Speedinvest, the European early-stage VC with €600M assets under management, announced it will invest an additional €80M in sustainability-focused startups through its new Climate & Industry Opportunity fund. The funds will be mainly used for the support of companies that are already part of the portfolio of Speedinvest, but investments will be made in some selected non-portfolio European startups.
“Investing in Climate Tech is a must for us as a fund and the industry as a whole. Apart from the moral obligation we all share, there is obvious growth potential in the sector. The talent and entrepreneurial energy of an entire generation is now focused on building the technologies that will ensure our planet’s survival. Supporting these innovators is where we want and need to be,” Oliver Holle, Managing Partner at Speedinvest, said in a press release.
The news follows the recent follow-on investments of Speedinvest in two of its portfolio companies – Packhelp and TIER Mobility. In the middle of November, the fund backed the sustainable packaging platform Packhelp with a €40M Series B round and the electric micro-mobility provider TIER Mobility with an undisclosed Series D round.
More opportunities for climate portfolio companies
Even though there is no strict strategy for the distribution of the funds, the majority of the investments are planned to be made in the growing climate-tech startups in Speedinvest’s portfolio.
The follow-on financing rounds will be conducted with co-investors. Some of the climate tech companies which may receive growth financing from the new fund include the AI waste composition software Greyparrot, the marketplace for refurbished electronic goods Refurbed, and the hospitality-tech startup Raus.
Additionally, the Climate & Industry Opportunity fund will back selected new startups by participating in co-investment late-stage rounds with other established VC firms. The main investment focus of the fund will be on companies that enable the digitalization and decarbonization of the industrial sector.
According to Marie-Helene Ametsreiter, General Partner at Speedinvest, the industrial tech ecosystem in Europe has grown 81% since 2014 and is currently valued at €74B overall. That is one of the reasons why Speedinvest has recognized the investment opportunity in the industrial and climate tech vertical.
Previously Speedinvest has backed two Bulgarian companies – the startup for middle-mile cargo drone deliveries Dronamics, and the e-commerce startup Metrillo.
Official launch in Q2 2022
Having some of the leading international venture capital funds as institutional investors, the Climate & Industry Opportunity fund is expected to make its final closure in the middle of 2022. Some of the VCs that backed the new fund include the American New Enterprise Associates (NEA) which has in its portfolio companies such as Plaid and Robinhood.
In addition, the sustainability-oriented fund of Speedinvest is also supported by non-institutional investors such as the tech company KNAPP, the supplier of plastics products Greiner AG, and one of the leading CEE producers of pulp and paper, HEINZEL GROUP.
The strategic limited partners of the Climate & Industry Opportunity fund will be granted access to the corporate investor program of Speedinvest. This means that the LPs will have access to Speedinvest’s deal flow of startups, will be able to receive introductions to Speedinvest’s startups, and gain insights into emerging climate technology solutions.
