Austria-headquartered venture capital firm Speedinvest launched an €80m ($90.8m) sustainability-focused fund today with backing from warehouse technology producer Knapp, foam and plastics manufacturer Greiner and pulp and packaging paper producer Heinzel Group.
Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates is among the cornerstone investors in the Climate & Industry Opportunity fund, all of whom will get access to Speedinvest’s corporate network.
The vehicle is tasked with supplying follow-on funding to Speedinvest portfolio companies with a sustainable bent, in addition to initial investments in developers of digitisation and decarbonisation technology.
The first two deals in which the fund has invested are a $45.5m series B round closed by recycled packaging marketplace Packhelp earlier this month, and a series D round for electric scooter rental service Tier Mobility that stood at $200m as of October this year.
Speedinvest general partner Marie-Helene Ametsreiter said: “According to our data, Europe’s industrial tech ecosystem has experienced 81% annualised growth since 2014, more than doubling over the past year to a value of €74bn overall.
“It is unsurprisingly one of the fastest-growing categories in European venture capital and we are proud to back a number of outstanding businesses in the sector. Industrial and climate tech will provide key growth opportunities in the coming years, while also generating huge benefits for the planet.”
