Climate Finance | November 1, 2021

Builders Private Capital stands up $300 million clean energy fund

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, November 1 — Chicago-based Builders Private Capital is the direct investment arm of Builders Vision, an impact group founded by Lukas Walton, the billionaire grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

S2G Ventures, a Builders Private Capital impact venture division, has been investing in sustainable agrifood tech, ocean health and seafood companies since 2014 (for context, see “S2G Ventures backs five blue economy startups). 

The multi-asset energy fund “is an outgrowth of some of the work we’ve done with S2G ventures,” CIO Sanjeev Krishnan told ImpactAlpha. “Beyond the work of the last two decades, the energy transition story is so much more compelling and mature, but it’s just getting started. We hope to write the next chapter in that story, he added.

Builders Vision is using its own capital to launch the clean energy division, which aims to provide flexible and creative capital for companies developing complex and scalable decarbonization-focused solutions as the energy transition plays a more mainstream role in the 21st century economy.

The energy fund will write check sizes ranging from $10 million to $50 million, and will target growth investments from Series B to pre-IPO funding rounds. 

Builders Private Capital has brought on Stephan Feilhauer and Francis O’Sullivan to lead the platform. It also hired Andrea Woodside for its broader real assets investment focus.

Plant-based food

S2G Ventures led a $17 million round for woman-led biotech company Shiru, which identifies and creates plant-based ingredients for food companies.