Boston-based venture capital firm Clean Energy Ventures, which backs early-stage climate innovation, has closed an oversubscribed second flagship fund (Fund II) with total capital commitments of $305 million.
The launch of Fund II follows the successful deployment of a $110 million Fund I, which has backed 20 disruptive companies across the climate tech landscape that collectively are poised to mitigate over 50 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to expanding the firm’s investment opportunities in North America, the latest fund allows Clean Energy Ventures to bring its strategy and expertise to climate technology entrepreneurs in Europe and Israel. Alongside the launch of Fund II, the VC firm has established offices in London to support the growth of its team and operations in Europe.
“With climate tech funding soaring tenfold across Europe in recent years, today it is the continent’s fastest growing sector. Tapping into the region’s thriving innovation ecosystems, we are primed to bridge the funding gap for promising early-stage companies and bring our expertise and network to accelerate European companies’ path to market,” commented Daniel Goldman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner.
“As we catalyse the innovators building the decarbonised economy with new climate tech solutions, CEV’s combined ability to pinpoint the most impactful companies and technologies and then shepherd them into commercialisation has been a crucial force for us and the global climate tech ecosystem,” said Scott Gerdes, Director of Private Investments for Builders Asset Management, the asset management team of Builders Vision and a limited partner in CEV’s new fund.
Investments from Fund II
To date, Clean Energy Ventures has deployed capital from Fund II into energy storage company Noon Energy, compressor technology Evari, Israeli green ammonia company Nitrofix, and UK-based sustainable aviation fuel company OXCCU, with two additional stealth companies soon to be announced.
“Climate action is atop the European agenda, and climate technologies are poised and ready for development and adoption. We are fortunate to have CEV’s support and guidance as OXCCU scales its innovative one-step technology from lab to planet,” said OXCCU CEO Andrew Symes.
Focuses on CO2e emissions
Founded in 2017 by Dan Goldman, David S. Miller, and Temple Fennell, Clean Energy Ventures looks for technologies that can mitigate 2.5 gigatons of CO2e by 2050 and entrepreneurs that can benefit from the team’s decades of climate tech operating experience.
Its team of veteran climate investors has guided the next generation of companies across mobility, renewable energy, carbon capture utilisation and storage, energy storage, critical minerals, and more through seismic market shifts. It requires each investment to be capable of mitigating at least 2.5 gigatons of CO2e emissions cumulatively between the initial investment and 2050.
Clean Energy Ventures now works with over 70 strategic co-investors and is backed by LPs, including Carbon Equity, The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Builders Vision, and New Summit Investments.
“Demand for climate investment opportunities is rising from all corners of the globe, and we are grateful for the amount of interest from our new and existing LPs,” said Temple Fennell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Clean Energy Ventures. “As we look to scale decarbonisation technologies globally, we’re doubling down on our thesis to invest in novel hardware-oriented climate-saving technologies with the potential to bring outsized emissions reductions and top-tier financial returns.”
