ImpactAlpha’s deal news coverage for the week:
Agrifood investing. Astarte Capital and Silvipar raised $325 million for sustainable forestry in Paraguay… Brazil’s goFlux inked $6 million in a round led by Capria Ventures to digitize and finance agricultural freight services companies… Pula landed $20 million to offer livestock insurance to smallholder farmers.
Climate finance. BlueOrchard’s second InsuResilience Investment Fund for emerging markets’ climate adaptation secured $28.5 million from British International Investment and the Nordic Development Fund, bringing the fund to $90 million… Climate Prime Coalition launched Trellis Climate to finance first-of-a-kind climate tech deployments… Unwritten snagged $3.5 million to offer investors transition risk intelligence.
Electric vehicles. Windrose Technology, an electric heavy-duty truck maker, raked in $110 million in a Series B round. HSBC provided debt via its HSBC New Economy Fund.
Energy Transition. Detroit-based KODE Labs raised $30 million in Series B financing for its building efficiency management software… Dublin-based GridBeyond raised €52 million ($55.5 million) from Alantra’s Energy Transition Fund, Klima, Energy Impact Partners, Mirova and others to connect “latent power sources,” like batteries, to smooth energy grid demand and efficiency… Quilt raised $33 million to launch its sleek heat pump.
Fund news. Acre Impact Capital reached a $100 million first close for its planned $300 million fund, which leverages guarantees from Export Credit Agencies to fund African infrastructure projects… Toyota Ventures raised two $150 million early stage venture capital funds to invest in sectors including AI and robotics, green mobility, energy storage and batteries and decarbonization. Toyota will accept online pitches… Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, an early-stage VC firm investing in African tech startups, closed its first fund at $60 million with backing mostly from Japanese investors.
Gender-lens investing. FINCA Ventures supported a dozen early stage companies in Africa through its Venture Prize competition. Among them was infant formula maker Baobaby, the first Venture Prize winner in Togo.
Inclusive finance. Bangalore-based Varthana Finance, a non-banking finance company that provides loans to affordable private schools, raised $10 million from BlueOrchard Finance… Islamic finance-compliant fintech venture Algebra secured a strategic investment from Standard Chartered’s venture arm.
Investing in health. Medulance scored $3 million for medical emergency response in India’s smaller cities… Rubio Impact Ventures backed HealthStage, a Dutch startup that uses AI to manage patients’ data and streamline health provider services.
Returns on inclusion. New York Life acquired a stake in minority-owned Fairview Capital.
Solar energy. Arcadia secured $50 million from Energy Impact Partners, G2 Venture Partners and other investors, and a $30 million line of credit from JP Morgan, for a community solar program… Berlin-based Zolar secured €100 million ($106 million) in debt from BNP Paribas to originate residential solar loans.
Waste management. Ocean 14 Capital invested in Novelplast, which recycles industrial and consumer plastics as resin that can be used for industrial sheeting, fibers and strapping… Recykal raised $13 million in its digital marketplace for waste management and recycling in India.