Contrarian Ventures targets EUR 100m hard cap for new climate tech fund

Lithuania-registered fund Contrarian Ventures Net Zero 2022 aims to have its second close at EUR 75m in late September or early October, Peciulaitis said without disclosing its size at the launch. The final close is expected by June 2023, he added.

The fund’s lifespan will be 10 years, with a possibility for extensions twice by an additional year. The firm worked with law firm TGS Baltic for the setup of the vehicle, Peciulaitis said.

The fund is targeting institutional investors like funds-of-funds for its second close, after attracting commitments from family offices for its first close, Peciulaitis said. The new vehicle’s LP base is expected to include sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, family offices, founders of unicorns, and high-networth individuals, among others, he said.

Investments
Contrarian Ventures, with its investment teams in the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia, will invest in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, and Israel-based companies whose technologies directly or indirectly help reduce carbon emissions in transport, energy, industrial fields, and the built environment, Peciulaitis said. It expects to invest the fund in 25 companies over the next four years, with 50% of the fund reserved for follow-on investments, he added.

Its tickets will range from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1.5m in seed rounds, Peciulaitis said, adding that it would like to be the lead investor in 60% of seed-stage deals. It may also invest in later stages, with tickets ranging from EUR 1.5m to EUR 4m in Series A rounds, he added.

The firm’s debut fund, the EUR 12.5m Smart Energy Fund powered by Ignitis Group, has been fully deployed across 21 companies, with three exits so far, Peciulaitis said. The exits include Lithuanian e-commerce layer for grocery shop LastMile and UK-based electricity monitoring specialist Voltaware, according to its website. The third exit has not yet been announced, Peciulaitis said.

The debut fund has four companies with a valuation of more than EUR 100m, Peciulaitis said. These include BeZero Carbon, a UK-based rating agency for the voluntary carbon market; H2Pro, an Israeli start-up focused on the production of green hydrogen; PVcase, a Lithuanian solar tech specialist; and Zoomo, a UK-based light electric vehicles platform, he said.

The first fund’s lifespan is 10 years, until mid-2027, with a possibility for extensions twice by an additional year, Peciulaitis said. While secondary transactions might be considered, the firm anticipates active exits from the first fund around the 2024-26 period, he added.

Contrarian Ventures anticipates a 5x return for the debut fund as its base scenario, Peciulaitis said. The best-case scenario would be a 10x return, he added.

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