Our Giant Leap fund has invested in Future Super

Our VC fund Giant Leap has invested in Future Super, Australia’s first superannuation fund to ban any exposure to fossil fuels.

We led a consortium including Wotif.com founder Graeme Wood, tech investors Adam Milgrom and Peter Cameron, telco entrepreneur Eytan Lenko, and IIG’s parent company Small Giants, which is the family office of Danny Almagor and Berry Liberman.

The funds will be used to expand Future Super’s investment operations, which already manages $600 million on behalf of more than 15,000 investors.

The investors share the common goal of a commitment to shifting capital into investments that achieve positive environmental social results, while also generating market rate returns.

Future Super was co-founded by Simon Sheikh, the former national director of advocacy group GetUp! and Adam Verwey, a former executive at listed fund Australian Ethical.

Future Super’s mandate is to invest up to 20% of its funds into renewable energy, while screening out fossil fuel companies and their financiers.

The fund is also committed to avoiding industries or companies that kill, pollute or cause addiction.

“We love it that Future Super is making impact investing and an ethical portfolio available to all Australians,” Giant Leap managing partner Will Richardson said.

“We are impressed by how Future Super combines its roles as custodians, innovators and pioneers of ethical investing within Australia’s superannuation market, which is currently at $2.6 trillion under management and forecast to reach $3.5 trillion in the next five years.

“We think Future Super is well positioned to meet the soaring demand for ethical investing. This demand is based on fundamental and generational societal shifts in how people view their financial resources.”

Simon Sheikh said Future Super was “thrilled to be supported by aligned investors who share our vision of creating a clean and green future.”

The Future Super commitment is the seventh investment for Giant Leap since Impact Investment launched the fund in 2016. Having closed a fund raising with $15m in commitments in March 2018, Giant Leap is now investing in exceptional, rapidly scalable ‘impact’ businesses that tangibly improve society.

However the investee companies must blend profit and purpose, with business models that incorporate these social and environmental objectives:

– Empowering people through education and platforms that foster diversity and inclusion;

– Sustainable living initiatives (such as sharing economy platforms or waste reduction); and

– Health and wellbeing (such as mental health and medical innovations).