Investment
Since launching The Mills Fabrica in 2018, we have been committed to investing in innovative and disruptive technologies in techstyle (the intersection of technology and lifestyle) and agrifood – the two major industries closest to everyone’s living habits.
We are excited to partner with purpose-driven founders at Seed to Series B rounds, as well as venture capital fund managers that focus on early-stage opportunities within our two investment verticals. We back entrepreneurs globally by providing 360-degree business support and funding, from our network and experience to co-working space and investments.
We invest across the value chain, focusing on advanced technologies that provide scalable solutions to address critical issues of the agrifood and techstyle industries. These two industries combined emit up to 44% of global greenhouse gas emissions and continue to be significant contributors to climate change to this day. They also generate a host of environmental issues that needs to be urgently addressed, from chemical pollution to biodiversity loss and release of novel entities (such as pesticides and micro/nano plastics) into our ecosystem.
The Mills Fabrica aims to tackle these issues and contribute to a sustainable and circular economy through our investments. Examples of investment areas include technologies that valorize food and textile waste/by-products, as well as sustainable production methods enabled by innovative farming practices, novel ingredients, and biomaterials. By supporting entrepreneurs in the agrifood and techstyle industries, we hope to catalyze the fundamental change needed to increase our social-ecology resilience, and maintain a just and sustainable earth system for humanity to thrive in the future.
How do you measure the impact of your portfolio companies?
We have a dedicated impact measurement function within the organization, with metrics aligned with the Planetary Boundary Framework to serve two purposes; to ensure that 1) our portfolio companies are making planet-positive change by tackling the environmental boundaries that have already crossed the safe threshold, or supporting innovation that prevents the crossing of thresholds, and 2) when we construct our portfolio of investments, we do not overemphasize one environmental impact over another. This allows us to then create tailored impact measurement metrics for each of our portfolio companies that are most relevant to them and, where applicable, can help further their impact narrative to show what the full potential of their technology could mean for the planet.
Our impact assessments are also underpinned by our Group’s own SEWIT model. Through applying this core principle to our investments, we want to create impact that translates into building a better and growing future.
What is your geographic focus?
We invest globally; our current portfolio spans across North and South America, Europe, the UK and Asia.
What is your ticket size?
Our ticket size for direct startup investments ranges from USD 200K to 3M depending on the stage and traction of the company.