The Dutch Port of Rotterdam, along with a number of investors, has taken part in developing the Rotterdam Port Fund, a new EUR 75 million closed-end investment fund aimed at fast-growing, innovative companies that contribute to a transition of the port economy.

The Netherlands-based NIBC Bank is joining forced with the port, as well as with Royal Doeksen, Rotterdam entrepreneurs Peter Goedvolk and Luc Braams, and InnovationQuarter, the regional development company for the Zuid-Holland province, as investors in the new fund.

According to NIBC, the Rotterdam Port Fund is independently managed and is aiming to build a portfolio of 10-15 innovative, growth-focused, port-related companies, primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Additionally, aiming for optimal returns for its investors, the fund will look to invest in companies whose operations are sustainable.

“Trends such as the rise of Asia, the energy transition, the integration of logistics chains and the shift to a circular economy all have major consequences for the environment in which a port operates,” Bastiaan van der Knaap, fund manager, said.

“These trends create not only risks, but also – and more importantly - new opportunities, and we want to grab those opportunities with the Rotterdam Port Fund,” he added.