BeCapital, a European private equity firm focusing on expansion capital investments in cleantech companies, announced the final closing of its first fund at EUR148.325 million, well above the EUR100 million initial target.
Initiated by BeCitizen, Cobepa and La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild, BeCapital gathered interest from a unique network of investors, mostly European families with well diversified industrial and geographical backgrounds.
BeCapital’s approach is based on the principles of Positive EconomyTM, a framework developed by BeCitizen, which asserts that economic growth can only be sustained if it preserves and restores the environment and natural resources. Furthermore, companies addressing these challenges will benefit from significant growth prospects. While the usual approach to assess the environmental impact of technologies focuses on energy efficiency and climate impact, Positive EconomyTM takes a holistic perspective by also taking the resources, toxicity and biodiversity dimensions into account.
BeCapital’s investment strategy is to support the development of small and medium-sized companies with proven, scalable and proprietary technologies that comply with Positive EconomyTM criteria. It addresses all industries with an emphasis on the agriculture, construction, power & energy, environmental services, transportation and industrial applications sectors. From a geographical perspective, BeCapital looks mainly at Western Europe, but may also invest in non-European companies alongside recognised local investors, in order to foster international expansion.
Leveraging an experienced team of investment professionals working hand-in-hand with dedicated cleantech experts from BeCitizen, and the distinctive skills and networks of its initiators and key investors, BeCapital is ideally positioned to identify the most promising cleantech companies and to support these companies in their business development with capital, strategic guidance and access to its complementary networks.
BeCapital has already completed four investments: Northern Power Systems (a US-based next generation wind turbine company; www.northernpower.com), Helveta (a UK-based global market leader in timber tracking and tracing platforms; www.helveta.com), Goëmar (a French firm extracting molecules from algae to develop value added products with agricultural applications; www.goemar.com) and, more recently, Pavatex (the leading European supplier of high-quality wood fibre insulation systems, based in Switzerland; www.pavatex.com).
Philippe Bodson, Chairman of BeCapital, says: “BeCapital emerges as a new type of private equity investor within the cleantech industry, primarily dominated by venture capitalists and project developers. By leveraging the long-standing experience in capital development of Cobepa, the industrial expertise of BeCitizen and the complementary networks of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and other key investors, BeCapital is well-equipped to position itself as a major player in its field in Europe.”
Alexandre Schmitz, CEO of BeCapital, says: “We are very pleased with the trust that our investors have placed in us, which enables us to complete our fundraising above the targeted amount. This will further strengthen our ability to support cleantech SMEs with promising growth prospects. We are convinced that we can provide talented management teams with the required support to accelerate their company’s growth and, as a result, create value for both our business partners and our investors. At present, BeCapital still has over EUR100 million to invest during the next five years. ”
