Carbon Equity, a leading climate fund investing platform, raised €100 million for climate solutions through its Climate Tech Portfolio Fund II. This exceeded its initial target of €75 million and more than doubled the size of Fund I, which closed at €42 million in 2022. The Climate Tech Portfolio Fund II invests in 7 to 10 selected private equity and venture capital funds and indirectly in 150 to 200 critical climate solutions including solutions such as green hydrogen, battery technology, carbon-free cement, (industrial) heat pumps, bioplastics, smart thermostats, and next generation proteins.
Carbon Equity was founded in 2021 with the ambition to unlock private capital at scale to finance the world’s most important climate solutions and visionary founders. Through its platform, people can invest from €100k in innovative climate technology through private equity and venture capital funds. This gives them access to an investment category that normally requires a very high level of expertise and millions in capital. Carbon Equity opens up this asset class that has historically been reserved only for institutional and very wealthy investors.
Jacqueline van den Ende, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Equity, stated: “Through our platform, we pool the capital of private investors, thus offering them the opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of unlisted climate companies. Via our fund of funds, they indirectly invest in a selection of 150+ rapidly growing climate technology companies, such as CarbonCure, which captures and stores CO2 in cement, Twelve, which produces renewable kerosene from green electricity, water and air, and Form Energy, which develops advanced energy storage systems. Given the manifold technological pathways within climate solutions, a relatively young landscape of funds and the importance of geographical diversification, a fund of funds in our view is the best way to generate attractive risk adjusted returns when investing in this theme.”
Between 2020 and 2030, Roland Berger expects that the revenue from climate technology will grow from €5 to €12 trillion. Within private markets, climate technology investments now represent 10% of all venture capital and private equity deals – up from just 2% in 2014.
In less than three years, Carbon Equity has raised €200 million from 700 investors, including prominent entrepreneurs, c-level executives, private equity professionals, family offices, and institutional investors.
“It shows that the market is maturing quickly,” added van den Ende. “The global commitment to halt climate change offers opportunities for investors. Not just for the ideological investor, but also for the pragmatic investor who wants to realize attractive, risk-adjusted returns as a result of investing inimpactful and fast growing climate innovators. We believe that climate change is not only the most urgent problem facing humanity but solving it is also the most attractive investment opportunity of our generation. Our biggest challenges are also our biggest investment opportunities.”
Following the successful closing of the Climate Tech Portfolio Fund II, Carbon Equity is launching its Climate Tech Portfolio Fund III, aiming to raise €125 million. The launch of Fund III follows the successful strategies of Fund I and Fund II, which have already committed to 15 leading climate funds such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ara Partners, 2150 VC and Energy Impact Partners and invested in more than 100 climate tech companies with several early successes.
Later this year Carbon Equity plans to launch its first ELTIF fund with minimums below €100,000 to further open up access to its funds. “Our goal is that ultimately anyone with a good salary, a pension, a children’s saving plan or an inheritance can help build a net zero future with their capital whilst benefiting from the value creation of doing so,” concluded van den Ende.
