We asked Emmanuel Perez-Duarte from Elaia Partners a few questions on ESG investing and reporting in venture capital funds:
In your opinion, how has the venture capital industry changed due to the rise of sustainable investment? What trends and alterations can you predict for upcoming periods?
Given the role and responsibility that companies and capital play in today’s world, Venture Capital Industry has embraced the responsibility associated and decided to act – whether it is via sustainable investments, integrating ESG within their investment process, dedicated impact funds etc. And it’s just the beginning!
How does your fund incorporate ESG criteria into investment decision making? What kind of ESG investing strategy do you currently follow in the fund?
At Elaia, we don’t have any dedicated impact/ESG fund but we have decided to integrate ESG within our entire investment process from sourcing, due diligence & execution, portfolio monitoring until exiting. We identify key sectors, assess ESG track record, risks and objectives and monitor progress within our portfolios. When exiting, we summarize the ESG delivered.
When it comes to the ESG reporting, what are your LPs’ expectations on ESG reporting and what kind of data do investors prioritize in the reports? In your opinion, are the GPs able to provide the required relevant data?
We work with our portfolio companies to provide the extra-financial reporting. Together we set objectives and means to get there that we monitor in time. LPs expect us to work on ESG reporting and to set both realistic and ambitious objectives to achieve on all three topics: Environmental, Social and Governance.
Interested to get more insights?
Join 500 Global, Antler, Kinnevik, Elaia, Partners, Hadean Ventures and other VCs to discuss ESG investing and reporting topics deeply from different perspectives at our free webinar ESG in VC funds. CFOs best practices, standards and challenges. See you on the 16th of March 2022 at 4 pm CET.
This free virtual webinar is organized in cooperation with VESTBERRY, VC portfolio management software used by industry-leading fund managers.
About Emmanuel Perez-Duarte, CFO & General Secretary at Elaia Partners
After graduating from HEC Paris, Emmanuel began his career as an economist at Exane BNP Paribas, before joining Renault, first as an audit senior manager, and then as an ALM manager. He then contributed to the launch of Unilend, the French pionneer in crowdlending, before leading the Financial & IT department of Vranken-Pommery Monopole as group CFO. He is now the CFO of Elaia Partners, leading digital and deep tech venture capital company that seed-funded unicorns Criteo, Mirakl, and Shift Techology.
