Blue Haven Initiative, Cisco Foundation, ImpactAssets, DF Impact Capital, and Green Spark Ventures were among more than a dozen impact investors backing Enduring Planet’s latest fund.
The Washington, DC-based firm provides working capital, contract advances and term loans to climate-focused startups and small businesses (for more, tune into our recent podcast with Enduring Planet). It has extended nearly $40 million in credit across both of funds to more than 70 climate startups to date, including Elephant Energy, Photon Marine, Aquagga, and Harvest Thermal.
The $12 million raise for the firm’s second climate fund was helped by a $500,000 recoverable grant from Realize Impact, enabled by funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation, that serves as first-loss capital. It also received a credit guarantee from the Community Investment Guarantee Pool managed by Locus.
“Blended finance structures like this are essential to scaling climate solutions,” Enduring Planet’s Erin Davis told ImpactAlpha. “Leveraging catalytic capital and guarantees, we can help unlock significantly more private investment into businesses that are ready to grow but underserved by traditional lenders.”
Enduring Planet had hoped to leverage the catalytic capital to raise $20 million. The firm’s Dimitry Gershenson chalked it up to a difficult fundraising environment that is especially challenging for emerging managers in climate and private credit.
“We’re really proud of this outcome, despite the challenging market environment that climate tech is facing in the US,” he said. “It’s strong validation of our thesis, performance to date, and the journey to come.”
