ImpactAlpha, February 26 — Verdane, a Norwegian private equity investor, targets tech-enabled businesses that can pass its “2040 test” – a screen to assess whether companies can thrive in a sustainable economy. With its third Verdane Edda buyout fund, Verdane is on the hunt for companies riding the megatrends of digitalization and decarbonization.
“There has never been a better time to partner with ambitious companies that seek to digitize and decarbonize the European economy,” said Verdane’s Bjarne Kveim Lie. The fund will write growth equity checks of €20 to €150 million and take majority or minority positions.
Growth portfolio
The fund’s portfolio includes Finland’s Evondos, which has built an automated medicine dispensing machine for elderly patients. Germany’s Hornetsecurity provides cloud-based cybersecurity services to global businesses of all sizes.
Verdane’s Elevate in-house team offers portfolio companies technical assistance on market and product strategy, technology, finance and sustainability. “Our thematic focus and proven value-creation recipe have enabled us to consistently deliver strong financial returns to our investors,” said Verdane’s Frida Einarson.
Institutional LPs
Verdane, a certified B Corp, is partly owned by the Verdane Foundation. The majority of the fund’s commitments came from pension funds, university endowments, foundations, insurance companies and family offices; nonprofits committed 40% of the fund. A quarter of the limited partners are based in the US.
In the past six months, Verdane has raised €2.2 billion across two separate funds, including its €1.1 billion growth-stage Capital XI fund.
