Global Fund closes first €300 million Climate Tech Fund, aims to support follow-on hardware

Image credits: Global Fund / Global Fund Team

After three years of fundraising, the Global Fund has finally closed its first fund of 300 million euros, which is 50 million euros short of its 2021 target, but against the backdrop of war and economic uncertainty. , it is still a considerable amount. The VC was originally born out of the founders of Ecosia, an independent search engine whose search queries were used to fund tree planting.

If you want to compare, Norsken VC is a $130 million impact VC covering climate, while Demeter Partners last raised €250 million in funding focused on climate.

The World Fund is supported by the European Investment Fund (with a €50 million commitment), KfW Capital, Wahastams Fonds, BPI France (the fund's first investment outside France), PwC Germany, NRW Bank and Ignitis Group. The Global Fund is also supported by pension funds including the UK Environment Agency Pension Fund, the Wiltshire Pension Fund and Croatia's Erste Pravi.

The Global Fund, which has already invested some of its funds in a number of climate technology companies, says this funding will enable it to invest in 25 to 30 European decarbonization startups.

Some of the most notable investments include IQM Quantum Computers, Space Forge, Planet A Foods, Juicy Marbles ENOUGH Foods, CustomCells, recycling company Cylib, and proptech startups Aedifion and Ecoworks.

The Global Fund completed its fundraising amid war in Europe, rising interest rates, and unstable LPs. Fund Managing Partner Daniel Višević commented, “2023 in particular was a very difficult funding environment.''

“We are investing only in decarbonization technologies and retaining more than two-thirds of our capital for follow-on investments as it is difficult to fill late-stage gaps in Europe,” he added. .

He said hardware must be a key part of the strategy: “One of the things we're doing wrong in Europe is not focusing on climate-fighting hardware.” He added that the fund invests in technical talent such as biotechnologists and biochemists to evaluate investments.

The Global Fund's funding comes at an opportune time.

European climate technology startups raised more than $20 billion in 2023, about the same level as the previous year and bucking the downward trend in other sectors, Dealroom said.

The UK, Sweden and Germany topped the list of overall climate technology ventures in 2023, while Iceland, Lithuania and Bulgaria showed notable growth.

And climate change technology is well underway in Europe.

Valuations held steady, European energy patents up 15% year-on-year

The Berlin-based Global Fund was founded in 2021 by Daria Sakharova, Visevic, Tim Schumacher and Craig Douglas. We have offices in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Amsterdam.