A new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) venture capital investment fund has been founded by famous actor and producer Robert Downey Jr. to promote sustainability products and services, renewable energy and resource conservation.
At the World Economic Forum, FootPrint Coalition Ventures are revealed and saw the Avengers star dip into the market for impact investment, which has exceeded $250 billion in value.
The new project will be made up of two early-stage (Pre-Seed, Series A) and late-stage funds and will focus on six sustainability sectors, including consumer-focused products and services, food and agriculture, materials, energy and transport, education and advanced environmental solutions.
“Having spent the last 18 months in dialogue with scientists, engineers and technologists, I now have a firm grasp of the obvious: this global existential threat is not something that's going to be solved by a smattering of elite mega-corporations. I think that paradigm must be smashed in favour of innovation by a broad set of new companies,” Downey Jr. said.
“Investment in sustainable technology is a critical pathway toward the discovery and scaling of better solutions for our planet. We need to mobilize more people and catalyse more capital. Thus - FootPrint Coalition Ventures, a group of investors, technologists, and storytellers committed to scaling enviro-tech solutions.”
The platform has already started investing in a number of companies and initiatives. For example, Arcadia Earth focuses on art installations, augmented and virtual reality to increase understanding of problems related to sustainability. Cloud Paper, a tree-free paper company using bamboo and carbon-neutral supplies, was also funded.
Furthermore, the funding will benefit RWDC Industries, a biotech company that produces products that break down into water and CO2 which can replace plastics and Ÿnsect, specializing in the manufacture of natural insect proteins and fertilisers. Today, FootPrint Coalition Ventures announced its new investment: Aspiration, a bank providing services to handle sustainable finance.
Downey's social and traditional media presence with over 100 million followers is an important asset for FootPrint Coalition Venture to increase awareness of sustainability solutions to address the environmental crisis.