In the presence of President Zelenskyy, Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) has signed a new commitment for investment in Ukraine’s private sector through the Horizon Capital Growth Fund IV.
IFU has made its investment commitment together with a group of 10 international development finance institutions, contributing USD 5 million. IFU’s investment helped the fund exceed a high fundraising target set in response to President Zelenskyy’s earlier challenge to the investor group to double the original target and come to Kyiv for a signing in his presence.
At the signing ceremony at the presidential palace, President Zelenskyy highlighted the importance of the investment for Ukraine. He underscored the importance of trust and how the investor group is leading the way and showing through this investment that it is possible to make investments in Ukraine.
The signing was joined on behalf of IFU by Deputy CEO Søren Peter Andreasen and Senior Vice President Lisbeth Erlands. Speaking at the ceremony, Søren Peter Andreasen underlined that this investment is made in connection with IFU’s new Ukraine facility, which will be established with support from the government’s Ukraine Fund, where IFU is expected to be awarded DKK 110 million.
Søren Peter Andreasen said: “This investment demonstrates that the private sector remains an important source of resilience and economic opportunity for Ukraine. The fund will improve access to capital for entrepreneurial technology sector enterprises and gender equality. It was an honour for our delegation to have the opportunity to meet President Zelenskyy and discuss how more investment can be mobilised to support the country’s economy.”
Reaching USD 245 million in commitments
Horizon Capital’s Growth Fund IV has now reached total commitments of USD 254m. It has also become the first investment fund in Central and Eastern Europe to be awarded the 2X Flagship Fund status for promoting gender equality, as a woman-founded and woman-led investment fund.
Lenna Koszarny, Horizon Capital’s Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Today, Horizon Capital and our esteemed group of investors have made history, as the first growth capital and largest fund raised since the onset of the full-fledged invasion. Global institutions are uniting today to back a reputable team with a bold vision, proven investment strategy and track record.”
Ukraine’s technology sector has been an important source of economic resilience in recent years and since the Russian invasion. The sector continued to grow and became the third largest export sector in 2022. Continued investment in the sector is an important driver of further badly needed job creation, tax revenues, and hard currency earnings for the Ukrainian economy.
Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy welcomes the investment
Reacting to the announcement, Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy said:
“Ukraine has a strong need for private investors who believe in the country’s future and stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainian entrepreneurs and companies. We see that the private investors would like to help Ukraine but are prevented due to the high investment risk. There, the Danish state can stand together with the entrepreneurs and investors so that the investments take place. We are now doing this by letting IFU take the risk and invest in a new investment fund”, says Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy”.
IFU is planning additional investments from its Ukraine facility, including potential projects together with Danish partners that are ready to deepen existing activities or enter into new enterprises that contribute to Ukraine’s economic recovery and development potential.
During the visit to Kyiv, IFU’s delegation had the opportunity to meet with a group of accomplished entrepreneurs seeking further investment. The delegation also had discussions on how to promote more investment in Ukraine with Deputy Head of the Office of the President Shurma and Deputy Minister of Economy Gryban.
About the investor group:
The investor group includes International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), US International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”), the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) and a subsidiary of KfW Group, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Économique (Proparco), the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM), Swedfund International AB (Swedfund), Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (Finnfund), Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU).