Buxeros Capital: new investment in Blue21
Buxeros Capital, the recently established public-private investment fund focused on Dutch companies in emerging economies, has announced an investment in Blue21.
Buxeros Capital is a collaboration between the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF, created by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Ramphastos Investments (the investment company founded by Marcel Boekhoorn). Buxeros director and Ramphastos partner Corné Melissen explained: “As with all our other interests, Buxeros is all about entrepreneurship with an international focus that is an excellent fit with our other activities. I think that we can help a lot of companies achieve their international ambitions. The social component is of course an interesting extra dimension.”
Blue21 co-founder and director Rutger de Graaf: “The investment of Buxeros enables Blue21 to expand our growing international business and further develop our Floating City Unit. This unique technology enables the construction of modular expandable floating cities all over the world, including the countries that are listed by the DGGF. Moreover, through our partnership with Buxeros, we are adding unique expertise and experience to our team, in particular in the field of entrepreneurship and investments. These are crucial elements to accomplish our mission to realize floating cities with a positive social impact and ecological impact within the next 5-10 years.”
About Buxeros Capital
Buxeros is a public-private fund that invests in Dutch companies in emerging economies and developing countries. Buxeros supports Dutch companies that have a positive impact on local economies while being compliant with international Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines. The volume of funds managed by Buxeros Capital is EUR 24 million, half of which is brought in by investors that include Ramphastos Investments. The other half comes from the Dutch Good Growth Fund, a financing facility run by the Dutch government. Buxeros invests this money in Dutch and local companies in emerging economies. Along with a financial investment, the fund supports the companies in its portfolio with practical knowledge, experience and access to its network. Buxeros Capital is headquartered in the Netherlands and has an office in Cape Town (South Africa).
About Blue21
Blue21 is a scale-up and global leader in developing floating urban projects based in Delft, The Netherlands. Blue21 has the mission to realize floating cities with a positive impact on the planet. Floating city technology addresses many urgent global challenges such as climate change, urbanization, and land scarcity. In the company, a unique collaboration has been established between architects, urban designers, water managers, civil engineers, and maritime engineers. A strong link to governance, legal and social expertise is made through the Thinktank Governance of Floating Cities. Blue21 has an international client base including the USA, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and various countries from Europe. The founder’s team of Blue21 has been involved in the design, engineering, and realization of iconic floating projects such as the Floating Pavilion in Rotterdam, the Floating Ecohomes in Harnaschpolder, Delft and more recently, the INNOZOWA floating solar project.
