Given the dire predictions about the impending (and basically already here) Climate Crisis, the world can’t get enough ClimateTech funds right to power new innovation that can address the issue.
FTSE 250-listed investment firm IP Group has been investing in the area previously but has clearly ‘read the runes’ and re-shaped its existing investment strategy, thrown it in a pot, given it a stir, and come out with a properly dedicated cleantech/climate venture fund. Kiko Ventures, an ‘evergreen’ ClimateTech fund (because it’s coming from a listed entity, so it doesn’t have a 10 year timeline to return a fund like a normal VC) is launching today, with a $450m (£375m) fund to invest in ClimateTech and ‘regenerative’ technologies. It will invest at Seed and Series A/B stage or in the public capital markets.
Set to deploy £200 million over the next five years, Kiko will launch with existing assets which it says is already valued at over £175m, as well as a number of new investments it has yet to announce.
The timing is ripe. After all, the Climate Tech VC newsletter recently suggested global investment in the sector has reached an all-time high of $40bn last year, a trajectory which is likely to continue.
Kiko Ventures’ founding team comprises the existing IP Group cleantech team, led by Robert Trezona and Jamie Vollbracht, with new Partner Arne Morteani, formerly of other cleantech VC funds.
Previous investments from IP Group include fuel cell firm Ceres Power (exited); First Light Fusion; and Oxbotica, (autonomous mobility software used by BP and ZF).
In a statement Trezona (Founding Partner, Kiko Ventures) said: “We’ve launched Kiko to unleash the full power of human ingenuity by uniting ideas, expertise and capital to unlock a sustainable future. To do this, we’ve created an investment model of truly flexible capital that empowers change, rather than hindering it.”
Last year, investors poured $10bn into European startups tackling the climate crisis, up from $5.4bn the year before, according to this year’s Atomico report.
By comparison, other European Climate-focused funds in the space include Astanor Ventures ($325m), World Fund (€350m), 2150 (€270m), Norrsken VC (€125m), Blue Horizon €183m), Emerald Technology Ventures ($100m), and Pale Blue Dot ($87m).
But Kiko appears to be the first (as far as we can tell) ‘evergreen’ fund with access to public markets funding, rather than a traditional VC.