ImpactAlpha’s deal news coverage for the week:
Agrifood investing. Agriculture-focused impact investor AgDevCo secured £25 million ($32.8 million) from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to seed AgDevCo Ventures, a new unit that will invest in East African agribusinesses… Catalera BioSolutions, a Vancouver-based developer of natural pest repellents, snagged $8 million from S2G Ventures and Farm Credit Canada.
Climate finance. Demex scored $10.3 million to backstop insurers against extreme weather events… Earth Finance acquired Water Foundry to advise corporations on water strategies… German alt-protein startup Formo landed $61 million for animal-free cheese.
Energy transition. Germany’s Reonic secured €13 million ($14.3 million) in Series A funding for its business operating software designed for small renewable energy installers… Mirova notched its first investment in South Africa, investing $15 million in solar power producer SolarAfrica. It invested via its $282 million Gigaton Fund for clean energy and climate action in emerging markets… Paris-based Elum Energy secured a $13 million in Series B round led by Energize Capital to grow its renewable energy management systems and expand into the US… Spain’s Adara Ventures landed €35 million ($38.8 million) from the European Investment Fund to support early stage energy transition startups in Europe.
Gender lens. Chloe Capital, which backs women-led tech companies, invested in Pittsburgh-based NOCTEM Health, a software startup focused on sleep disorders… FSDAi’s Nyala fund invested in First Circle Capital, a women-led venture capital fund that invests in African fintech ventures… WIC Capital invested in sustainable carpentry company in Côte d’Ivoire.
Impact funds. Brookfield Asset Management earmarked up to $1.1 billion from its $15 billion Global Transition Fund to help Infinium develop and produce “synthetic” sustainable aviation fuels made using renewable power and recycled carbon dioxide… MCJ raised $80.6 million for early stage investments in climate resilience and the energy transition…Mirova raised €211 million ($234 million) for its first impact private equity fund to invest in clean energy, the circular economy, natural resources, agtech and smart cities in Europe and North America.
Inclusive economy. Paymob landed $22 million to scale merchant payments across the MENA region…Social Finance, through its education and workforce-focused UP Fund, invested $2.6 million in Durham, NC-based Upwing to provide support services to college students with underserved backgrounds.
Low-carbon transition. Energy Impact Partners scooped up $1 billion its latest decarbonization fund… Nori, a Seattle-based marketplace for carbon removal credits, shut down, citing a “stagnant voluntary carbon market and tough funding environment.” It follows the June closure of ocean-based carbon removal company Running Tide, in Portland, Maine… Indonesia’s GRP aims to cut steel carbon emissions with a $60 million IFC loan.
Small business financing. Cairo- and Abu Dhabi-based FlatKap raised $34 million in debt and equity to expand digital lending to small businesses in the Gulf region of the Middle East… Drip Capital raised $113 million in a mix of debt and equity to provide working capital to small businesses in India, the US and Mexico… FlexiLoans raised $34.5 million in equity from Accion’s Digital Transformation Fund, Nuveen, Fundamentum and Maj Invest to extend credit to micro and small businesses in India’s smaller cities… Mexico-based AltScore clinched $8.5 million to provide credit underwriting and loan management software for financial institutions and large companies that offer small business financing.
