Sustainable Technologies Fund is a private equity growth fund. We seek investment opportunities in companies with sustainable technologies, also referred to as Clean Technologies or “Cleantech”.
We believe that the transformation from un-sustainable to sustainable energy systems, material choices, and chemicals offers tremendous investment opportunities in many market sectors. This transformation is carried forward by several strong macro drivers such as high and volatile energy prices, resource security and scarcity, and governmental efforts to fight global climate change.
We invest primarily in Nordic cleantech companies seeking international networks for global expansion, technological development expertise and operational skill sets.
Our preferred investment focus is on series A, B and C rounds. We are also open to investing in more established businesses that would like to partner with us to accelerate their growth.
Our typical initial investment size is €1 to €3 million. We seek to invest €4 to €6 million per company over the life of an investment. We prefer to take minority positions and an active board seat, supporting the management team with the resources and skills that are required to succeed.
Through proactive searches for companies and a visible profile in relevant networks, we constantly look for and evaluate investible opportunities. We like to spend the time to gain an understanding of what a company has to offer from a ‘cleantech’ perspective - what are the benefits to society and nature - as well as the traditional potential economic benefits.
We then engage in a thorough due diligence process that involves a rigorous sustainability, market, financial, and legal analysis prior to the ultimate investment decision.
The term “Sustainable Technology” or “Cleantech” describes technologies that enable more valuable uses of natural resources and greatly reduce ecological impact among other technological benefits. At STF we consider the following three characteristics to define a Sustainable Technology:
The technology enables significant savings in terms of amounts of materials and energy used.
The technology enables a shift from:
The technology prevents emissions, contamination, and/or negative environmental impact.
Sustainable Technologies Fund is a signatory of the United Nations Principle for Responsible Investment (PRI) which stand for environmentally and socially sound investments.
We are looking for outstanding business models in the renewable energy and environmental technology sectors such as:
- Renewable energy generation
- Bio fuels
- Energy efficiency
- Energy storage
- Energy transmission
- Sustainable materials and chemicals
- Recycling and waste management
- Water, soil and air purification
We believe that the Nordic region is one of the most promising areas to invest in Cleantech, which is in line with the cultures' shared commitments to life quality, entrepreneurship, and environmental soundness. We find that due to the unique blend of political, economic and cultural drivers, the Nordic region has become a hotbed of active green businesses that promise to keep on giving due to their deep technical knowledge.
The countries in the Nordic Region present a broad spectrum of various sized companies with cutting-edge Sustainable Technologies. According to the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (“EPI”) conducted by The World Economic Forum together with Yale University and Columbia University, the countries in the Nordic Region rank high compared to other countries.
Sustainable Technologies Fund is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs building great companies. We, as a team, combine more than 60 years of venture capital, management consulting, and sustainability experience. However, for us to succeed in helping entrepreneurial teams, we know from experience that the team, the technology, and the market must have the following characteristics:
- Relevant experience in industry sectors and in building growth companies
- The energy and drive that are needed to achieve extraordinary growth
- The network and personality needed to attract and build a successful organization
- The ability to function as “a team”, i.e. personalities and skill sets that compliment each other
- Ability to formulate (on a napkin) and communicate (in an elevator) the company’s mission
- Proven and scalable
- Has outstanding price/performance compared to alternatives
- Offers opportunities to continuously improve price/performance over time
- Has a clear likelihood to be the winning standard
- Makes sense from a sustainability perspective
- The market opportunity should be global, large and rapidly growing
- Customers should be easy to identify and a chosen business model should be attractive
- Customers should be willing to try new technologies if outstanding price/performance are offered
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