Wellington Management has announced the final close of its Climate Innovation fund (CIF), which invests in private companies that mitigate and/or adapt to climate change.
CIF closed with $385m (£309m, €361m) in commitments and invested in late-venture or early-stage growth companies developing tech-enabled solutions. This included software-enabled hardware, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), data and analytics in areas including energy transition, sustainable buildings and cities, transportation and mobility, industrial automation, enterprise digitisation, sustainable consumer, and food and agriculture innovation.
The fund is managed by Greg Wasserman and the CIF investment team, who are part of Wellington’s expanding $8.5bn (£7.9bn) private investing platform. The team have experience investing in climate solutions and the firm also collaborates with Woodwell Climate Research Centre, the leading independent climate change research institute.
Further, the fund’s broadly diversified client base includes sovereign wealth funds, pensions, insurance companies, banks, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
This announcement follows Wellington’s three successful final venture fund closes in the past year, Wellington Venture Investments I, Wellington Hadley Harbor IV and Wellington Biomedical Innovation II.
Greg Wasserman, head of private climate investing at Wellington Management, said: “Climate change is an existential threat to society and touches every sector of the global economy, making it one of the largest and most necessary investment opportunities we will see in our lifetimes.
“For many years, climate solutions required trade-offs, but recent improvements and cost declines in technology around software, hardware, analytics, and connectivity mean today’s solutions are delivering meaningful cost savings and superior user experiences for businesses and consumers. We are excited to bring Wellington’s resources, network, and insights to support innovative entrepreneurs leading the transition to a more efficient and climate-resilient economy.”
