Canada-based venture capital fund ArcTern Ventures has raised a second cleantech-focused fund with C$200m ($153m) from backers including energy producers Equinor and Suncor Energy.
Financial services provider Toronto-Dominion Bank is also among the limited partners, as are Canadian government-owned Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, pension fund Omers and the state-owned Business Development Bank of Canada.
Other investors include enterprise promotion board Investissement Québec, Norwegian state-owned fund Nysnø, an unnamed Canada-based pension fund, and family offices from North America and Europe.
The fund’s initial $46m close took place in 2018 and was anchored by Equinor Energy Ventures – the firm’s corporate venturing arm – and Omers. ArcTern subsequently increased the fund size to $124m in September 2019.
Founded in 2012, ArcTern Ventures backs early-stage cleantech companies with the aim of capturing returns as economies shift toward low-carbon technologies.
Its target segments include energy storage, mobility, advanced manufacturing, resource efficiency, agtech and foodtech.
Full details of ArcTern’s first fund could not be confirmed, although its investors likely included financial services firm Royal Bank of Canada.
ArcTern’s current portfolio includes sustainable pesticides developer Terramera, connected home systems developer MMB Networks and plastic waste upcycling business GreenMantra Technologies.