VC Spotlight: Climentum Capital fund to announce 10th investment this month; aims for final close at EUR 75m end-Sept

The firm's first fund, Climentum Capital Fund I, will have a final close on 29 September 2023 with an aim of raising around EUR 75m, he said. The fund was launched with a first close on 1 July 2022 with more than EUR 50m, he noted.

The VC firm's 10th investment will be in a Nordic next-generation nuclear company, the partner said, declining to provide further details.

It expects to have 12 or 13 investments completed by the end of 2023, while the remainder of the around 20 investments expected in total will be made in 2024, or perhaps one or two in 1H25, the partner said.

Climentum Capital has deployed 25% of the EUR 75m fundraise target and expects to commit the same amount again through the next 10 investments, leaving some 40%-50% of the proceeds for follow-up funding rounds in its portfolio companies, Halborg said.

Climentum Capital expects to launch its second fund, Climentum Capital Fund II, in 2025 with a size of EUR 100m-EUR 125m, Halborg said.

The firm has several interesting targets in its pipeline and receives inbound interest continuously, he said. It is actively looking at investing in companies active within ‘low farming impact', green hydrogen and low carbon fuels, Halborg said.

Anchor investor in Climentum Capital Fund I is the Danish Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), which owns just over 50% together with Danish bank Arbejdernes Landsbank; 3F, which is Denmark's largest trade union and unemployment fund; Germany-based BASF Ventures; and Germany-based Lanxess Pension Trust, Halborg said.

The fund has more than 50 investors in total with the remainder being Danish, Swedish and German family offices, he said.

Climentum Capital Fund I, which is the first EU Article 9 fund out of Denmark that also boasts 50% female partners, targets late seed and Series A investments in start-ups with a clear CO2 reduction potential, Halborg said. As a firm, Climentum Capital has a dual focus on CO2 reductions and financial returns, according to its website. Article 9 funds are funds with a clearly defined sustainable investment objective.

According to Halborg, the fund targets six areas: industry & manufacturing, energy, food & agriculture, buildings & construction, transportation and water & waste. The companies in which it invests will have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of at least six, but preferably seven and upwards, he said.

A ticket size is typically EUR 2.5m-EUR 3.5m, leaving Climentum Capital with around 10% of the company it is investing in, he said.

The fund is primarily targeting companies in Northern Europe, the DACH countries and Scandinavia, he added.

Among its investments are:

One.five, a German developer of a sustainable paper-based solution to replace plastic packaging

Continuum, a Danish developer of recycling plants to convert composite waste into low-carbon construction materials

Qvantum, a Swedish heat pump systems company

ZeroPoint, a Swedish developer of a technology that can significantly reduce energy waste in data centres

Fermify, an Austrian bioprocessing platform for production of vegan cheese proteins

Jolt Electrodes, a Barcelona-based producer of industrial electrodes that can significantly reduce costs of green hydrogen production

Karnfull Next, a Swedish next-generation nuclear company

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