Sustainability-related Disclosures

Sustainability-related Website Disclosure-EIR Ventures

Eir Ventures I AB

Legal Entity Identifier: 549300OTCYI9VF12XB81

This statement of disclosure for the financial product Eir Ventures I AB (“the Fund”), managed by Eir Ventures (“the Manager”), has been prepared in accordance with Article 10 of the Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector (“SFDR”) as well as the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 of 6 April 2022, supplementing SFDR.

This statement may be subject to changes or revisions, especially following the disclosure of any further legislation, guidance, or recommendations concerning the SFDR (including any delegated acts thereto) by the Danish or EU legislators and/or supervisory authorities.

SUMMARY

The Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics but does not have sustainable investments as its objectives. The detailed environmental & social characteristics promoted by the Fund is outlined in this website disclosure along with investment strategy, the proportion of these investments, methodologies, monitoring of environmental and social characteristics, methodologies, data sources and processing as well as limitations on methodologies and data, due diligence, engagement policies and reference index applied, if any.

NO SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

This financial product promotes environmental or social characteristics, but does not have as its objective sustainable investment.

ENVIRONMENTAL OR SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FINANCIAL PRODUCT

The Fund promotes the following environmental and social characteristics:

The Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics by assessing sustainability impacts as part of the due diligence procedures that screen an investment. The environmental and social characteristics of the Fund are also promoted through refraining from investing in activities listed on the Manager’s exclusion list. The exclusion list comprises activities that fall within the scope of the following activities:

  • Limiting People’s Individual Rights and Freedom or Violation of Human Rights:  The Fund abstains from investing in activities that directly or indirectly result in harmfull or explotitative forms of forced labor or harmful child labor. These forms of labor are defined by the International Labour Organization’s Fundamental Labour Conventions.
  • Prohibited Activities by National Legislation or International Agreements Ratified by the European Union: The Fund avoids investments in activities performed by companies that do not acknowledge or strive to be aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, any activities involving significant degradation, conversion, or destruction of crucial habitats is considered uacceptable from an environmental and climate-related perspektive.
  • Prohibited Activities by National Legistlation or International Agreements Ratified by the European Union: The Fund refrains from investing in any products or activities that are prohibited by national legislation or international agreements ratified by the European Union. This includes activities subject to international phase-out or bans, activities prohibited by host country legislation, or internal legal instruments ratified by the European Unionen related to the protection of biodiversity resources or cultural heritage. Addtionally, the deliberate release of genetically motified organisms (GMOs) is considered an excluded actitity.
  • Ethically or Morally Controversial Activities: The Fund avoids investing in ethically or morally controversial activities, such as animal and human reprodutive cloning. Furthermore, activities involving live animals for non-essential scientific and experimental purposes, including gene editing and the breeding of these aniamals are also excluded.

By adhering to these exclusion criteria, the Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics in the investment practices and contributes to a more ethical and responsible life science sector. Moreover, the Fund is dedicated to promoting sustainable and responsible investment practices, which encompases various aspects including environmental awareness, compliance with labour laws, and the implementation or sound governance structures and ethical business practices. This is done thorugh the following:

  • Promotion of an appropriate level of environmental awareness and practice: The Fund actively encourages an appropriate level of environmental awareness among its portfolio companies. This involves fostering practices that comply with current environmental laws and regulations. By ensuring compliance, the Fund aims to minimize adverse effects on the environment resulting from the activities of its portfolio companies.
  • Compliance with labor laws and encouragement of competitive employee remuneration, safe and healthy workspaces: The Fund places significant importance on compliance with labor laws. It encourages its portfolio companies to adhere to applicable labor laws, which include provisions related to employee remuneration, workplace safety, and the provision of healthy working conditions. The Fund promotes the implementation of competitive employee remuneration practices and supports the creation of safe and healthy workpaces in accordence with relevant local legislation.
  • Promotion of Sound Governance Structures and Ethical Business Practices: The Fund actively advocates for the establishment of sound governance structures within its portfolio companies. This included the implementation of effective corporate governance practices.
  • The Fund seeks to influence the portfolio companies’ impact on sustainability matters through engagement and active ownership and thereby promoting ethical and energy efficient experimentation and production of medical products with zero-to-minimal toxic waste generation.
  • Environment and social characteristics are being promoted as part of due diligence process while screening on investments.

Specifically, the Fund promotes the UN Sustainable Development Goals (“SDG”) by contributing to the SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 19 (Partnership for the Goals) by partially investing in companies contributing to such goals.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY

The Manager is a life sciences venture capital fund investing in private companies with stellar entrepreneurs developing transformative therapeutic approaches. Optimal and responsible value creation for companies and investors is obtained by working closely with the portfolio companies.

The Fund exclusively invests in life science SMEs in Europe and the USA where the life science field is highly regulated by local legislation and international conventions.

The Fund actively advocates for the establishment of sound governance structures within its portfolio companies. This included the implementation of effective corporate governance practices.

The Fund seeks to influence the portfolio companies’ impact on sustainability matters through engagement and active ownership and thereby promoting ethical and energy efficient experimentation and production of medical products with zero-to-minimal toxic waste generation.

PROPORTION OF INVESTMENTS

The Fund does not impose mandatory obligation to allocate investments specifically towards sustainable investments with an environmental objective aligned with the EU Taxonomy. Consequently, the Fund’s minimum investment proportion in such  sustainable investments aligned with the EU Taxonomy is 0%. 

MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS

To ensure monitoring of environmental and social characteristics are being promoted by the Fund, practices including environmental awareness, compliance with labor laws, and the implementation or sound governance structures and ethical business practices are being implemented.

METHODOLOGIES

The attainment of the environmental and social characteristics promoted by the Fund are measured through the following indicators:

  • The portfolio companies in the Fund are assessed based on the information provided by the portfolio company and public information to identify any potential negative impacts, or any potential negative impacts that can be rectified with reasonable effort.
  • The Fund actively uses exclusion lists and refrain from investing in activities listed on the Manager’s exclusion list, which includes activities within the scope of various categories: Limiting People’s Individual Rights and Freedom or Violation of Human Rights, Prohibited Activities by National Legislation or Internal Agreements Ratified by the European Union, and Ethically or Morally Controversial Activities.

DATA SOURCES AND PROCESSING

The attainment of the characteristics is ascertained on the assessment of information provided by the portfolio company and on public information, and the outcome presented in the investment documentation.

LIMITATIONS TO METHODOLOGIES AND DATA

Majority of the Fund’s investment will align with its environmental and/or social characteristics though the Fund maintains flexibility to pursue other investment opportunities involving cash and other investments (referred as ‘others’) that lack sufficient ESG data.

DUE DILIGENCE

Due diligence is done through sustainability analysis promoting sustainability conduct and exclusion criteria. So environmental and social sustainability risks are being assessed and integrated in our investments due diligence, decision making processes and in the management of portfolio companies. Furthermore, by adhering to the exclusion criteria, the Fund seeks to promote environmental and social characteristics in its investment practices and contribute to a more ethical and responsible life science sector.

ENGAGEMENT POLICIES

As part of active engagement, the manager aims to be accessible to all relevant stakeholders and engage with them directly or indirectly through representatives. This allows meaningful dialogues and consideration of varied perspectives.

DESIGNATED REFERENCE BENCHMARK

No designated reference index is used by the Fund for promoting the environmental and social objectives.

EIR VENTURES – Exclusion list

Companies that violate the policies, norms or values of financial institutions can be excluded from receiving financing from Eir Ventures.

In order to be eligible for Eir Ventures financing, an activity must be within the life science industry and not be excluded from the overall strategic direction of the Fund. The following activities cannot benefit from financing:

a.  Activities which result in limiting people’s individual rights and freedom, or violation of human rights, such as

– Any activities which are known directly or indirectly to result in harmful or exploitative forms of forced labour or harmful child labour, as defined by the International Labour Organization’s Fundamental Labour Conventions.

b. Activities unacceptable in climate and environmental terms

– Activities not aligned with the principles and goals of the Paris Agreement, this excludes a range of highly emission-intensive activities in sectors such as industry and the bioeconomy. In terms of adaptation goals, this excludes activities with a very high residual risk to current and future climate change.

– Any activity involving significant degradation, conversion or destruction of critical habitats

c. Activities prohibited by national legislation or international agreements ratified by the European Union

– This includes any products or activities subject to international phase out or bans, including production of or trade in products containing substances which are subject to international phase-outs or bans, including pharmaceuticals, pesticides/herbicides, chemicals, and other hazardous substances.

– Activities prohibited by host country legislation or international legal instruments ratified by the European Union, relating to the protection of biodiversity resources, or cultural heritage.

– Any activities relating to the deliberate release of genetically modified organism (GMO)22.

d. Ethically or morally controversial Activities

– Animal and human reproductive cloning

– Activities involving live animals for non-essential scientific and experimental purposes, including gene editing and the breeding of these animals.