Akvo investors
The organisation: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs leads the country's international development cooperation. The Netherlands is one of only five countries in the world which reaches, and even exceeds, a commitment to the UN to provide 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income to development aid, and water and the environment is one of the primary focus areas for the aid.
The partnership: Through the Schoklandfonds the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the major investors in Akvo. A subsidy of €1.2 million has been released between 2008 and 2010.
The organisation: The Rabobank Foundation is committed to improving the lives of underprivileged and disadvantaged groups of people in society by providing them with the opportunity to live full and independent lives. This reflects Rabobank’s unique history and roots and is consequently focussed first and foremost on enabling the development of small co-operatives located in rural regions. This support is provided through donations, loans, trade financing and technical assistance. In line with Rabobank’s own co-operative background, the Rabobank Foundation especially focuses on establishing and promoting co-operative savings and loan systems.
The partnership: Akvo and Rabobank have agreed a long-term cooperation package to build open source software tools and payment mechanisms to support the introduction of appropriate technology water and sanitation systems in the developing world. Rabobank Foundation and Rabobank Den Haag have underwritten a €500,000 loan to the Akvo Foundation (Stichting Akvo), to continue development of the core Akvo software platform, including Akvopedia and Akvo Really Simple Reporting (RSR). See this article for more information.
The organisation: Partners for Water (PvW) is a joint initiative of six departments of the Government of the Netherlands. The programme aims to strengthen the international position of the Dutch water sector by uniting forces (private sector, public sector, non-profit sector and knowledge institutes).
The partnership: PvW is one of Akvo's lead investors. In a commitment to helping reach the Millennium Development goals, the Dutch government has pledged to provide clean drinking water and proper sanitation to 50 million people by 2015. Akvo is one of the projects PvW has chosen to help it achieve this aim. In March 2008, it committed more than €235,000 of funds to our second round investment phase to match and encourage other investments from third parties.
The organisation: ASN Bank is a Dutch financial institution that focuses on socially responsible and sustainable investments. The bank was founded in 1960. Now part of SNS Reaal, it remains the largest sustainable bank in the Netherlands.
The partnership: The bank is a stage 2 Akvo funder, committing €20,000 in March 2008.