Caterpillar Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of construction equipment producer Caterpillar, provided an undisclosed amount on Tuesday for the latest fund to be raised by Switzerland-based venture capital firm Emerald Technology Ventures.
Founded in 2000, Emerald has raised four VC funds and made 57 investments, securing backing from corporate limited partners including Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Michelin, ABB, Clariant, Ecolab, Evonik, JSR, Mahle, Sibelco, SK Group, Sulzer and Suncor Energy.
The fund, Emerald Industrial Innovation Fund (EIIF), will invest as a traditional VC fund, but will be structured as an evergreen fund. Emerald is currently conducting due diligence on prospective additional LPs.
EIIF will invest in parallel with another Emerald fund, Emerald Cleantech Fund III, and will back companies developing energy, water, advanced materials and industrial IT technology.
Gina Domanig, managing partner of Emerald, said: “Continuous investor demand, for capital deployment and tailored partnerships, drove us to establish a new fund with a novel structure.
“We are extremely happy to welcome Caterpillar as a new investor, and look forward to supporting its strategic activities via our open innovation platform. Moreover, our portfolio companies benefit from an ever-increasing number of corporate relationships, providing access to global partners and markets.”
Caterpillar Ventures director Michael Young added: “Investing in emerging technologies that can further enhance Caterpillar’s product and service development and our customers’ experience is one of Caterpillar’s innovation strategies.
“Emerald’s established presence in European markets and its corporate investor services will give Caterpillar even greater visibility to emerging technologies. We look forward to a strong collaboration.”