France-based financial services provider Edenred has joined Raise Ventures, the venture capital arm of non-profit organisation Raise Partners, to back its Seed for Good fund.
Eric Sauvage, Edenred’s executive vice-president of marketing and strategy, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting Raise and investing in the Seed for Good fund. This investment is in line with our open innovation strategy and above all our purpose.”
The deal forms part of an open innovation approach for Edenred that includes committing to VC firm Partech Ventures and its Africa-focused fund, as well as direct investments through Edenred Capital Partners and international intrapreneurship scheme Edenred F@ctory.
This fund has been claimed to be Europe’s first VC vehicle to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, and comes as others are targeting the space.
France-based private equity firm Eurazeo has reached a second close of its Smart City Fund II with limited partners including corporations Thailand-based cement group SCG and German electric utility SWK.
The fund has added €70m ($78m) since its $97m first close in February 2021 and it targeting energy, mobility, property, industry and logistics startups around the world. Its portfolio already includes Electra, Pyxo, Vay, Witco and Cubyn.
Other new investors include European Investment Fund, Korean Venture Investment Corporation and the Singapore-based Momentum Venture Capital alongside existing backers such as carmaker Stellantis, electric utilities EDF (which posted Loic Raynal to Eurazeo) and Mainova, mass transit operator RATP, oil and gas supplier Total, logistics firm Duisport and Thai real estate developer Sansiri.
Eurazeo’s Matthieu Bonamy told TechCrunch: “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 liveable and sustainable cities.”
Separately, the Wanderlust Group, the US-based provider of marina and boating management software platform Dockwa, has set up a vehicle called Wanderfund with $300,000 for social enterprise investments.
The company said the fund would back “environmental causes at the national and local level” starting with its local Boys & Girls Club, to help get children out of the house and into nature.
