London venture firm looks to scoop £83m for new climate fund
A new venture vehicle has launched in London today with the aim of scooping up €100m (£83m) to pump into early-stage climate tech firms.
The new fund, launched by climate tech venture firm Contrarian Ventures, has already won the backing of investors including Korys Investments, Molten Ventures, and the Grantham Foundation with the aim of topping €100m.
The fund marks Contrarian’s second targeting climate tech and will become one of the largest European seed funds if it tops its target.
Contrarian co-founder Rokas Peciulatis said today climate tech would be among the “most lucrative and important investment opportunities for the next 30 years” as the climate crisis hits, but founders still struggle for early stage funding.
“That’s why we’re launching today’s fund with the aim of closing this funding gap for future climate-tech founders and mobilising the resources needed for climate action, while continuing to build a firm that becomes the top choice for climate tech entrepreneurs,” he said.
Contrarian already has a pan-European and Asian portfolio of firms including UK-based Zoomo, which is developing an electric vehicle platform, and H2Pro in Israel, a sustainable hydrogen start-up.
Investor Mohadeseh Abdullahi, who has backed the firm with Molten Ventures, said Contrarian had a “unique perspective” on the climate market.
“It has built a strong reputation in this space and has developed a brilliant and deep-knitted network of technical experts and advisorsWe are delighted to welcome Contrarian to our Fund of Funds programme,” she said.