On Wednesday, Amsterdam-based Borski Fund, a VC firm supporting innovation and gender diversity, announced its largest LP investment by M&G Investments with a €9M commitment.
“This marks one of the largest investments in the history of Borski Fund,” says Founding Partner Simone Brummelhuis. “Even more significantly, it represents a strong endorsement from one of the leading and most successful international savings and investment firms.”
Based out of London, M&G Investments is a part of M&G plc, formed in 2017 by merging Prudential plc’s UK and European savings and insurance operations with M&G.
M&G manages £346.1B (€408.2B) in assets as of June 30, 2024, serving customers across the UK, Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
For nearly 90 years, M&G has focused on helping customers succeed by investing in projects that create jobs and infrastructure. Its offerings include equities, fixed income, multi-asset, cash, private debt, infrastructure, and real estate.
M&G is dedicated to responsible investing, signing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) and joining the Climate Bonds Initiative Partners Programme.
Alex Seddon, Head of Private Equity and Impact at M&G Investments, adds, “We are glad to announce our commitment to Borski Fund, an impactful company taking bold steps to address the critical funding gap faced by women-led businesses. As with our recent contributions to Bethnal Green Ventures and Pact, two other female-led funds in Europe, our investment in Borski Fund reaffirms our commitment to play our part in building a more inclusive society.”
Borski Fund: Supporting inclusive and gender-diverse startups
Founded in 2019 by Simone Brummelhuis and Laura Rooseboom, the Borski Fund is a venture capital fund that makes it easier for inclusive and gender-diverse startups to obtain funding.
“Only one per cent of venture capital funding is invested in women-led teams, while a staggering 94 per cent goes to male-led teams, despite research consistently showing that diverse teams tend to be more innovative and achieve better performance, says Brummelhuis.
Borski Fund champions diversity in entrepreneurship by investing in businesses with female (co)founders or those creating innovative products and services designed for women.
With a strong focus on transformative industries such as healthcare, circular energy, and future societies, the VC empowers inclusive innovation while fostering equitable access to capital.
Recently, the VC investments include:
- Soft Revolt, – a lingerie brand
- VivArt-X – a pioneer in biomaterials for personalised breast reconstruction and regeneration
- CarbonX -offers a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to graphite in electric vehicle battery production
“M&G now joins our esteemed group of limited partners, all of whom are dedicated to supporting and advancing Borski’s mission of empowering exceptional female founders and their startups,” adds Brummelhuis. “With this investment, we are thrilled to announce that the fund has now reached its hard cap of €50M.”
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