Eurazeo has held a second close for its Smart City II fund on €150m, bringing in new institutional and corporate partners in Europe and Asia.
The fund was first closed on €80m last year. Since then the European Investment Fund, the Korean Venture Investment Corporation, Momentum Venture Capital, SCG and German electric utility SWK have joined the fundraise for the second close.
Existing investors in the fund include Setllantis, electric utilities EDGF and Mainova, mass transit operator RATP and institutional investors PRO BTP.
The vehicle has already been tapped for six investments including EV charging company Electra, e-bike sharing subscription DANCE, reusable packaging Pyxo, carsharing app Vay, app-based property management services Witco and alternative supply chain services Cubyn.
Matthieu Bonamy, partner at Eurazeo, said, “Our continued momentum with multiple IPOs this year, and the clear need – substantiated yet again by COP26 – to finance companies which can truly unlock the technology bottlenecks of the climate crisis, have accelerated our speed of fundraising.
“Cities play a huge role in climate change as they consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce over 60% of the world’s greenhouse gases. We think ambitious entrepreneurs and digital technologies can be part of the solution to transition towards more livable and sustainable cities. We are grateful for the trust given by the European Investment Fund (EIF) and several new corporate partners in Europe and Asia.”
The firm’s venture practice has been investing in the smart city space since 2016 seeing the opportunities in digital technologies and the transition towards more sustainable cities.
Fund II will invest in high-growth and innovative companies in energy, mobility, logistics, buildings and industrial tech sectors which the firm said are fostering the transition towards more liveable and sustainable cities and low-carbon economies, the firm said.
Smart City Fund I has made five exits through public listings or acquisitions last year and two others are registered for an IPO in the coming year.
Smart City Fund II was Eurazeo’s third fund close in the past six month.
The firm raised two €1bn-plus fund in a week in July, closing its Idinvest Private Debt V on €1.5bn and €1.6bn for its growth strategy targeting equity investments in European tech companies.
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