SEACEF II secures US$127 million in commitments to accelerate low-carbon transition in Southeast Asia
Singapore-based fund manager Clime Capital has announced the first close of its South East Asia Clean Energy Fund II (SEACEF II), with US$127 million in commitments.
SEACEF ll is the first-ever blended finance fund combining philanthropy, public, and private sector capital to accelerate the low-carbon transition by investing in innovative businesses in Southeast Asia.
It draws on the flexible risk capital and investment discipline that underlies Clime Capital’s successful inaugural fund, SEACEF I. Launched in 2020, SEACEF I has made 12 investments, raising more than 27 times the capital provided by the fund – considerably more than that achieved by governments and private-sector funds.
Like SEACEF I, SEACEF II will invest in promising renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, electric mobility, and electrical grid businesses at their early-stage development phases. It will also offer additional capital to accelerate the scale-up of its portfolio companies.
The fund’s first closing is backed by junior first-loss equity investors, primarily philanthropic and government-supported organizations, including Allied Climate Partners, Australian Development Investments (an Australian government initiative), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and Impact Assets.
Senior equity investors include British International Investment, Cisco Foundation, FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), International Finance Corporation, Norway’s Norfund, REI Co-op, and Sweden’s Swedfund International.
According to Clime Climate, the Paris agreement’s target to limit long-term global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius is increasingly unlikely to be met without significantly more action towards climate change mitigation.
“As time passes without sufficient progress in developing the critical resources to reduce carbon emissions, the planet needs more businesses focused on accelerating the low-carbon transition to thrive,” says Clime Capital co-founder and chief executive officer Mason Wallick.
Adds Joshua Kramer, the firm’s co-founder and chief investment officer: “By crowding in capital to de-risk early-stage businesses and development projects, we have demonstrated that small amounts can be leveraged to produce significant impacts. Now is the time to double down on this approach to maximize the results each investment dollar can achieve. We believe our model is the way to achieve this.”
Dechert acted as lead counsel to Clime Capital, advising on structuring, legal, tax and regulatory aspects of the formation and fundraising of SEACEF II.
Originally published in The Asset