Gert van Veldhuisen

DIIF is a Donor-advised Fund, that supports early stage Dutch social enterprises by bridging the 'Valley of Death' with 100% donor funds. Our fund reinvests repaid funds into new startups, maximizing the impact of donations. As a member of the Investment Comittee I review investment proposals, ensuring they align with the fund's mission and ambition. Also focus on monitoring the performance of portfolio companies and where needed, support in their growth.

The Rallying Cry supports transformation at the intersection of climate/ gender and economy/ ecology in Africa. Our mission is to enable climate solutions increasing gender equity in agriculture, food production and the bioeconomy. Through our commercial Advisory and non-profit Initiative, we unlock capital to scale gender-responsive climate innovation across the continent. Based in Kenya, we work at ecosystem level to amplify local voices in global decision-making, building the capacity and resilience of African changemakers in driving better outcomes for people and planet.

The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) is a 440M blended finance facility, dedicated to supporting climate adaptation projects that benefit vulnerable communities and landscapes. We are funded by the Dutch government & EU and powered by a consortium of expert organisations: FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank), CFM (Climate Fund Managers), SNV, a global development partner, and WWF Netherlands. On behalf of WWF, I am building an ecosystem of impact investors alongside DFCD from a wide range of asset classes, such as Foundations, Family Offices, DFIs, banks and asset managers. All with focus on investing in our DFCD- supported companies in climate adaptation and nature based solutions.

Utrecht Centre for Entrepreneurship has the ambition to become one of the leading knowledge institutes on social and sustainable business. As a Social Entrepreneur in Residence I develop public private partnerships and translate academic knowledge into business opportunities.

P.T. Holland for Water assembles highly qualified systems for waterpurification for the Base of the Pyramid in rural areas under the brandname Nazava. We believe that everybody, everywhere should have access to safe and affordable drinking water. More than half a million people have been using our clean drinking water solution....and counting. While we started in Indonesia, we have now also expanded into South East Asia, Latin America and Africa. We have been awarded with many prices, such as the prestigious Tech Award (2013)in Silicon Valley, the Ashden International award (2016) and Global Energy Award (2017).

After five years of leading the transition from Dutch NGO to East African scale-up, I phased out of daily management in December 2020. I remain a non-executive co-founder & shareholder. BiD Capital Partners (previously known as BiD Network) is an impact investment management & advisory firm for SMEs in East Africa with offices in Kigali, Kampala, Mombasa and Amsterdam. We provide investment management and transaction advisory services for entrepreneurs, investors and development organisations. Since our establishment, we secured funding for over 240 emerging market entrepreneurs... and counting.

De Investeerdersclub is an informal group of active angel investors with two main goals: having fun and making investmentdeals. We share incoming businessplans and sometimes co-invest. www.deinvesteerdersclub.nl

Since 2007, we have invested mostly in social businesses worldwide, taking an active role in the company.

As 'interim entrepreneurs' we actively support (social) organisations in making more impact through operations, business development, growth strategies, investment support and lead generation. Based on our experience and network as serial-entrepreneurs and informal investors, we provide business support in a broad sense.

Farm to Feed is a female founded company that fights food loss to increase accessibility of nutrition and tackle climate change In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 50% of vegetables and fruits are lost before they reach consumers due to various inefficiencies in the supply chains. At the same time, 32% of Kenyans face food insecurity and poor nutrition. On top of this, food waste and loss accounts for a staggering 8% of greenhouse gases.

Unknown is an early stage Venture Capital fund and business development firm with activities in 110+ countries. We fuel founders to fix the future. We see that they turn the world’s problems into opportunities by creating solutions beyond known. Together with industry leaders we tap in to this potential by giving them the opportunity to bring their solution to scale. We provide global solutions to the largest entrepreneurial challenges by opening up markets, unlocking funding, building skills & expertise, and providing deep intelligence. With a global corporate network of 200+ companies we collaborate on themes like food, climate, energy, health, manufacturing, Our 'Get in the Ring' business competition is now the largest in the world, covering 200 cities in 110 countries. As the business partner Africa I develop impact projects & partnerships the African Continent. We bring together entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, public instititutions, development organisations and ecosystem builders to explore opportunities and turn them into scalable, impactful solutions.

For my final thesis, I conducted 8 months of research in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the restructuring of the Malaysian apparel industry, both on industry and company level.