German investment firm Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien Management has this week closed a new €100m cleantech fund and revealed investments in two wood pellet production companies are already in the pipeline.
The company said the evergreen fund would focus on renewable energy and cleantech firms across Germany and Europe, typically investing between €2m and €10m a time in innovative startups, although larger investments may be possible in conjunction with a co-investor.
It added that it was aiming to build a broad footprint within the sector and was looking to invest in between 15 to 25 companies across a number of different fields, including renewable energy generation and combined heat and power systems.
The company said the fund retains the ability to hold companies for significantly longer than classical private equity investments, and could potentially retain an interest in a firm for between 10 and 15 years, making it a particularly attractive backer for firms working on emerging technologies.
The company said the first wave of investments have been concluded or are in the pipeline, with two unnamed wood pellet production companies having already attracted interest from the fund. Further investments are being prepared in the area of biogas production and distribution and the production of photovoltaic thin film modules.
A version of this article first appeared at Deutsche unquote
Mareen Goebel is Editor of Deutsche unquote
Engineering giant pays premium of over 60 per cent to take controlling stake in German solar specialist 03 Jun 2008
Three leading suppliers report fresh funding, new acquisitions and new customer deals 28 May 2008
Desert state to tap solar potential, with strong investment 29 May 2008Details of its technology are thin on the ground, but that has not stopped Israel-based Pythagoras Solar securing $10m in venture backing 20 Feb 2008Private equity giant aims to use €261m Gamesa Solar acquisition as springboard for new European green energy group 29 Apr 2008
Intelligent Energy ramps up funding for R&D and partnerships 04 Jul 2008Focus on energy savings through fuel efficiency for homes and public and commercial buildings 04 Jul 2008
ActionAid accuses G8 of driving more people into poverty by pursing biofuels and cutting agri-aid 04 Jul 2008
More news
Businesses' new found focus on the environment may be welcome, but according to Conrad MacKerron, it is taking attention away from workers' rights issues – and the credibility of the entire green business movement could be at risk 03 Jul 2008
It may be a year old, but as Dell's Jonathan Perry explains, firms looking to get rid of their old IT kit still need to pay attention to the WEEE directive 02 Jul 2008
Telling customers about your environmental targets is all well and good but, as Paul Thomas argues, they are meaningless if you do not know how they are to be achieved 01 Jul 2008 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
