European Investment Fund Supports Climate Innovation with €25 Million Investment in Contrarian Ventures

European Investment Fund Supports Climate Innovation with €25 Million Investment in Contrarian Ventures

(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Fund (EIF) has invested €25 million in Contrarian Ventures, a pan-European climate-tech impact venture capital fund, as part of its mission to support innovative and high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe. The funding will help to close the seed funding gap for founders mobilizing resources for climate action. Contrarian Ventures focuses on supporting pioneers building technologies that will support sustainable energy, mobility, buildings, and industrial solutions. Since its founding in 2017, the fund has backed several promising European tech firms at the seed stage, and hosts the annual Energy Tech Summit. The EIF’s investment reflects its commitment to supporting climate and environment-related projects in Europe, and its ambition to back managers based across all EU member states.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 23-Feb-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group and established to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), announces that it  has invested €25 million in Contrarian Ventures, a pan-European climate-tech impact venture capital fund. The investment is backed by the InvestEU program and joins more than 65 other investors, including PFR, Korys, Molten, Grantham Foundation, and the founders of Vinted and Wix.com.

Contrarian Ventures, which was founded in 2017 by Rokas Peciulaitis and led by him and Tomas Kemtys, is among the few specialized investors focused specifically on seed-stage investments in climate tech. The fund is committed to supporting pioneers who are building technologies that will support the infrastructure of tomorrow in sustainable energy, mobility, buildings, and industrial solutions.

Since its first fund of only €12.5 million, Contrarian has backed several promising European tech firms at the seed stage, including Zoomo, H2Pro, BeZero Carbon, and Satellite Vu, as well as a host of energy startups across hydrogen, solar, and other renewable verticals. The fund also hosts the annual Energy Tech Summit, one of Europe’s largest dedicated climate-tech conferences that brings together over 1,400 venture capital funds and startup founders.

Our investment in Contrarian Ventures reflects our commitment to supporting climate and environment-related projects in Europe. We have set a goal to ensure that at least 16% of our activity is focused on these projects in 2022, with the aim of increasing this to 25% by 2024. It also reflects our ambition to back managers based across all EU member states, including in underserved moderate emerging innovator countries.

EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt said: “Investing in clean tech is a key area of EU policy focus and Contrarian Ventures is a highly promising player in this burgeoning space and one we are proud to back. Their first fund showcased their ability to build a portfolio of exciting energy, transport and infrastructure startups and is a marker of the team’s resourcefulness and resilience. With the support of the European Commission, we look forward to helping Contrarian Ventures back the next generation of high-impact clean-tech startups across Europe.”

Founder and managing partner of Contrarian Ventures Rokas Peciulaitis added: “We’re thrilled to have the European Investment Fund onboard as an anchor limited partner in Contrarian’s second fund, bringing us closer in our mission to become the go-to fund for climate entrepreneurs at seed stage. Their support will be critical as we look to back the ambitious founders building the infrastructure of tomorrow and helping Europe to decarbonise. The opportunity for climate tech in Europe is immense, and the sector remains heavily underfunded — especially at seed stage. Climate tech is going to be one of the most lucrative and important investment opportunities for the next 30 years, and the EIF’s support will help us take advantage of this seismic shift in how businesses operate.”

Background information:

Contrarian Ventures is a pan-European climate-tech venture capital fund devoted to closing the funding gap facing future climate-tech founders. Contrarian is one of only a small handful to focus specifically on seed-stage investments and is dedicated to backing pioneers building technologies that will support the infrastructure of tomorrow. Benefiting from unparalleled levels of engagement with the climate-tech community, Contrarian has built a legacy of helping founders scale technologies that are not only world-beating but also world-saving. With a team all under the age of 35, Contrarian is the venture capital fund for the climate generation. It takes a collaborative, hands-on, founders-first approach, focused on backing the boldest and most ambitious climate entrepreneurs across Europe and Israel. It’s an approach that the fund believes will help the world meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement, and the only viable one if we are to avert climate disaster by 2050.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term financing by mobilising significant public and private funds to support a sustainable recovery. It helps generate additional investments in line with key European priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and support for SMEs. The InvestEU programme brings together all EU financial tools to support investment by making project financing simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme has three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budgetary guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Press contacts:

EIF:

Kristiina Randmaa, k.randmaa@ext.eib.org, tel.: +352 4379 72894
Website: www.eib.org/press — Press Office: +352 4379 21000 — press@eib.org

Contrarian Ventures:

Harry Ashcroft, Burlington PR for Contrarian Ventures | harry@burlington.cc
+(44) 07429108277

SOURCE: European Investment Fund