Govin, a network effects-driven startup aiming to ease the lives of venture capitalists and founders by making the G of ESG (governance) more transparent and actionable, has raised €1 million in pre-seed funding. With the fresh funds, Govin advances its beta and will bring the product to the masses.
The round was led by the Dutch Founders Fund (DFF) with participation from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland and joined by a group of Angel investors like Jelle-Jan Bruinsma (Endeit Capital), Thijs Clement (NorbruisClement), Jaap van den Broek & Quirijn van Veen (INGEN-HOUSZ), and Max van de Blaak & Sander van Woerden (Lexar Partners), amongst others.
Governance reimagined
Launched early this year, Govin was born out of the frustration that many legal processes remained unnecessarily complicated and intransparent. Key processes such as resolution management, investor rights allocation, and compliance were only being taken seriously when already too late.
Govin frees up invaluable time from chasing documents and screening legal clauses. By centralizing all governance data and workflows, it helps investors and founders to make informed decisions and be compliant in a simple and confident way.
Jesse Grift, founder of Govin, has experienced the legal hotchpotch first-hand whilst working at a VC. “So many precious hours were lost digging through legal paperwork, hours better spent on scaling the company. With new regulations like the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) rolling out in 2024, reporting on your non-financial data such as your ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) becomes mandatory for all alternative investment funds”, Grift adds. We noticed that the “E” of Environmental and the “S” of Social were often accounted for, yet the “G” of governance remained overlooked.
Safeguarding continuity
Hidde Hoogcarspel, founding partner at Dutch Founders Fund (DFF) recognizes the challenges that being an investor and supervisory board member impose. As one of its launching customers, DFF was amongst the first to experience the benefits of the platform. “As a supervisory board member at Shypple, we have drafted and signed more than thirty resolutions in the past eight months, including more than 200 signatures from 10+ co-investors. Govin allowed everyone to make an informed decision in a matter of clicks instead of reading through dozens of pages of legal documents, saving hours of time”, says Hoogcarspel.
Through its unique managed governance trail, Govin safeguards continuity of governance within venture capital firms and their portfolio companies. The platform allows investors and founders to easily access all relevant legal documentation, and ensure a quick and secure decision making process for any corporate decision required to be taken. “As a M&A lawyer, I know first-hand how important it is both for funds and for portfolio companies to be compliant, as this confirms that management is really in control, which is a huge asset in future rounds and exits”, adds Thijs Clement, partner at M&A boutique NorbruisClement and former partner at Van Doorne.
Govin aims to become the leading governance and legal compliance solution for alternative investment funds. “Before the upcoming SFDR regulation is fully effective in 2024, Govin is keen to become your go-to platform to be compliant in a simple and confident way” concludes Grift.
For more information, please contact:
Jesse Grift
+31 6 81 01 84 84
jesse@govin.co
