Talis' ESG Report 2021

2021 witnessed the mainstreaming of ESG in venture capital – and for good reason. Venture capital firms play a pivotal role in funding the companies that can build a better future for society.

We’re seeing a shift in mentality where ESG isn’t secondary to profit, but it works in tandem with it: the reality today is that returns to society and financial returns need not be mutually exclusive. Why shouldn’t we discuss D&I policies in board meetings in the same way that we talk about retention metrics?

At Talis, we think that ESG can be more than just risk mitigation. Identifying material issues early on and embedding sustainable practices will create long-term value not only for Talis and our companies, but for society. To support our companies in doing so, we’ve built out our FutureProof programme, an initiative designed to help our portfolio affect positive change not just in the short term, but also as they scale.

For our inaugural ESG report, we make the case for prioritising ESG in venture, putting forward the results from our first portfolio annual ESG questionnaire, presenting the work we’ve done as a fund to lead by example, and outlining how we plan on further improving our work in this space in 2022.

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