A version of this article first appeared in FT Adviser. Valuing companies is complicated. McKinsey & Company’s latest book about company valuations is an overwhelming 896 pages long. …

The investment world is slowly coming around to the idea that good business and good values can go hand-in-hand. Good Club, the newest addition to the Vala portfolio, is a great example of a company making this look obvious. Good Club is an online, sustainable grocery retailer, making it easy…

Homethings is already disrupting the homecare product market with its sustainable waterless and resuable packaging solutions — less than a year since launching Sometimes companies come along and reimagine the way that we do things by asking the most basic of questions…and coming up with surprising answers. Homethings, one of…

It’s widely acknowledged that the construction sector has lagged others when it comes to both digitalisation and sustainability accounting. Qflow is helping the industry play catchup for some of the highest profile projects in the country. Earlier this month, the Vala Sustainable Growth EIS added construction-tech pioneers Qflow to its…

The start-up world is full of inspirational founders looking to launch the next Uber or AirBnB, but it’s not every day you find a team looking to re-engineer the antiquated laundry service industry from the ground up. That was exactly the pitch from the founders of Oxwash. Their company, founded…

One of the big questions that arise with regards to climate change is what exactly does the future hold? Vala has recently closed its investment into Sust Global to try and help people to answer that question — at least in relation to medium-term climate risk. Our investment is part…

The tragic events in Ukraine are taking a volatile and explosive global energy predicament and throwing them into the fire. Governments around the world have agreed to move at unimaginable speed to achieve a previously unassailable goal of reaching a zero-emission electricity mix. The events in Ukraine have shown that…

As investment managers, we have a huge responsibility to our clients to invest their capital in opportunities that will provide a return, but we also have a responsibility to make sure that we have as positive an impact as possible. The fascinating part of this work is getting to understand…

On International Women’s Day, it’s important to acknowledge that female entrepreneurs face a challenge to get funding for their start-ups — and in fact, things are getting worse, not better. In 2019, 2.8% of funding went to female-led start-ups; in 2020, that fell to 2.3%, Crunchbase figures show. …