ImpactAlpha, September 14 — Europe leads the clean energy transition and is a key market for the low-carbon transition, says Hans Kobler of Energy Impact Partners. “We are seeing thousands of investable opportunities.”
EIP has raised $389 million for its first European fund to invest in growth-stage, high-impact tech companies contributing to safer, more flexible and cleaner energy sources on the continent. The fund is the first global expansion for the New York-based fund manager, which is known for investing in ready-to-deploy technologies.
EIP added a $200 million early stage climate tech fund in January. The latest raise comes as Europe faces increasing pressure to wean itself off of Russian oil and natural gas.
Partnership model
EIP plans to implement its collaborative model in Europe to “make it easier for European technologies to access the North American market,” said Kobler. The firm has a coalition of more than 50 partners, including utilities, tech firms, real estate owners and others committed to the low-carbon transition.
EIP says its coalition has facilitated more than 350 contracts worth over $1 billion in business for portfolio companies.
Climate finance
EIP has backed 11 companies in Europe, such as German solar systems provider Zolar, portable batteries developer Instagrid, and Greenly, a Paris-based carbon management company whose platform EIP uses to track its Scope 3 footprint.
The European fund received commitments from global institutional and impact investors including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Électricité de France (EDF) Group, through its corporate venture arm EDF Pulse Ventures, Nysnø Climate Investments and Shell Ventures.
