One of the fastest-growing sectors in venture capital is environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments, which, as the Recursive puts it, represent "more than a quarter of every venture dollar invested in 2022."
In fact, more than 88% of impact investors reported that their investments met or exceeded their expectations, according to the Global Sustainability Investing Network.
Central and Eastern Europe in particular saw a surge in ESG investments, with more than half of all ESG investments in 2022 coming from funds in the region, the Recursive reports.
The funds invest in a variety of sectors, including food tech, education, the circular economy, and renewable energy, and they aim to bring environmental and social returns as well as financial returns to the companies they invest in.
For example, one fund, Rockaway Ventures, invested in a German company developing an educational language platform, while another, Feelsgood Social Impact Fund, invested in eight companies in Croatia and one in Slovenia.
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