Eurazeo’s Venture practice has been active in the Smart City space since 2016. At the crossroads of digital technologies and the transition towards more sustainable cities, Eurazeo Venture Smart City Fund’s focus is to invest in high-growth, innovative companies fostering the transition towards more liveable and sustainable cities. The fund will invest in the most critical sectors to transition towards a low-carbon economy worldwide: Energy, Mobility, Logistics, Buildings and Industrial Tech.
After the success of its initial closing at €80 million in 2021, this 2nd closing brings together top-tier institutional and corporate investors including European Investment Fund (EIF),the Korean Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC), Momentum Venture Capital (SMRT), SCG (Thailand) and SWK the German electric utility. These new partners join an already strong group in Europe and Asia which includes French, German, and Asian groups such as carmaker Stellantis, electric utilities EDF and Mainova, mass transit operator RATP, energy major Total, logistics champion Duisport and Thai real estate developer Sansiri as well as institutional investors PRO BTP and family offices.
The success of this new round of fundraising reflects the strong results of prior vintage Smart City I which has already seen 5 companies complete exits through public listings or acquisitions in 2021: Volta Charging (US, on NYSE), Bird (US, on NYSE), Forsee Power (FR, on Euronext), Glovo (SP, acquisition by Delivery Hero), and Grab (SG, on NYSE). Two additional companies from Fund I are registered to IPO in the coming 12 months reflecting the dynamism of sectors addressed by the fund such as electric mobility, accelerated by the recent pandemic.
The team has started to invest Fund II in pioneering digital companies which are supporting the rapid transformation of cities and more sustainable consumer behaviours: rapid urban EV charging (Electra, France), e-bike sharing on subscription (DANCE, Germany), reusable packaging (Pyxo, France), new mobility service offering door-to-door carsharing through a fleet of teledriven vehicles (Vay, Germany), app-based property management services (Witco, France) and alternative end-to-end supply chain services for e-merchants (Cubyn, France).
Matthieu Bonamy, Partner at Eurazeo shares: “Our continued momentum with multiple IPOs this year, and the clear need - substantiated yet again by COP26 - to finance companies which can truly unlock the technology bottlenecks of the climate crisis, have accelerated our speed of fundraising. Cities play a huge role in climate change as they consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce over 60% of the world’s greenhouse gases. We think ambitious entrepreneurs and digital technologies can be part of the solution to transition towards more livable and sustainable cities.. We are grateful for the trust given by the European Investment Fund (EIF) and several new corporate partners in Europe and Asia.”
EIF Chief Executive Alain Godard said: “Smart Cities significantly contribute to reducing pollution, waste, energy and water consumption, whilst inducing positive change in urban and consumer behaviours. We are pleased that EIF can support the Eurazeo Smart City Fund II which prioritises new technologies, making cities more sustainable and liveable. Via the Pan-European Guarantee Fund, we cill continue to finance innovative technology companies, run by outstanding entrepreneurs and help them to create world class leaders in high growth markets.”
