Global investment firm Eurazeo has announced that it has hit the final close of Smart City Fund II at 400 million euros (about $450 million), exceeding its 200-million euros initial target.
The latest fund saw a much higher proportion of Asian investors than in the prior vehicle, which shows Eurazeo continues to advance in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, according to the firm’s Singapore-based operating partner Julien Mialaret.
Smart City Fund II focuses on new technologies and digital innovation for sustainable cities, targeting the key sectors of the low-carbon economy, such as renewable energy, advanced mobility, logistics, manufacturing, and the built environment.
DealStreetAsia earlier reported that the second fund will dedicate about 60% of its deployment in Europe and the balance in Asia, focusing on China and Southeast Asia.
In Southeast Asia, the fund targets Series A to Series B companies, with ticket sizes ranging from $2-5 million, with room for follow-on funding.
Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Luxembourg, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, and Sao Paulo.
Investors from Asia who committed to the fund include Thailand’s Banpu, Singapore’s Momentum Venture Capital (SMRT), SP Group, Jardine Pacific, IMC PanAsia, Sansiri, and SCG.
Smart City Fund II is already active with first-impact investments in climate tech and sustainability. These include 1Komma5°, a carbon-neutral residential solutions and power services provider in Europe; Electra, a European fast-charging network electric vehicles; Swapp, and AI-powered construction documents; and Urban Chain, a peer-to-peer renewable energy exchange platform in the UK.
Eurazeo is one of Europe’s major private equity (PE) firms, overseeing some 35 billion euros in assets, including nearly 24.7 billion euros from third parties, invested in around 600 companies.
In 2020, Eurazeo agreed to fully acquire Idinvest Partners, the original manager of Smart City Fund, by busying the remaining 20% of ordinary shares it did not own at that time. Idinvest Partners’ first Southeast Asian investment was in Grab in March 2019.