Carbon Equity announces a new private equity portfolio fund to drive capital towards climate technology
In the wake of COP26, European fintech Carbon Equity launches its Decarbonization Portfolio Fund, a diversified private market fund to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. “We bring together entrepreneurs and investors by lowering the access barriers to invest in climate technology and infrastructure critical to reaching the world’s climate goals,” explained Jacqueline van den Ende, CEO and co-founder of Carbon Equity.
The United Nations Conference of the Parties in Glasgow made it clear that capital is desperately needed to finance a rapid transition towards a net-zero future. According to the Net-Zero Financing Roadmaps, it requires $125 trillion in investments to transform our economy and avoid the worst physical impacts of climate change — of which $32 trillion is needed over the next decade. So if we want to put the planet on track to net zero, climate tech investments need to triple in 2021-2025 compared to 2016-2020.
“We see a lot of hype around ESG stocks on public markets. However, it is important to understand that not all investments are equal in terms of impact” said van den Ende. According to Bloomberg, ESG-related assets ballooned over the past two years to $17 trillion assets under management (roughly 50% of global assets under management).
“But where is the impact?”, asks van den Ende. “When you buy a stock of Tesla nothing changes at Tesla. While at startups or scale-ups, an individual investor’s capital directly funds the growth of these companies.” Carbon Equity believes that by giving individuals access to invest in private markets, and specifically in venture capital and growth equity, an investor can make far more impact than simply buying publicly listed stocks.
With the new Decarbonization Portfolio Fund, Carbon Equity opens the possibility for a whole new generation of investors to make a direct climate impact. The fund consists of five to seven top-tier, curated climate funds, which give investors exposure to 75+ companies that work on solving the greatest challenges posed by climate change. “We don’t need another rapid delivery company claiming to reduce emissions.” said van den Ende. “We need to fund companies who are working on making fossil-free steel or nitrogen-free fertiliser. Companies that can really move the needle on climate change.”
We see a ton of appetite for climate investing among investors but they have very limited access to high-impact and high-yield opportunities. Virtually all investors are excluded from private market investing due to regulatory constraints and entry tickets in the millions of dollars. Carbon Equity revolutionizes private investing by creating a platform where investors can pool funds together to gain access to some of the world’s best climate funds. “It is crucially important to lower these barriers,” van den Ende explained. “By allowing more people to invest, they become more invested. And once we are all invested, we can really make a difference.”
About Carbon Equity
Carbon Equity is an Amsterdam based fintech platform that democratizes access to impact private equity. Carbon Equity has a 100% focus on decarbonization. By enabling small ticket access to venture capital and growth equity funds, Carbon Equity unlocks a trillion-dollar capital pool from next-gen investors who currently have no or limited access to private market investments. Through its feeder funds and portfolio funds, Carbon Equity offers both direct climate impact and non-concessionary financial returns. The company is a European venture-backed platform, founded by a group of highly experienced investors and tech-entrepreneurs including alumni of AlpInvest (the Carlyle Group), HAL Investments, Philips Ventures, Smart.PR, Ecochain and McKinsey.
Media contact
Jacqueline van den ende
CEO & Cofounder
jacqueline@carbonequity.com
