US-based venture capital firm Congruent Ventures has raised $175m for an early-stage climate technology fund, from limited partners including software producer Microsoft, Bloomberg has reported.
The firm had targeted $125m for the close but surpassed that figure with commitments from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and VC firm Prelude Ventures.
Founded in 2017, Congruent typically invests in technology companies that are addressing sustainability issues across sectors such as energy transition, mobility, agriculture and sustainable production.
Congruent has tapped the fund to complete seven investments, in portfolio companies including Parallel Systems, the developer of an autonomous, electric freight transportation system.
The firm’s co-founders are Joshua Posamentier, a former principal at Prelude Ventures, and Abe Yokell, who was a partner at VC firm RockPort Capital. It also manages a separate investment vehicle that backs technology companies addressing climate change.
Yokell told Bloomberg: “If you brought up the word clean-tech to any institutional investor allocating to venture 10 years ago, they would do their best to avoid the meeting. But now, there is a fundamental belief there will be significant financial returns investing broadly in climate tech over time.”
In 2018, University of California and Prelude Ventures were revealed to be limited partners in a $92m sustainability-focused fund managed by Congruent, but it is unclear whether that fund relates to the $175m vehicle.