Environmental Finance's Sustainable Investment Awards judging panel praised Vital Capital for a "fantastic initiative, focussing on a region and themes that need more investments".
The Swiss impact-investing private equity fund has a focus on sub-Saharan Africa where it identifies opportunities to build scalable businesses that provide water, food, healthcare, and sustainable infrastructure.
In 2022, Vital Capital reports it served 5.8 million individuals through its investments, supported 10,429 jobs and livelihoods, of which 38% of jobs are for women, mitigated over 95,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) through renewable energy solutions, and provided more than 60,000 individuals with access to energy.
Nimrod Gerber, managing partner at Vital Capital, commented, "The entire Vital team is deeply proud to be recognizsd as Environmental Finance's 'Private equity manager of the year,' and I am especially pleased by what this award signals about the impact investing industry's maturation.
"Since our founding in 2011, Vital has insisted on the very real opportunity to achieve more: transformational impact for people who need it most and good returns for our investors"
With $350 million in assets under management (AUM), Vital says it has invested in 16 companies, tracking at over 20% internal rate of return (IRR) while serving 22.6 million individuals since inception.
"Fundamentally, my team and I believe in the power of capital at scale to drive meaningful progress against our world's biggest challenges.
"As we all are aware, that vision for opportunity and true progress is at risk of being watered down as impact investing expands rapidly around the world. But this award signals to the broader marketplace that Vital's approach of transformational impact alongside competitive returns is the vision for impact investing that is gaining strongest traction globally.
"This is the vision that will set apart the best impact investment managers from the rest. As this vision takes hold, I am optimistic that our industry can achieve a virtuous cycle of ever-growing investment and impact. Our world needs nothing less!"
