After three years of fundraising, the Global Fund finally closed its first fund of €300 million, €50 million short of its 2021 target, but still a large number given the backdrop of war and economic uncertainty. The venture capital originally emerged from the founders of the independent search engine Ecosia, where search queries funded tree planting.
If you're looking for comparisons, Norrsken VC is a $130 million impact venture capital covering climate, while Demeter Partners last raised a €250 million climate-focused fund.
The global fund will be supported by the European Investment Fund (which provided €50 million), KfW Capital, Wachstumsfonds, Bpifrance (the fund's first investment outside France), PwC Germany, NRW.BANK and Ignitis Group. The Global Fund also supports pension funds including the UK Environment Agency Superannuation Fund, the Wiltshire Pension Fund and the Croatian Erste Plavi Fund.
The Global Fund has already deployed some of its money into a number of climate technology companies, but says this capital will enable it to make investments of between 25 and 30 in European startups around decarbonisation.
Its most notable investments include IQM Quantum Computers, Space Forge, Planet A Foods, Juicy Marbles, ENOUGH, CustomCells, recycling company Cylib, and technology startups aedifion and Ecoworks.
The Global Fund completed its collection during the war in Europe, high interest rates and tense liquidity prices. “The fundraising environment has been very difficult, especially in 2023,” said Daniel Vicevic, co-managing partner of the fund.
“We only invest in decarbonisation technologies, and reserve more than two-thirds of our capital for later investments because in Europe it is difficult to close the later stage gap,” he added.
He said appliances should be an important element of its strategy: “This is the only thing we are doing wrong in Europe, where we are not focusing on appliances for the climate.” He added that the fund invested in technical talent such as biotechnologists and biochemists to evaluate investments.
The Global Fund increase comes at an opportune moment.
In 2023, European climate tech startups raised more than $20 billion, roughly the same as the previous year, and bucking declining trends in other sectors, according to Dealroom.
The UK, Sweden and Germany topped the total investment capital in climate technology in 2023, but Iceland, Lithuania and Bulgaria showed notable growth.
Climate technology is performing well in Europe.
Valuations maintain value, and European energy patents are up 15% year-on-year.
The Berlin-based Global Fund was founded in 2021 by Daria Saharova, Vešević, Tim Schumacher and Craig Douglas. It has offices in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Amsterdam.
