Green is the new black when it comes to investing in sustainability startups
As interest in climate-tech grows, so are the mega war chests.
Growth equity and buyout investor TPG announced earlier this week that it had raised $5.4 billion to invest in climate solutions, while Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management followed up Tuesday by raising $7 billion upon the first close of its fund aimed at companies seeking to reach carbon neutrality.
Earlier this month, private market investor General Atlantic created a strategy focused on climate change that is reportedly looking to raise about $4 billion. According to Pitchbook, investors around the world have already closed as many climate-focused funds as were raised in the past five years.
Perhaps it should be of little surprise the mega dollars being set up for deployment. After all, some of these projects can be extremely costly, with battery recycling startup Redwood Materials on Wednesday raising $700 million in a single round of funding with T. Rowe Price at the helm.
But it’s not just carbon-capture technology or electric car makers that are fitting the bill for funds. Sustainable bets have also encompassed marketplaces for refurbished electronics like Back Market (backed by Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management) and clothing resellers like Thrilling, which is backed by impact-focused Congruent Ventures.
Which means investors are effectively betting on a sea-change in behavior from the way consumers eat (plant-based burgers, for instance) and dress, to how businesses source their power or make financial decisions.
TIGER BETS ON BARBERSHOP DIGITIZATION: Just under a year since it raised its Series C round of funding, barbershop software company Squire Technologies has raised $60 million at a $750 million valuation led by Tiger Global. The round itself came together over the course of a week, and, in-line with its playbook, Tiger will not be taking a board seat. At a time when many investors point to their operating skills as an advantage — making many founders worry instead about too many cooks in the kitchen — this hands-off strategy has helped Tiger win deals.
“Tiger,” said Squire President and Cofounder Dave Salvant, “wins deals because they are able to move fast so that founders can optimize — they get out of the way and let you just run the company.” It’s also a seller’s market, so to speak, as record venture capital funding fuels a hiring spree. And Squire is aware of that issue: The company is taking the unusual step of moving parts of its Eastern European team to Canada as it seeks to stay ahead of any attrition.
https://fortune.com/2021/07/28/tpg-and-brookfield-add-billions-to-the-climate-tech-coffers/amp/
