Employee fundraising in support of Ukraine
EQT Foundation has been facilitating and coordinating EQT’s fundraising efforts to support the people in Ukraine, channeled through a selection of organizations providing humanitarian relief. The focus of the fundraise has been to support established organizations with local presence in Ukraine, building on EQT’s 'local with locals' approach and covering four of the main humanitarian challenges: medical supplies and aid, refugees, children and protection of free speech and independent journalism.
The organizations selected as part of the fundraising was:
- Doctors without Borders
- UNCHR and NRC
- Save the Children
- Reports without Borders
The fundraising allowed EQT employees to choose which challenge they felt the most passionate about and the EQT Foundation matched every donation, doubling the effect of their giving. So far, the fundraiser has mobilized over EUR 700k, with donations flowing in from offices from San Francisco to Sydney.
Appointments
The EQT Foundation has recently appointed Peggy Poon, former head of Microsoft for Startups in the Nordics, as Head of Operations of EQT Foundation.
Cilia Holmes Indahl, CEO of EQT Foundation, said, “Peggy will play an essential role in setting the EQT Foundation up for scale. Her experience from founding and building programs will be valuable in onboarding EQTarians from across the globe to our pro-bono investment teams and in setting a structure for our operations to grow together with EQT. We are thrilled to have Peggy join the team.”
Peggy Poon, Head of Operations, said, “I am very excited about this opportunity and to be joining EQT Foundation at this stage, as we are about to set off. The Foundation's close ties to EQT makes it uniquely positioned in the impact investing ecosystem, and the potential value it can bring to entrepreneurs and researchers is immense. I look forward to continuing to build the organization together with Cilia.”
Supporting the impact investment ecosystem globally
EQT Foundation's purpose to ‘push the frontiers of impact ’ synergizes with EQT’s efforts to drive impact investing across all its funds.
The Foundation enables researchers and entrepreneurs to implement measurement and management tools to EQT's portfolio companies as a "test bed", which in turn increases capital flows for a more inclusive and cleaner tomorrow. EQT Foundation is therefore uniquely positioned to support the development of impact investing infrastructure.
The Investment and Grant Committee in EQT Foundation has recently approved support for the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, The Tipping Point Fund and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).
Amit Bouri, CEO & Co-Founder of the GIIN, commented, “EQT Foundation’s commitment to the growth of the global impact investing ecosystem underscores investors’ critical role in scaling capital with integrity. At a time when the world is contending with so many challenges, we are encouraged to see EQT invest with the rigor, sophistication, measurement, management and optimization needed to integrate impact into all forms of investing.”
Impact-First Investment Strategy
The EQT Foundation has successfully concluded its pilot on investing in and matching impact start-ups with employees from EQT. The aim of the impact-first investment strategy is to de-risk early-stage entrepreneurs, providing pro-bono support, capital and connections. EQT Foundation invests in disruptive innovation and for-impact business models across three main themes:
Climate Technology
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Investment themes are connected to EQT’s strategic priorities and areas of expertise, ensuring that the EQT Foundation provides volunteers from EQT with a meaningful learning platform while adding significant value to the start-ups in the program.
About EQT Foundation
The EQT Foundation was established in 2019 to act as a long-term steward of EQT’s values and to push the frontiers of impact. The Foundation uses its dividends and donations to supportentrepreneurs and researchers that help drive the shift towards impact economies. The EQT Foundation holds around one percent of the shares in EQT AB and has the right to appoint a member of the nomination committee of EQT AB.