Swiss asset management firm Edelweiss Capital Group has launched a $150 million private equity fund to invest in the climate theme in Asia.
The new fund will begin making investments in the first half of 2024, with a focus on agritech, aquatech, food tech, and other verticals associated with sustainability and environmental impact, the firm said in a statement.
It added that it had a ready pipeline of deal flow, and will have an initial focus on key markets such as India, Indonesia and Thailand.
While the fund has not finalised its mandate, it will invest directly in minority equity stakes of at least 20-30 companies across Asia, meaning that the average ticket size will be between $5 million and $7.5 million.
Edelweiss Capital Group was founded in 1974 as a Swiss advisory firm, and has now become full-service wealth management platform, currently managing more than $5 billion in assets for corporate, high net worth individual and ultra-high net worth individual clients.
“Asia is very much leading the way in agritech, aquatech and food tech,” said Benoit Archembeau, managing director and head of ESG at Edelweiss. “We have researched the landscape in Asia, and we believe that the quality of innovation taking place in the region is an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
While investment decisions will be based on financial considerations, Archembeau also stressed that the new fund will also take into account environmental impact, adding that his firm had an in-house environmental impact assessment team.
“It is important that the fund should have a double bottom line. We will assess our own performance based on both financial performance and impact,” he said.
Impact-focused investment firms with operations in Asia include Aera VC, SUSI Partners, The Radical Fund, and LeapFrog Investments, among others.
Meanwhile, other asset managers have also joined the climate investment fray, such as Actis, Sorin Investments, and ADM Capital.