Carbon Equity open to commitments for new impact fund with EUR 125m hard-cap

The fund is expected to reach a first close of EUR 40m by the end of May, and is fundraising further to reach EUR 75m by year-end, he said.

Carbon Equity is a platform for climate investors such as family offices, private investors, asset managers and foundations, enabling them to make impact investments. It provides such investors with access to private climate tech funds and currently has EUR 120m assets under management, van Beijeren said.

With its first, EUR 42m fund, Carbon Equity made investments in funds from sponsors such as US-based Energy Impact Partners, as well as UK-based ones including Astanor Ventures, Lightrock and 2150. It also backed US-based Ara Partners and Clean Energy Ventures.

For its second fund, Cabon Equity will accept commitments starting from EUR 100,000, and shortly it plans to lower the bar to EUR 50,000. For family offices and private investors, it seeks commitments ranging from EUR 100,000-EUR 1m, while for asset managers and foundations, it accepts commitments of EUR 1m-EUR 10m, van Beijeren said.

Co-investment expansion
While its first fund was only devoted to fund-to-fund investments, with the second fund, Carbon Equity will seek to broaden its strategy by incorporating both fund-to-fund and co-investments, seeking to support companies in the EU and the US at the early or growth stage, van Beijeren said.

The fund plans to make de-risked co-investments along with its client funds, supporting companies that its client funds already have established relationships with.

It is interested in investments in such sectors as industrials, including cement, steel, or chemicals, mobility, urban environment including cooling and heating, carbon, including carbon accounting, storage and capture, and agrifoods, as well as energy, including production and storage, he noted.

It plans to allocate around EUR 10m for co-investments, while the remaining EUR 110m will be devoted to fund-to-fund investments, he noted.

Climate tech in focus
Carbon Equity makes investments in funds or co-investments in companies that operate in the net-zero economy, as well as climate tech startups in areas including net-zero carbon cement, steel, nuclear fusion companies, as well as hydrogen technology.

It seeks to invest in funds that support early-stage companies, primarily at the seed round stage. It also participates in the growth and buyout-stage investments via funds that support companies that already have a proven impact and seek to scale, van Beijeren noted.

All in all, the sponsor seeks to have two-thirds of its investments in venture capital and early-stage companies, and one-third in private equity, growth equity and buyout-level firms.

The first portfolio fund of Carbon Equity invested in eight funds in total, while the second seeks to invest in seven to 10 climate funds, van Beijeren said.

On its platform, Carbon Equity also provides a service to family offices wishing to directly support companies operating in the net-zero economy by accepting amounts of up to EUR 10m for direct investments, he said.

Among the companies it has financed via other climate fund vehicles are US-based battery company Noon Energy; Distribution, a German company providing access to transportation; US-based electrified industrial steel company Boston Metal; US-based sustainable apartment design software provider Nabr; Umiami, a French company producing plant-based meat; and Carbon America, a US-based carbon capture and sequestration company.

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