Investment Principal

Aqua-Spark’s mission is to move the global aquaculture industry towards more healthy and sustainable production of blue foods and aquatic materials. Aquaculture is the most efficient and healthiest food system available to humankind, if you do it right. At Aqua-Spark we are investing in companies along the value chain that demonstrate a shared vision of a sustainable future. We are building a holistic ecosystem that demonstrates that healthy and sustainable production brings better financial returns with less risk for all aquaculture stakeholders. Collaborating with value chain participants to motivate industry adoption, causing system change on a global scale.

The Investment Principal is a senior member of Aqua-Spark's investment team who takes full ownership of a portfolio of companies: from follow on investment, through growth, to exit. You lead follow-on investments, represent Aqua-Spark as non-executive director on the boards of approximately five portfolio companies, and work hands-on with founders and management teams to help them grow. You see what is missing, find creative solutions when the plan does not work out, and make sure every company is funded for its next stage.

At the same time you never lose sight of the fund. Aqua-Spark invests to realise both impact and returns for its investors, and realising returns means exiting well. For every company in your portfolio you build and maintain a clear path to a successful exit for Aqua-Spark, you make the company exit-ready, and you lead the divestment when the time is right. You know what it takes to build a company and understand what an entrepreneurial team faces on its journey. You understand that discipline in correct and timely reporting is the basis of everything. You are curious to know everything there is to know about your companies, their competitive environment, their stakeholders and the role they play in our holistic ecosystem. You are a relationship builder: able to find partners to co-invest with, to come up with the right terms, and to build synergies with other companies and the stakeholder network. You report to the Chief Investment Officer and work closely with the team, whom you coach on the companies you work on together. You are a team player who comes up with solutions independently and pre-emptively. Critical, but positive. And fun to work with!

Key responsibilities

The responsibilities fall into four areas that together cover the full life cycle of an investment: entry, growth and exit.

1. Investing

• Lead follow-on rounds for your portfolio end-to-end: screening, in-depth due diligence (financials, team, market, technology, impact, E&S and risk), valuation and structuring, term-sheet negotiation, legal documentation with counsel, and closing.
• Prepare and present high-quality investment proposals to the investment team and the Investment Committee.
• Build the syndicate: identify and bring in co-investors (venture and growth funds, strategic investors, development finance institutions, family offices) and agree terms that protect Aqua-Spark's position and its future exit, such as pro-rata, information, tag-along and drag-along rights.
• Conduct in-depth analyses of portfolio companies and their markets, and keep a clear, current view of where each company stands against plan.
• Continuously monitor trends, developments and innovations across the aquaculture value chain and financial markets, and build deep knowledge of the segments you are responsible for.
• Contribute to Aqua-Spark's investment thesis and pipeline, including how new investments strengthen the ecosystem of existing portfolio companies.

1. Board representation and value creation

• Represent Aqua-Spark as non-executive director (or board observer) at approximately five portfolio companies. Act as a fiduciary: in the interest of the company and all its stakeholders, with sound, ethical and legal governance and financial management.
• With management and the board, set the company's mission, strategy and objectives in line with Aqua-Spark's mission and impact objectives; agree the key performance indicators and review strategic, operational, impact and financial performance through board reporting and quarterly reviews.
• Fulfil the employer role of the board: with the other board members, recruit, evaluate and remunerate the CEO and other key executives; strengthen the board with new independent directors; serve on audit & risk or remuneration committees where needed.
• Help companies grow hands-on: advise on key decisions, identify gaps and opportunities, help early-stage companies build robust financial and non-financial reporting systems, and open doors to customers, partners, talent and experts.
• Connect portfolio companies to each other and to the Aqua-Spark ecosystem and global expert network, and share best practices across boards.
• Find creative solutions when a company is off plan: restructuring, bridge financing, strategic partnerships, mergers between companies, management changes or a change of course. Act early and pre-emptively rather than waiting for problems to resolve themselves.
• Make sure every company is adequately funded for its next stage: monitor cash runway and financial resources, prepare the company for fundraising (plan, materials, data room), find suitable new investors and lead or support the round.
• Carry out regular enterprise risk assessments, monitor adherence to integrity and conflict-of-interest policies, and act with integrity and confidentiality on board matters.

1. Exit paths and liquidity for the fund

• Aqua-Spark is a fund: its investors expect their capital back with a return. Every investment therefore needs a credible exit path, and you own that path for your portfolio.
• Define a written exit thesis for every portfolio company, at entry and at least annually thereafter: the likely routes (trade sale to a strategic buyer, secondary sale, buy-out by a later-stage investor, IPO, structured liquidity such as dividends or a recapitalisation, or transfer to a continuation vehicle), the milestones that make the company exit-ready, realistic timing within the fund's life, and the target value. Review it with the Chief Investment Officer and the investment team.
• Build and maintain relationships with potential acquirers, later-stage and secondary investors and M&A advisers in your segments, long before an exit process starts, so that Aqua-Spark knows who the buyers are and the buyers know the company.
• Make companies exit-ready: strong governance, a clean cap table and shareholder agreement (including Aqua-Spark's exit, tag-along, drag-along and information rights), audited financials, reporting discipline and a documented impact track record.
• Lead divestment processes at the right time: adviser selection, preparation and valuation, buyer outreach, negotiation, documentation and closing. Where it is the best outcome for the fund, pursue partial exits, secondaries or structured solutions rather than waiting for a single full exit.
• Report on exit progress and on realised and expected returns for your portfolio (DPI, TVPI), and take ownership of your portfolio's contribution to the fund's distributions to its investors.

1. Role within Aqua-Spark, impact and ESG

• Work closely with the Chief Investment Officer, the investment managers and analysts, and the other board representatives; coach and develop the junior team members who work on your companies.
• Provide the input on your portfolio companies for investor reporting: quarterly reports, valuations and updates to Aqua-Spark's investors.
• Represent Aqua-Spark and its portfolio companies professionally at conferences and events, and build lasting relationships with investors, co-investors, experts and consultants in the worldwide Aqua-Spark network.
• Ensure environmental and social (E&S) matters are on the board agenda where relevant, including progress on outstanding E&S action items and E&S performance, and ensure the company's ESAP tracker is updated at least every four months (every three months for high-risk investments).
• Represent and promote the fund's E&S and impact mandate at board meetings, and support Aqua-Spark's senior management and the ESG and Impact Officer with stakeholder engagement around investee companies.

Profile, qualifications and skilss

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in business, finance or a similar discipline.
• Ten or more years of professional experience at a comparable level of responsibility, for example in impact investing, venture capital or private equity, corporate finance, M&A, or building and scaling companies.
• A track record of leading investments from Series A to D and follow-on rounds: negotiation, deal structuring, due diligence and legal documentation.
• Exit experience: you have led or played a central role in trade sales, secondary sales or other liquidity events, and you understand what makes a company sellable and what buyers pay for.
• Board experience as a non-executive director, ideally including audit & risk or remuneration committee work, and a good understanding of corporate governance.
• Operating experience: you have helped scale SMEs or scale-ups to maturity, or held a role in an executive leadership team (operations, commercial, finance or innovation). Founder experience is a plus.
• Strong in strategy, business planning, financial modelling and scenario analysis; comfortable working with legal documentation.
• A relationship builder with a network among investors, strategic players and industry, able to syndicate rounds and open doors.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Experience in aquaculture, sustainable food production or the wider agri-food sector is a strong plus.
• Independent thinker and self-starter, willing to travel internationally to portfolio companies on several continents.

What you bring

• Positive mindset
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic and evolving work environment
• Integrity
• Curiousity
• Creativity
• Eagerness to learn
• Getting-things-done mentality
• An owner's mindset: you treat the fund's returns and impact as your own responsibility

Terms

• Participation profit sharing
• 38 days of paid leave
• A purpose-driven, international work environment
• A collaborative, values-based team
• The opportunity to live and work in the Netherlands and experience the amazing Dutch life

Salaris: €100,00 - €140,00 per jaar

Arbeidsvoorwaarden:

• Extra vakantiedagen
• Pensioen
• Reiskostenvergoeding

Werklocatie: Hybride werken in 3512 Utrecht