Dutch sustainable energy VC SET Ventures has closed its fourth fund at €200 million. The SET Fund IV, an SFDR Article 9 fund, attracted investment from new and existing investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund, a.s.r., Carbon Equity as well as several European grid operators.
Investment strategy
This fund will back digital technologies that will facilitate the transition to a carbon-free energy system. SET Fund IV will invest in entrepreneurs who pioneer business models that incentivise companies and consumers to adapt now, rather than wait for regulation to force a change.
The Article 9 fund will invest in 20-25 late seed and Series A startups to generate both financial and impact returns. Initial ticket sizes will be between €2 million to €5 million while the follow-on capital will be up to €15m per company.
Focuses on the clean energy sector
Founded in 2007, SET Ventures exclusively invests in the clean energy sector. The team believes that the physical technologies needed to fight the climate crisis, such as solar panels and EVs, have already reached the market. It addresses the urgent challenge of implementing digital solutions that allow these to be deployed on a mass scale and seamlessly integrated into the energy infrastructure. This facilitates the shift from fixed to dynamic energy pricing.
Adoption rates for clean energy have risen across Europe in recent years as technologies are proven, scaled, and developed to a standard. As these solutions are increasingly adopted and our future energy system becomes more decentralised, new systemic challenges emerge such as grid congestion, mismatched production and demand, and storage of intermittent renewable energy.
SET Ventures has amassed expert knowledge in areas such as electrification, flexibility, and decentralised energy architectures and established a network of key partners within the industry, including grid operators and utility firms.
Investment portfolio
The Dutch VC with offices in Amsterdam and Hamburg has invested in Instagrid, which recently raised a $95 million Series C round and entered the North American market; Sensorfact, which is working with thousands of industrial SMEs to monitor industrial processes; sonnen, a first-mover in residential energy storage systems and virtual power plants; a smart heat-management startup vilisto, energy renovation advisor Fuchs & Eule; energy management software provider Tibo Energy; and e-mobilio, the cloud-based e-mobility platform.
Co-founder and Managing Partner Wouter Jonk said: “When it comes to fighting the climate crisis, we are firm believers that energy is the best place to start. 76% of the world’s emissions stem from energy, so solving this brings the fastest potential emissions reductions. The advantage of our long-standing history is that we understand which technologies are likely to stand the test of time and have a genuine impact. We’re proud that our portfolio reflects this. Last year, our portfolio companies’ work led to the avoidance of 3.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.”
“Hardware is, on its own, not going to achieve urgent climate goals,” says Anton Arts, Managing Partner at SET Ventures. “For decades, our energy system has been geared towards fossil fuels, so it’s no surprise that the energy transition has come with teething problems. These issues are a positive sign that we are amid this mass rollout. With our fourth fund, we champion the founders who apply digital technology to address these challenges. We invest to spawn a universe of solutions and companies that complete the formula for fully transitioning to a carbon-free energy system in the coming years.”
