what you can see in [emerging markets] is leapfrogging of technologies,” said Enrique, referring to the trend we see where areas go directly from not being electrified at all into using renewable energy at a large scale. This is the type of rapid disruption we need to see in energy systems across the world to reach our climate goals, and investors play an important role in making that happen. The panel was part of a session highlighting the Energy Edge Accelerator, a new initiative by the ERI, Accenture, and Microsoft that supports disruptive energy startups in scaling up and accelerating the green energy transition. Watch the full panel below. https://youtu.be/5CXuRjgfAv4?t=1274
What is the sustainable future for finance? How will companies of the future operate within the limits of our natural world? What changes should we make to create a sustainable future? During this year’s Building Bridges conference, Chi Impact will host a workshop to support finance professionals in developing future scenarios that answer these questions. By combining Heart Intelligence and Design Thinking, we will help the participants find their place in fostering the sustainable solutions of tomorrow. To change the finance sector to be more sustainability-minded and oriented towards positive impact, we need to include a wide range of stakeholders and actors. This need is what birthed the Building Bridges conference, an annual event taking place in Geneva with the intention of “building bridges” between the finance, governmental, and international development communities. The goal? To create the best possible conditions for a faster transition to a global economic model aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s conference takes place between October 2nd and October 5th, starting with a high-level summit on the first day followed by 3 days of panel discussions, workshops, and sessions to foster deeper discussion and collaboration between actors. On October 3rd, we at Chi Impact Capital are hosting the workshop “Foresight Scenarios for the Future of Finance” together with Solar Impulse Foundation and EPFL. We will use a combination of Heart Intelligence, the knowledge that our hearts can also guide us into making reasonable and intelligent decisions, and Design Thinking, the process of identifying problems and designing solutions to tackle them, to allow participants to envision sustainable futures where financial decisions are not only driven by numbers but also by a deep understanding of human needs and aspirations, and discover their role in making this future a reality. The reason for combining Heart Intelligence with Design Thinking is to allow participants to go beyond conventional approaches by tapping into their innate creativity and compassion. We believe that by letting your heart into the decision-making process, you can find more meaningful social and environmentally-conscious outcomes. The goal is to have each participant leave the workshop with a clearer perspective on how they can take steps today toward a solution space that they can identify with. We encourage you to learn more about Heart Intelligence and other similar research and include your empathy into your decision-making process that affects future generations. To learn more, feel free to take a look at the Building Bridges conference and our workshop.
2030 is fast approaching, and we still have a lot of work to do if we’re going to reach our sustainable development goals. Through impact investing, we can support solutions that enable a sustainable future while making competitive returns, but not enough investors choose buying opportunities with deeply transformative impact. This has to change. As we move ever closer to the milestone year of 2030, the urgency to reach our sustainable development goals (SDGs) is ramping up. The solutions we need to reach our goals already exist, but they need to be rapidly scaled and implemented across the world to achieve the systemic change we need. We need to transition to a regenerative and circular economy, an endeavor that so far has relied on philanthropy and charity. At Chi Impact we believe that in order to scale these solutions fast enough, we need stronger financial incentives in the form of impact investing. The prevailing global macroeconomic climate has sowed seeds of caution among investors, particularly those venturing into impact-focused avenues during their inaugural forays. It's imperative that this status quo shifts, as research underscores the considerable potential of first-time funds to outperform. Furthermore, the significance of initial funding cannot be overstated – it's a pivotal enabler of the solutions that hold the promise of achieving our SDGs by 2030. Paving the way through the Burning Issues Impact Fund The Burning Issues Impact Fund (BIIF), advised by Chi Impact, provides professional investors with the possibility to create place-based and deep impact in Europe while helping to contribute to the most critical and “burning” SDGs and to reverse climate change. Through comprehensive impact analysis tools, we can report to investors the financial, social, and environmental impact of their investments based on their own specifications. In the first round of investments of the BIIF, we have already found great success investing in companies such as Mosa Meat, Neoom and We Don't Have Time. By investing in these companies early, we are demonstrating that it is possible to support solutions that have high impact as well as financial returns, and at the same time we enable a faster transition to the low carbon future we need to combat climate change. To learn more, feel free to check out our 2022 impact report. As Chi Capital, we stand resolute in our mission to galvanize systemic change by empowering enterprises that embody the spirit of transformation. Our dedication to impact investment shapes the present and paves the way for a future where sustainable development isn't just an aspiration but a resounding reality.
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