Panel 3: Private Investments in Financing Local Circular Economy Initiatives

## Private Investment for Bridging Financing Gaps in Circular Economy | Deciso and Hoop Projects

High upfront investment costs can be a barrier for many circular economy initiatives. However, the Deciso and Hoop projects, with support from the European Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform, organized a workshop on 10/05/2023 to address this by providing project development assistance, including the development of financing solutions and business plans for local circular economy initiatives. The aim is to leverage further public and private investment to bridge gaps in financing circular initiatives.

In this video, experts from invest-NL, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, PCP Academy, Grow Venture Partners, and Officinae Verdi discuss bridging financing gaps in cities and regions with private investments. Johanna Reiland from Bax & Company introduces the session, and Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida from RdA chairs the discussion.

## About Deciso and Hoop Projects

The Deciso and Hoop projects aim to help circular economy initiatives overcome the hurdle of high upfront investment costs. With the support of the European Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform, they provide project development assistance, including financing solutions and business plan development, to local circular economy initiatives.

## Private Investment for Bridging Financing Gaps

Investing in sustainable companies, startups, and scales is essential, mainly when transitioning towards the circular economy. Invest-NL is a Dutch public investment organization that invests in sustainable and circular ventures using an initial capital of 1.7 billion euros. They focus on making financing possible for companies that work on the sustainable transition of plastics, bio-based materials, metals, and critical raw materials.

## The Circular Transition

The circular transition requires changes at all societal levels. Invest-NL addresses all three levels of the circular transition, namely social technical, regulation, and societal. They invest in companies and provide business development support, run accelerators, and develop specific financial instruments for the circular economy.

## Investing in Sustainable Companies

Invest-NL has invested in 15 circular and bio-based ventures so far, both in direct and indirect investments. The companies they invest in include CBF, Polstar, Infinity recycling, fairphone, and Bible. With backgrounds in financial, technical, and social areas, the Invest-NL team works on various research projects, some of which are available on their website.

## Source

To learn more about the Deciso and Hoop projects, visit the [official project website](https://www.decisoproject.eu/) or [European Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform](https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/). Visit [invest-NL](https://invest-nl.nl/en/) to learn more about the Dutch public investment organization.

https://www.decisoproject.eu/ – https://hoopproject.eu/ – https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/

High upfront investment costs are a recurring challenge for many circular economy initiatives. The two Horizon Europe projects Deciso and Hoop, wioth the support of the European Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform, organized a workshop on 10/05/2023 to address this issue by providing project development assistance, including the development of financing solutions and business plans for local circular economy initiatives with the ultimate aim of leveraging further public and private investment.

In this video, Guy de Sevaux (Invest-NL), Ananya Manna (European Circular Bioeconomy Fund), Sara Bedin (PCP Academy), Carlos Corominas Creus (Grow Venture Partners) and Filippo Giglio (Officinae Verdi) discuss on bridging financing gaps in cities and regions with private investments. The session is introduced by Johanna Reiland (Bax & Company) and chaired by Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida (RdA)