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Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Investindustrial Foundation, has joined the Transition Investment Lab (TIL) at NYU Stern School of Business at NYU Abu Dhabi, as a Lead Partner, alongside founding partners MEASA Partners and Mubadala. The partnership reinforces a shared commitment to advancing transition investment across emerging and frontier markets in the Middle East, Africa and Southern Asia.
Announced during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the collaboration reflects the growing role of the region in shaping practical approaches to sustainable and transition finance, grounded in real economy investments and measurable value accretive impact.
The partnership was signed at NYU Abu Dhabi between Emanuele C. Bonomi, Chairman of the Investindustrial Foundation, and Fabio Piano, Interim Vice Chancellor, NYU Abu Dhabi
Through its contribution, the Investindustrial Foundation will support TIL’s work across three core research programs: Institutional Investment and Sustainable Development; Sustainable Investment and Emerging Private Markets; and Impact Measurement Frameworks and Analytics. Together, these programs strengthen TIL's mission to build a knowledge center that delivers robust, actionable research while raising awareness of how transition investment can address pressing economic, societal, and environmental challenges.
In the first instance, the collaboration with TIL will be on a groundbreaking multi-year project on Food Security, which aims to uncover significant opportunities for investors, business, and governmental stakeholders to address food security challenges in the MENA region. By analyzing prior interventions and granular international data on food security, TIL aims to identify high-impact areas such as food logistics, affordable farm inputs, and food safety, where investment can deliver measurable financial returns, economic security and resilience, and societal benefits.
The Signature Impact Framework developed by TIL enables investors to integrate robust impact metrics into deal origination and portfolio management, ensuring financial performance aligns with positive outcomes.
“Our longstanding partnership with NYU, and now with the Transition Investment Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi exemplifies Investindustrial’s commitment to advancing sustainable business practices to create long-term value on a global scale. Our strategic presence in Abu Dhabi not only strengthens our collaboration with world-class academic partners but also enables us to invest in the region’s dynamic growth and innovation. Together, we are driving measurable socio-economic and environmental impact, combining rigorous research, local insight, and capital to create lasting value for communities and investors across the Middle East and beyond,” says Andrea C. Bonomi, Founder and Chairman of the Investindustrial Advisory Board, an alumnus and Trustee of NYU.
The Foundation’s support for the Transition Investment Lab reflects its long-term commitment to sustainable finance, environmental stewardship, and lasting societal value, aligned with the Investindustrial Foundation’s focus on education, sustainability, and inclusive economic development.
The partnership also builds on the Investindustrial Foundation’s longstanding relationship with NYU and NYU Stern, which began over a decade ago in New York, underscoring a shared commitment to advancing sustainable business practices. With Investindustrial Foundation, a Founding Partner of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, Investindustrial has played a pivotal role in supporting the development of methodologies and frameworks for measuring and monetizing sustainability outcomes in business and private equity investments, with this collaboration driving innovation in impact assessment and value creation.
“This partnership reflects NYU Abu Dhabi’s commitment to advancing knowledge that speaks directly to the challenges and opportunities shaping the region. By bringing together academic rigor, long-term partners, and a clear focus on transition investment, the Transition Investment Lab and Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi are contributing research that helps inform responsible capital allocation and sustainable growth, particularly in areas such as food security that are critical to regional and global resilience,” says Fabio Piano, Interim Vice Chancellor, NYU Abu Dhabi
The partnership will support expanded research, forums, and collaboration with global and regional investors and institutions committed to building credible transition pathways across key sectors. It is further reinforced by Investindustrial’s growing engagement in Abu Dhabi and the wider Middle East region, including the Firm’s recent signing of the ADGM Sustainable Finance Pledge, reinforcing its dedication to responsible investment practices and transparency.
“This collaboration with Investindustrial Foundation is strategically important for TIL and our work at the intersection of private markets and sustainability. Investindustrial is a recognized champion in demonstrating how sustainability can drive value creation in the real economy," says Bernardo Bortolotti, TIL's Executive Director.
About Stern at NYUAD
The Stern School of Business at NYU Abu Dhabi is the top US Business school in the region. Stern at NYUAD is an academic enterprise that is uniquely positioned to influence management and business in MENA. The School offers premier, internationally distinguished business degrees, tailored for aspiring leaders in the UAE and abroad. Stern at NYUAD gathers a global community of learners and talented professionals to equip them with a strong business and management foundation through an innovative curriculum taught by esteemed faculty. Through dynamic coursework, innovative teaching avenues, and real-world opportunities the programs aim to accelerate careers in a dynamic global economy.
About Transition Investment Lab
The Transition Investment Lab (TIL) is a research center and knowledge hub hosted by Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and established with the support of its founding partners, Mubadala Investment Company and MEASA Partners. TIL’s strategic goals are to meet the highest academic standards while providing strategic thinking and actionable solutions to investors in transition finance and investment to contribute to positioning Abu Dhabi as a global hub for sustainable investments along the priorities and principles of Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030
About Investindustrial
Investindustrial is a leading European group of independently managed investment, holding and advisory companies with €18 billion of raised fund capital. With ESG principles deeply embedded into the firm’s core approach, Investindustrial has a 35-year history of providing mid-market companies with capital, industrial expertise, operational focus and global platforms to accelerate sustainable value creation and international expansion. Certain companies of the Investindustrial group are authorized by, and subject to regulatory supervision of the FCA in the United Kingdom, the CSSF in Luxembourg and the FSRA in Abu Dhabi Global Market.
References to ‘Investindustrial’ are of generic nature, for ease of reading, and may refer, depending on the context, to a fund or any of its independently managed subsidiaries. Investindustrial’s investment companies act independently from each other and each Investindustrial fund.
About the Investindustrial Foundation
The Investindustrial Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2016 with the support of Investindustrial and the Bonomi family. It complements Investindustrial’s first corporate foundation, Invest for children (i4c), established in 2000. The Foundation promotes global social and environmental initiatives, focusing on three strategic pillars: education and diversity, arts, culture and heritage, and environmental protection and conservation. It supports projects that expand access to quality education for underprivileged groups, especially women, girls, and people with disabilities, while fostering professional diversity and inclusion. The Foundation also prioritizes creativity, innovation, and social cohesion through support for the arts and cultural heritage, and is committed to biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development. Over the past 10 years, Investindustrial has donated and committed €44 million across the Foundation and i4c.
The terms “firm”, “Investindustrial”, and “Investindustrial Foundation” have been used for practical ease of reading and do not intend to imply any specific reference to an entity or a legal definition of any activity of control by any company or individual with respect to other companies. Investindustrial is a group of independently managed investment, holding, and financial advisory companies. Investindustrial Foundation is an independently managed charitable foundation.
