Dive Brief:
- Sustainable investments-focused Breakthrough Energy Ventures has raised over $839 million for its third flagship fund, according to a securities filing submitted last week. The financing positions it to be the largest climate fund raised in 2024 so far, according to a PitchBook estimate.
- The Bill Gates-backed climate venture capital firm confirmed to ESG Dive via email it is working on a new fund titled BEV III, whose investment focus will be similar to that of its predecessors BEV I and BEV II. A firm spokesperson said the new fund will focus on five key investment areas in climate innovation: electricity, transportation, manufacturing, buildings, and food and agriculture.
- Though the spokesperson said the “timing and size of the fund are not yet disclosed,” Gates previously told the Financial Times the firm was aiming for $1 billion for its third fund.
Dive Insight:
Breakthrough Energy Ventures disclosed it had scored $839,368,421 in an amended Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities or Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31. The form requires companies to detail essential information or facts about themselves for investors, such as specifics about fundraising.
The firm launched BEV III in July 2023, following the closure of its second fund BEV II which secured $1.25 billion in 2021. Its inaugural fund BEV I closed at $1 billion in 2016.
“We have a little more than $1 billion in funds one and two, and fund three will be about the same size,” Gates said in an October 2023 interview with the Financial Times.
The Kirkland, Washington-based firm aims to “finance, launch and scale companies that will eliminate greenhouse gas emissions throughout the global economy,” according to its website. Breakthrough said it has over $3.5 billion in committed capital in investments or planned investments in companies that can create emissions-reduction technologies and help overcome “critical gaps” in climate tech.
The new funding builds on the firm’s North Star of supporting companies that can have a substantial impact on climate change at scale. Last year, the firm’s subsidiary Breakthrough Energy Catalyst committed $75 million in an equity investment to back Project Runner, a sustainable fuel initiative led by e-fuels company Infinium. Prior to that, Graphyte — a carbon removal startup backed by Breakthrough — signed a purchase agreement with American Airlines to help it reduce its carbon footprint and work toward its 2050 net-zero goal.
Alongside Gates, the firm is also backed by Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Richard Branson and Mukesh Ambani, among others.