Vroom! French VC raises €220m to electrify transport sector – starts search for 12 new impact startups

Paris- and Singapore-based investment fund Shift4Good has raised €220m ($230m) to go towards what it calls "transformative startups" working across the transport sector.

Founded in 2022 and targeting mostly Series A and Series B rounds, the fund has already invested in startups working on fleet electrification, battery technologies and hydrogen.

The track record of the fund so far appears to have been a key part in the major investments its received from European institutional heavyweights including Renault, BNP Paribas, the European Investment Fund and the French state-backed BPIfrance.

"The scale that the fund has achieved will allow the team to efficiently deploy their strategy and have real impact," said Adeline Lemaire of BPIfrance in a statement. "We are delighted to have supported them from the beginning."

Looking for at least 12 new companies

Transport is a large part of the overall effort to cut C02 emissions, representing over 20 percent of the total. Shift4good – describing itself as committed to "accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation" – has a strategy cutting across the whole transport sector, with investments in startups focussed on maritime emissions and light-weight ‘micromobility’ vehicle solutions, as well as innovations in renewable energy and electric vehicle retrofitting.

The company is now looking to add at least 12 companies to its portfolio, which already consists of 13 companies.

A green shoot for the impact sector

Shift4good’s record fundraising, aside from being an endorsement of the fund itself, will be welcome news among the impact investor and founder community across Europe. The last few years have seen declines in funding, with investments down across the board (with some notable exceptions such as AI technologies). The European impact community has been watching for signs of when funding might pick up again.

Shift4good, for its part, made particular note of that decline, saying in its announcement that this historic fundraising is an endorsement of the impact model, balancing financial returns with meaningful environmental benefit.

"By connecting bold entrepreneurs with industry leaders, Shift4Good exemplifies the power of impact-driven investment to create meaningful solutions to the climate challenge,” said Luc Julia, Chief Scientific Officer of Renault Group.