March 2025

Ilse Bastmeijer started the ‘Goeie Grutten Foundation’ in 2016 with family capital. It quickly led her to impact investing. Now, she donates and invests in food, energy, democracy, privacy, and media.

How did your impact journey start?

I first became aware of impact investing ten years ago. At the time, my father's company had existed for almost fifty years, and he wanted to take a step back. Meanwhile, with my experience as a marketer and entrepreneur, I became more involved and increasingly ready to do so. However, it was still too early for a role in his company, so we decided I’d head up a foundation instead, in line with our family business: supermarkets. 

When I started looking around, I soon felt that perhaps foundation work alone wasn’t quite dynamic enough for me. Then I came across impact investing, and impact is just so much more entrepreneurial! Besides, putting capital to work fits well with our own values and our family values. So, my husband Bernd and I decided to set up an impact fund in addition to the foundation.

After attending the PYM Impact Days 2015, I nervously transferred my first 25K. Luckily, my father was supportive and encouraged me greatly. We now have forty foundation projects and fifteen active investments in food and energy companies. The foundation and the fund complement each other, working simultaneously to create supply and awareness. As such, I find donation money and entrepreneurial money to be great friends.

What does working with your family look like for you?

My father is on the foundation's advisory board and is involved in the big picture. He enjoys being part of 'the new world,’ as he calls it. 

My son is a beautiful mirror for me at the moment. He tells me the unfiltered truth, inspiring me to be an example as he discovers the world. 

My husband Bernd is co-founder of the fund and the foundation. We do a lot together, but we each have our focus areas, which I believe to be a good thing when you also have a private relationship. 

And lastly, there is my mother, with whom I share my passion for nature and animals, particularly horses. She created a fantastic foundation for this in my youth, and I love how we continue to share this with new energy.

What is the advantage of funds?

We invest both directly and in funds such as Rockstart, Unovis, Icos Capital, and Pymwymic. I really enjoy working with consumer products, but funds have a strategic function; they know everything about the market. There is also a lot of overlap and collaboration. You don't see the competition of traditional investing in impact; it is more about connecting than winning.

What does the supermarket of the future look like to you?

There is a large spectrum from light green to dark green; of course, real change must be industry-wide. However, I would love for all supermarkets only to sell products that benefit the world rather than deplete it.

And impact investing?

Impact investing will become increasingly mainstream because we are all looking for a purpose. My generation feels a bit like an in-between generation because the new generations are clearly no longer satisfied with a corporate job that means or adds nothing.

What mistakes have you learned the most from?

One of the things I learned from Frank van Beuningen is that impact can continue under a different banner. So even if the company you invested in goes bankrupt, it doesn’t necessarily mean there hasn’t been or will be no impact. In any case, awareness has been created, and that is a gain in itself. In other words, if a company is not doing well financially but the impact continues, you can still be proud of your investment! With that mindset, 'mistakes' are nothing more than acceptable parts of the larger system change process. 

I see this reflected in our fund, too. We develop gradually, and every step we take is useful, even if it’s not always immediately clear why. My father always taught me to remain calm in turbulent times. Don't act impulsively and sell or withdraw when times get tough because what might seem like a mistake today may look very different in the future.

What are your thoughts on impact investing as a marketing professional?

Well, I had never heard about impact investing before I started the foundation. It is a closed world, with people who usually like to stay private. I used to be like that too, but I now believe I can create more awareness by being more open. Of course, I understand the complexity of marketing in this particular sector; it is difficult to find a balance between wanting to share what you are doing and push for system change but also wanting to remain modest about your actions and private about your financial situation.

Which films inspire you?

'Sojalism' and 'Eating Our Way To Extinction' were big eye-openers.

How does a network like PYM help you?

I'm an only child, so sometimes it’s quite lonely. This is where a network like PYM is very helpful. Especially because it is 'normal' here that you can do what I am doing with family capital. Almost nobody in my everyday life is in the same situation, so connecting with others through PYM is very valuable, practically and emotionally. The Women's Wealth Matters gatherings are especially wonderful; we can be completely open and admit, for example, that wealth can sometimes feel like a burden. PYM is also a fantastic general source of information on impact investing.

What do you hope for the next generation?

I cannot see into the future and like living in the now. I think this is the only way I can be a true example. In the end, we all choose our own path, using whatever we have stored in our personal backpacks.

I look forward to seeing what the next generation will do.

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