Enviu

What Enviu does

Enviu is a Dutch non-profit foundation (Stichting Enviu Nederland) operating since 2005 as a venture-building studio that creates and scales companies addressing systemic environmental and social challenges across four interconnected domains: Agrifood (East Africa), Textiles (India), Mobility (Netherlands), and Zero Waste (Indonesia and Netherlands). The organization runs a portfolio of 12+ active ventures that include SokoFresh (solar-powered cold storage and digital market linkage for 19,634+ Kenyan smallholder farmers), Alner (Indonesia's first tech-enabled reusable packaging system across 1,470+ warungs), Second Spin (textile waste diversion from 77 hotel partners across 10 Indian cities), The Good Felt (post-consumer textile waste into felt products), Marine Metals (circular ship recycling), Zawiri Foods and Shambani Pro (regenerative agrifood market access), Stymo (secondhand market platform), and others. Its underlying technology spans solar-powered cold chain infrastructure, deposit-return reusable packaging systems, circular textile processing, and digital platforms connecting producers to buyers, with each venture differentiated by an operational or distribution advantage rather than a proprietary software stack. Enviu's business model blends philanthropic grants from foundations (IKEA Foundation, H&M Foundation, Alwaleed Philanthropies, Flotilla Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Bayer Foundation, Adessium, Plastic Solutions Fund) with venture-level transaction-based revenue (pay-per-use cold storage, deposit-return packaging margins, textile processing fees) and blended-finance facilities (€6.6 million EU Interreg for INTERPOOL, $500,000 UNCDF loan to SokoFresh). Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales (hotels, hospitality venues) with channel partnerships (MSMEs, farmer organizations, warungs, distributors) across four countries. The organization is governed by a Supervisory Board including ex-WRAP and De'Longhi executives, and transitioned in 2026 to dual CEO leadership under Paul van der Linden and Dieuwertje Nelissen.

Name

Enviu

Legal name

Stichting Enviu Nederland

Website

https://enviu.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Enviu is a Dutch non-profit venture-building studio that creates and scales impact companies across agrifood, textiles, mobility, and zero waste in Kenya, India, Indonesia, and the Netherlands, serving smallholder farmers, hospitality enterprises, and micro-retailers via a 12+ venture portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Venture Building

NAICS

Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGALAF

Circular Economy & Sustainable Products (Reuse, Repair, Upcycling)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

SECONDARYBPADALAM

Circular Economy & Resource Efficiency

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/Climate, Environment & Sustainable Development Programs

SECONDARYBPAHAJAH

Sustainability, ESG & Climate Risk Advisory

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Consulting

Keywords

• Venture building studio
• Impact venture development
• Circular economy programs
• Social enterprise incubation
• Sustainability consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants: Core funding from foundations and institutional donors to support venture building operations and program development. Accepts grants from philanthropic organizations including HM Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Alwaleed Philanthropies, and government-backed development funds.
2. Program Grants: Funding directed to specific programs and initiatives within Enviu's four domains. Includes program grants for agrifood, zero waste, textiles, and mobility initiatives from institutional donors and foundations.
3. Venture Funding: Grants and equity investments deployed into portfolio ventures. Enviu uses seed funding to launch ventures that generate their own revenue. Once self-sufficient, ventures scale independently. Also includes investments in new venture development.
4. Cold Storage as a Service (SokoFresh): Pay-per-use cold storage service where farmers pay according to volume of produce stored. Capital cost of owning a solar-powered cold storage unit (~$30,000) is absorbed by the venture. Fees deducted from sold produce.
5. Reusable Packaging Deposits (Alner): Deposit-return model for reusable bottles and containers. Consumers pay deposit which is refunded upon return. Venture generates revenue through product margins and logistics fees.
6. Textile Waste Processing (Second Spin, The Good Felt): Revenue from processing hotel and institutional textile waste. Second Spin diverts linens from 77 hotel partners across 10 cities. The Good Felt transforms post-consumer textile waste into premium felt products for interior design and acoustic systems.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Enviu is a venture-building studio that identifies systemic market gaps and builds, incubates and scales impact-driven companies across four interconnected domains: Agrifood, Textiles, Mobility and Zero Waste. The organization operates a portfolio of 12+ portfolio ventures (including SokoFresh solar cold storage in Kenya, Alner reusable packaging in Indonesia, Second Spin and The Good Felt textile-waste ventures in India, and Marine Metals ship recycling in the Netherlands) alongside cross-domain programs such as Closing the Loop and INTERPOOL. Enviu partners with philanthropic foundations, governments, MSMEs and corporations to deploy catalytic capital and seed funding that launches ventures designed to become self-sufficient while delivering measurable environmental and social outcomes.

Product overview

Enviu is a global venture-building studio that drives systemic change through building and scaling impact ventures across four domains: Agrifood (East Africa), Textiles (India), Mobility (Netherlands), and Zero Waste (Indonesia/Netherlands). The organization operates a portfolio of 12 active portfolio ventures plus exited, closed, and supported ventures. Key products include: Alner (reusable packaging in Indonesia), SokoFresh (solar cold storage in Kenya), Second Spin and The Good Felt (textile waste ventures in India), Marine Metals (ship recycling in Netherlands), Zawiri Foods and Shambani Pro (agrifood ventures in Kenya), plus cross-domain initiatives like Closing the Loop (textile waste program), Destination Zero Waste Bali, and INTERPOOL (EU glass reuse system). Each venture is designed to address critical environmental and social challenges while being scalable and market-driven.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Enviu Agrifood: Domain focused on regenerative, zero food loss chain serving resilient smallholder farmers and addressing climate change in East Africa.
• Enviu Textiles
• Enviu Zero Waste
• Enviu Mobility

Products and services

• Alner Tech-enabled reusable packaging system that replaces single-use plastics for daily household essentials (detergent, shampoo, food products) using a deposit-return model across a network of 1,470+ warungs and micro-retailers in Indonesia.
• SokoFresh Award-winning social enterprise providing first-mile solar-powered cold storage and digital market-linkage services to smallholder farmers and aggregators in Kenya, on a pay-per-use model.
• Second Spin Textile waste management venture that diverts institutional textile waste from hotels and landfills, providing additional revenue streams for waste workers and supplying material to circular manufacturers.
• The Good Felt Transforms low-quality post-consumer textile waste into premium felt panels by matting and condensing fibers for interior design, carpeting and acoustic systems.
• Marine Metals Circular ship-recycling venture operating a fully automated dismantling yard using wire-saw technology to safely recycle end-of-life vessels and supply high-quality scrap steel globally.
• Zawiri Foods Market-access venture connecting regenerative farmers in Kenya to stable buyers, helping them access inputs, credit and recurring income through structured pathways for herbs and spices.
• Shambani Pro Empowers smallholder farmers with farmgate micro-factories that reduce post-harvest loss and boost incomes through decentralized manufacturing and direct market connections.
• Stymo Building a secondhand market platform creating digital infrastructure for pre-owned goods circulation in India.
• Halisi Gro Sustainable food systems venture providing market access and climate-smart agriculture services for smallholder farmers in Kenya.
• Energy Floors Social enterprise humanizing the energy transition through creative technology and community engagement to build ventures that create impact through sustainable energy solutions.
• Savia Circular food systems venture focused on regenerative agriculture and impact-driven innovation in Chile.
• People's Pension Ghana-based fintech driving digital financial inclusion, payment innovation and tech solutions for underserved markets across Africa.
• INTERPOOL EU-funded 3.5-year initiative creating a unified cross-border reusable glass packaging system across Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, harmonising bottle formats, deposit levels and data standards.
• Closing the Loop Integrated Circular Textile Waste Management program diverting textile waste from landfills across 14 Indian cities and creating inclusive green livelihoods through market-ready circular ventures (Second Spin, The Good Felt, Stymo).

Quantifiable outcome

• 202,000 tonnes CO2-equivalent emissions avoided cumulatively by portfolio
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Ellen MacArthur FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2026Co-convened World Refill Day workshop in Jakarta alongside Plasticdiet Indonesia and Enviu, bringing together brands, government, distributors, and circular economy experts.
• Plasticdiet IndonesiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2026Partnered with Enviu to convene stakeholders for World Refill Day workshop, addressing sachet waste challenge through reuse systems scaling.
• TRANSFORMcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026Impact accelerator led by Unilever, UK FCDO, and EY supporting Alner through decade-long program. Brings together corporates, donors, investors, and academics. Supported 140+ enterprises reaching 19M+ lives.
• EIT FoodcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2026Selected Enviu as venture building partner for Seedbed Venture Catalyst programme, transforming early-stage food innovations into scalable, high-impact ventures in Europe.
• University of IndonesiasupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 August 2025Research partner with AGUNI coalition, indicating switching to reuse could provide net economic benefit of approximately 1.5 trillion rupiah ($93 million) in Indonesia.
• One Acre FundsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 August 2023SokoLink partnership backed by P4G, integrating thousands of Kenya farmers into global supply chain through SokoFresh market linkage.
• Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint initiative with Enviu on Closing the Loop program, building integrated Circular Textile Waste Management model. An Intellecap initiative.
• Saamuhika ShaktisupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiative supporting circular textile waste management and waste worker empowerment in India, part of Closing the Loop program support.
• Slow Food KenyasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgrifood training partner providing regenerative agriculture training to farmers like Gladys Kanegeni in Kirinyaga County, Kenya.
• Rainforest AlliancesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraining partner for regenerative agriculture practices, supporting farmers transitioning from chemical inputs to sustainable methods.
• Circle EconomysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal impact organization partnered with Enviu to unveil insights on measuring circularity in smallholder agricultural contexts.
• Pathé BioscopensupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dutch cinema chain to pioneer zero-waste cinema experience through sustainable reuse systems.
• Fair Resource FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore partner in INTERPOOL project, working with Enviu and 12 partners to create unified cross-border reusable glass system in Europe.

Scale indicators32 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Intellecap: India-based impact advisory and investment firm running CAIF (Enviu's Closing the Loop partner) and broader climate/inclusion programmes. Comparable in India textiles and circular-economy focus, but operates at a larger, advisor-led scale rather than as a venture studio.

Regional players

• DOEN Foundation: Dutch impact investor and venture backer supporting circular, inclusive, and creative enterprises. Shares Enviu's Dutch foundation roots and circular-economy thesis, but operates as a grant/equity investor rather than a hands-on venture builder.

Direct peers

• Novastar Ventures: East Africa-focused venture builder backing early-stage businesses serving low-income consumers. Direct peer to Enviu's Kenya agrifood work through SokoFresh, Shambani Pro, and Zawiri Foods, with overlapping geographies and customer segments.
• Acumen: Acumen operates a venture-building and impact-investment model targeting poverty and climate challenges in East Africa and South Asia, deploying philanthropic and patient capital into early-stage ventures. Highly comparable to Enviu's studio model, though Acumen is more capital-deployment-led and less multi-domain.
• Closed Loop Partners: US-based circular-economy investment platform building companies and funds across plastics, textiles, and food. Closest circular-economy pure-play peer to Enviu — similar venture-building DNA, but with a US-centric geography and stronger for-profit LP structure.
• Circulate Capital: Investment firm focused on preventing ocean plastic waste in South and Southeast Asia, backing circular-economy startups. Comparable to Enviu's Indonesia (Alner) and India (Second Spin) work in the plastics/waste prevention domain.

Others

• WRAP: UK-based circular-economy NGO working on food waste, textiles, and plastics. Closely aligned with Enviu's mission and a partner of Enviu board member Dr. Marcus Gover; comparable in sector scope but operates as a programme/policy body rather than a venture builder.
• Circle Economy: Amsterdam-based impact organisation driving the circular economy through data and tooling. Listed as an Enviu partner and shares the same Dutch circular-economy ecosystem, providing measurement and advisory, not direct venture building.

Emerging players

• Yunus Social Business: Berlin-based venture builder funding social enterprises addressing basic needs in emerging markets. Comparable to Enviu's venture-building methodology but with a narrower sector focus and smaller scale of operations.
• Sistema.bio: Mexico-based social enterprise producing modular biodigesters for smallholder farmers in emerging markets. Comparable to Enviu's agrifood/circular-economy portfolio in deploying technology to smallholders, though specialised in anaerobic digestion rather than cold-storage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/63261
• Xx.com/enviu
• Facebookfacebook.com/enviu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Enviu