Greetings! Here’s the latest impact investing deal news.
Generate Capital raises $1 billion for sustainable infrastructure-as-a-service. The company, founded in 2014 by Jigar Shah and other renewable energy veterans, builds, owns and operates green power, transportation, water and waste management facilities and sells the services to Walmart, Whole Foods, New York City and other customers. San Francisco-based Generate raises long-term balance sheet capital to match the task at hand: building and operating distributed infrastructure for decades to come. “You cannot do that on a fund basis,” Generate’s Scott Jacobs told ImpactAlpha. AustralianSuper, Sweden’s AP2, Queensland Investment Corporation and Railways Pension invested in the mega-round.
- Infrastructure revolution. The future is “democratized, digitized, decentralized and decarbonized,” says Jacobs. Generate sticks to proven technology like solar, battery storage, electric vehicles, wastewater treatment and energy efficiency. It is one of the largest owners of hydrogen-electric fleets and of organic waste management assets. “You don’t need to reinvent the world, you just need to rebuild it,” says Jacobs. “Most of what we need to solve energy poverty, water scarcity, climate change – pick your issue – can be solved with the existing set of solutions.”
- Expanding board. Generate named as chair of its board Richard Kauffman, chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and Sunrun’s Lynn Jurich as a director.
- Dig in.
Greenlane Renewables joins with SWEN Capital Partners to decarbonize natural gas. British Columbia-based Greenlane Renewables creates biogas from organic waste at landfills, wastewater treatment plants, farms and food waste facilities and strips out impurities and carbon dioxide. The biogas can be used as fuel or in the natural gas grid. The planned joint venture with SWEN Capital Partners, a French financial firm, will help European customers finance biogas upgrades via monthly payments rather than upfront cash. “Customers benefit from reduced capital expenditures in projects, built-in operation and maintenance while retaining their autonomy to sell the resulting renewable natural gas back to the natural gas grid,” said Greenlane’s Brad Douville.
Nasdaq buys OneReport to ease environmental, social and governance data reporting. The acquisition of Brattleboro, Vt.-based OneReport will speed to market Nasdaq’s tool for companies navigating multiple ESG frameworks and streamline reporting. The product, Nasdaq OneReport, “will broaden our strategic engagement and collaboration with issuers who are seeking clarity on ESG reporting,” said Nasdaq’s Nelson Griggs.
BlueHub Loan Fund floats $75 million Sustainability Bond for community development. The Boston-based loan fund, an affiliate of BlueHub Capital, has loaned $1.3 billion to date for community projects such as affordable housing, healthcare facilities, childcare and grocery stores. The bond offering, BlueHub’s first, will provide longer term, more flexible capital.
Coding bootcamp Galvanize acquired by K12 for $165 million. Publicly-traded K12 operates high school and career training programs via its Destinations Career Academies. Denver-based Galvanize, which also offers co-working space and corporate up-skilling, is among a wave of coding bootcamps launched over the past decade and the latest to be acquired.
–Feb. 5, 2020
