ImpactAlpha, February 24 – The IMAS Foundation, launched by Ikea’s founder, is committing €250 million to a fossil fuel-free public equities fund developed by U.K.-based investment boutique Osmosis. The Netherlands-based foundation, with assets of €11 billion ($13.4 billion), invests on behalf of Ikea’s corporate philanthropy. It is the first backer of Osmosis’s Resource Efficient fund.
IMAS also is investing directly in a fossil fuel-free steel manufacturing plant in Sweden. The €2.5 billion plant, being developed by Swedish company H2 Green Steel, will be powered by green hydrogen.
“A rapid change of the steel industry is extremely important,” says H2’s Henrik Henriksson (see, “Boston Metal raises $50 million to produce emission-free steel”).
H2’s planned facility would produce five million tons of clean steel annually by 2030.
Its first phase of financing is a €50 million Series A equity round, whose investors also include SMS group, Bilstein Group, EIT InnoEnergy and Spotify founder Daniel Ek.
Renewables investments
Ikea has invested €2.5 billion in 1.7-gigawatts of renewable energy since 2009, via Ingka Group, which manages Ikea stores worldwide.
The group aims to use 100% renewable energy in its operations by 2025.
