Aster Capital, the France-based venture capital firm sponsored by chemicals producer Solvay and power and automation equipment makers Alstom and Schneider Electric, closed €240m ($282m) in financing today.
Aster was formed in 2010 with a €40m investment from Schneider and another €30m from Alstom, before Solvay subsidiary Rhodia added €15m the following year. European Investment Fund supplied €20m in capital in 2012.
Aster’s backers this time include plastics manufacturer Plastic Omnium. The firm now has a total of almost $590m under management, along with offices the US and Israel, and partner funds in China and Africa.
The new funds will fuel investments in Europe and US-based companies sized from about $300,000 at seed stage to roughly $18m in growth-stage rounds.
The firm is particularly looking at developers of energy and mobility technology that will support the digital transformation and industries of the future. It will also provide non-monetary assistance to startups through an acceleration platform called Business Hub.
Aster partner Fabio Lancellotti said: “The transformations underway in the energy and mobility value chains are creating opportunity for budding companies, as well as for industrials. We want to energise the sector by combining our strengths through our ‘Business Hub’ approach.”
– This article was amended on November 17, 2017 to reflect Plastic Omnium’s involvement.