Amsterdam-based Karmijn Kapitaal, a private equity and venture capital firm that specialises in growth capital, late-stage, management buyouts and buy-ins, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €15M from the European Investment Fund (EIF).
EIF, which was previously a major investor in Karmijn Kapitaal’s Fund I and II, has now joined the third fund, which has a target size of €100M.
Freerk Smit, Partner at Karmijn Kapitaal, says, “The investment by the European Investment Fund is a testament to the confidence in our work. We are therefore delighted to extend our cooperation and look forward to further investments with the third fund.”
About the third fund
EIF says it will play a key part in assisting Karmijn Kapitaal’s investing efforts as a Limited Partner (LP) in the third fund. Karmijn has concentrated on finding and assisting promising SMEs in the Netherlands since its foundation in 2010.
The third fund, which has a total capacity of €135M and is still accepting additional pledges through the end of the year, expands on the approach of the two earlier funds.
Karmijn Kapitaal used this money to invest in a number of Dutch SMEs such as the vintage apparel company King Louie, the healthcare provider JOYinCARE, the developer of identity solutions BPI Services, the manufacturer of organic cosmetics NCH, and 19 other companies.
Focused on Diversity
Founded by Désirée van Boxtel, Hadewych Cels and Cilian Jansen Verplanke, Karmijn Kapitaal is an investment fund that backs Dutch SMEs that already have a diverse management team or that wish to cooperate with Karmijn to achieve more diversity.
“We invest in companies led by mixed management teams with a balanced combination of women and men. Especially then different perspectives thrive. These different perspectives lead to better and more balanced decision-making. Research shows that companies with a mixed management team perform better resulting in stronger financial performance,” says the firm.
Karmijn’s strategy focuses on the long-term viability of the companies in which it invests.
The fund believes that not just traditional economic and financial elements are essential, and therefore, it actively focuses on the balance of hard and softer qualities such as employee happiness, innovation, and solid personal connections.
Karmijn uses diversity as a tool to help create better companies.