World Fund hits €300m close on climate tech fund

Climate tech venture capital firm World Fund has closed its debut vehicle on €300 million.

The fund received backing from the European Investment Fund, KfW Capital, BPI France, PwC Germany, Wiltshire Pension Fund and the UK Environment Agency Pension Fund, among others.

World Fund invests in scalable businesses with significant emissions savings potential in energy, food and agriculture, manufacturing, buildings and mobility. The firm intends to back 25 to 30 European start-ups and has already invested in 15 businesses.

Portfolio companies include fermentation start-up Farmless, sustainable alternative-protein developer Enough, food supply chain enhancement business Freshflow and ingredients discover platform Planet A Foods.

World Fund managing partner Danijel Višević commented: “We are proud that we have been able to attract numerous institutional investors who haven’t ever invested in VC or a first-time fund before, but did now with us.”

The firm said it was the first time that UK Environment Agency Pension Fund, Wiltshire Pension Fund and Erste Plavi had invested in a first-time VC fund, while BPI France’s commitment represented the first time it backed a debut fund outside of France, according to World Fund.

“We are on a mission to ensure that the best of European climate techs do not fail due to the dearth of funding beyond the earliest stages – that infamous ‘Series B valley of death’ that has plagued European companies for too long,” added Višević.