Investment: Clean Growth Fund raises £81.5M
Clean Growth Fund, a UK climate tech investor, has announced the second close of Fund II, bringing total commitments to £81.5 million as it works towards a £150 million target. The second close was anchored by a £22.5 million commitment from Border to Coast Pensions Partnership‘s UK Opportunities Fund.
Other investors in Fund II include Strathclyde Pension Fund, which made a further £10 million commitment taking its total commitment to Fund II to £30 million, alongside Islington Pension Fund and East Riding Pension Fund.
Founded and led by Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Clean Growth Fund targets seed to Series A companies developing technologies with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and support the UK’s transition to a lower-carbon economy. Fund II is planning to invest in around 25 companies.
Fund II has so far invested in four startups based in Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and London, working across battery technology, food, heavy industry and buildings. Clean Growth Fund follows a place-based investment strategy, backing companies in established technology centres such as Oxford, Cambridge and London, as well as emerging innovation hubs across the UK.
The latest commitments take Fund II beyond the halfway point towards its £150 million target and will be deployed to continue backing UK climate technology companies across the sectors noted.
“The latest commitments take Fund II beyond the halfway point towards its target and reflect growing institutional interest in the UK’s climate technology sector,” said Beverley Gower-Jones OBE. “We exist to connect British institutional capital with British innovation — the returns and the impact go hand-in-hand.”
“Clean Growth Fund II strongly matches these objectives, providing exposure to innovative UK businesses operating in a growing sector, managed by an experienced team with a proven track record. We believe it offers an attractive opportunity to deliver long-term value for our Partner Funds while supporting UK innovation,” said Keith Angood, portfolio manager at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership.
