By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
A new venture fund has come on the scene and it is already defying the odds. Planeteer Capital, a U.S.-based investment firm co-founded by Sophie Purdom, has successfully secured $54 million for its climate-tech focused fund. This achievement comes after a protracted two-year fundraising period, with Planeteer closing the fund below its initial $75 million target and $100 million hard cap, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Despite falling short of its original aspirations, Planeteer has amassed sufficient capital to execute its investment strategy effectively.
Purdom, quoted by the WSJ, conveyed optimism about the current environment, saying: “It’s an amazing time to be deploying. We are getting fair and more appropriate pricing.”
The fund is set to back venture-scalable businesses within the climate-tech sector, concentrating its efforts on pre-seed and seed fundraising rounds. A particular emphasis will be placed on asset-light startups specializing in food and land use. To date, Planeteer has already made investments in wastewater analytics company Barnwell Bio, Ezra Climate, and Gridastra.
Planeteer’s new fund enters a challenging landscape, as it is one of nearly two-dozen U.S.-based climate strategies launched over the past year. This volume marks a 15-year low for new fund introductions within the industry, according to recent industry statistics, underscoring the difficult fundraising conditions that Planeteer has navigated.
Planeteer Capital’s Purdom described the fundraising period as particularly unusual, marked by a “capital stack in constant flux.” She highlighted the volatility of the venture and climate investment landscape, noting that Planeteer secured its initial close amidst the SVB collapse and navigated a full cycle of both “overenthusiasm and disinterest” in the sector. Purdom characterized the process of simultaneously building the firm and raising the fund as an “exercise in faith and footwork.”
She emphasized that Planeteer’s capacity to invest with conviction stems directly from its LPs’ trust in the shared opportunity presented by the global shift towards climate solutions. Purdom underscored that these LPs are much more than mere financial backers; they are strategic corporate partners, investment collaborators, foundations and research institutions whose missions are deeply aligned with the outcomes Planeteer’s portfolio companies aim to achieve.
Purdom announced the first close of the climate-tech fund a year ago, sharing in a LinkedIn post at the time, “We invest globally in founders who are pulling the future forward at the interstitial spaces between recognized sectors like carbon management, industrial decarbonization, built environment, climate intelligence and insurance, and sustainable agriculture.”
Driving Planeteer’s initiatives is significant backing from a key set of limited partners. Mike Schroepfer, a tech pioneer who formerly served as the technology chief of Meta Platforms, stands as one of the fund’s anchor supporters, recognized for his recent deep engagement with climate tech investments. Additional financial commitments stem from an Ivy League university endowment, alongside a collection of corporate and foundation capital. A further notable limited partner is Pivotal Ventures, the venture investment and philanthropic entity founded by Melinda French Gates, per the WSJ report.
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