New €50M climate fund focuses on adaptation

The Bergen based VC is targeting a total fund size of €51m to invest in early-stage companies focused on climate solutions and sustainability.

Beyond the EIF cornerstone investment, the fund has attracted capital from several high-profile Norwegian investors including family offices Farvatn Venture and Ferd Impact, pension fund KLP, and government investment vehicle Investinor.

"We are proud of the investment from EIF, and many other professional investors tend to follow their lead as they are well-known for being diligent in their assessments," said Hilde Støle Pettersen, managing partner at Momentum to the news platform Impact Investor.

Focus on climate adaptation

The fund will target seed-stage companies working on solutions across food and agriculture, energy transition and industrial decarbonisation, with around 20 percent of investments planned outside the Nordics.

"While our main focus is on climate change mitigation, we also see great potential within climate adaptation," said Støle Pettersen to Impact Investor. "Creating more resilient societies is a necessity and probably significantly under-invested as of today."

EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt added:

"To reach its climate goals, Europe needs to double its efforts.” added . “Clean technology solutions are expected to play a big role in cutting greenhouse emissions up to 2030, and these innovations need the appropriate capital. The EIF is here to support that.”