EDF sponsors new cleantech VC fund

The fund has already raised €40m and will be managed independently by Idinvest Partners.

The move by EDF follows recent initiatives launched by other French corporates making a push into venture. France Télécom and Publicis committed €150m to the OpVenture family of funds managed by Iris Capital – of which they also acquired a 24.5% stake.

France also saw SNCF, France Télécom, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Total launch the €30m Ecomobilité Ventures vehicle at the end of 2011.

Investors
EDF committed €30m to the project while Allianz, the first institutional LP to invest in the vehicle, contributed €10m.

The search for investors will continue throughout 2012 and discussions with several potential LPs are already underway.

Investments
Electranova will finance start-ups active in the energy sector, both in France and Europe, via minority shareholdings.

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