December 2025

PYM ambassador Annegien is the Founder & Lead Angel of the Catalyst Impact Investment Club, which focuses on regenerative tech companies: start-ups with the potential to heal and repair our planet and society. She recently received the Golden Aurora Award for Female Business Angel Europe 2024–2025.

How and when did your impact journey begin?

As a child. When I was eight, I was already collecting signatures to save baby seals or to protest apartheid in South Africa. At home I learned that if you believe in something, you have to act. We were also raised with a sense of fairness: if you have more, you share. So I’ve donated my whole life and have always been guided by a strong sense of justice and responsibility.

Yet you also had a (successful) traditional career?

I had always wanted to become an archaeologist, but at eighteen, after participating for a month in an excavation, I decided that the typical archaeologist’s path wasn’t going to work for me. So I studied economics and business administration instead, and began what was indeed quite a ‘traditional’ banking and investor relations career at Fortis. After a sabbatical (the bank actually created one for me, to allow archaeology some space in my life again), I tried to start an internal fintech venture studio and to establish high-end green funds — but it was too early for them. After Fortis, and then PwC and IR at a Dutch/American listed corporate, I chose to focus on entrepreneurship, teaching and investing. I believe a person can do multiple things at the same time. When you continue with all of them, you end up with a number of specialisations. For example, last year I participated in the world championships of catamaran sailing. At 59! Trust me - I never imagined this when I took it up seven years ago. And throughout my life, I’ve probably done more fieldwork than most archaeologists: fourteen projects in seven countries, including a month in Jordan. Luckily, dealing with sudden shifts in the wind and looking for underlying patterns in the earth are skills that belong in the toolbox of scouting and investing too.

What is the Catalyst Impact Investment Club?

Fifteen years ago I started investing in tech start-ups. The first company came to me by chance — I trusted the founders. The Netherlands has an exceptionally developed impact landscape, but internationally it’s much smaller. Besides, most tech is focused on SaaS and B2B.
I knew I could - and wanted to - contribute by scouting and supporting the jewels that can make real global impact. That’s how it started. We invest on a deal-by-deal basis with about sixty people from twelve countries. It has grown very organically, but we also keep professionalising. For example, we recently added two people to the daily management and keep tightening the process, so now we have something resembling a hands-on investment committee. We take the best practices from VC, angel investing and private equity to develop a new kind of venture investment.

What are examples of your investments?

• TOBE - a cost-effective solution to the phenomenon of disappearing bees, through innovative mite control and a beekeeping platform
• Luminify (Ukraine) - psychological training that significantly reduces PTSD
• OKIPA - a non-toxic alternative to Roundup

OKIPA is a great example. Roundup kills 50% of living soil and stays active for months. OKIPA is just as effective, but is not toxic, and after 48 hours even turns into nutrients. Unfortunately, established interests and EU regulations make market access difficult. We guide these companies strategically so they can scale.

What are your investment principles?

My model for the Catalyst Club was an octopus: eight arms, nine brains, three hearts. Completely interconnected and as much as possible self-steering. Others are starting to copy this model now, which I love, because it means open innovation. We are regenerative investors: we invest for three to five years, then exit and reinvest that money into new companies. We also want to democratise venture capital, because you can never renew a system if only the same people keep investing, working from the same traditional model. When you invest in innovation, you’re investing in the world three to five years from now. At the moment, mainly tech people and finance professionals direct the flow of venture capital. That needs to change so a much broader perspective is reflected. That’s why I’ve set the minimum contributions much lower than most other investment clubs, giving more women and younger people the opportunity to invest in venture.

What is the added value of PYM for you?

PYM is a place where you can learn about new concepts and new ways of doing. For example, I loved learning about steward-ownership at PYM, and I’m now exploring how to apply it at the Club. And even if some concepts aren’t immediately usable, PYM inspires you to think about different models and principles. At PYM I also feel even more strongly that we’re much less stuck than we think. It is a community for pioneers, which is wonderful.

You have a clear holistic vision - how does this show up today?

An ecosystem doesn’t operate in silos - so why should we? Three years ago I realised I wanted to focus on healing the planet and humankind, before it’s too late. So I am currently working on large nature projects in the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and the Sinai. With new financial constructions such as debt-for-nature swaps (which, surprisingly, I was already researching thirty years ago!) I support deeply committed stakeholders from a strategic perspective. Nature is protected when it is a good place to live for people who can - and want to - protect it. I am constantly reminded how everything is connected - in my own life and path, but also in the world. In the Amazon, there are air and water streams that directly impact the climate elsewhere. So it’s not so much about solving a problem in one country; it’s about healing everywhere by repairing somewhere.

How do you view the future?

We always talk about the energy transition, but we are also going through a spiritual transition. Right now, I am consciously looking for people who can contribute to my mission of regeneration. And I am hoping that one day we will be able to pivot from a mindset of individual possession to one of collective access, while staying within planetary boundaries and with respect for all living creatures.

What would you advise other - maybe new - impact investors?

Impact investors are sometimes more Catholic than the Pope - I would say focus on improvement, not perfection. If you improve something by 50%, that also has huge impact. Furthermore, I think it’s important to always leave room for change. I’ve had several resets in my life, each of which created new openings that allowed me to keep developing. Behavioural change is incredibly difficult, but we are all capable of it.

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