TPG raised $7.3 billion for its TPG Rise Climate fund, a dedicated climate investment strategy within the firm’s global impact investing platform, TPG Rise, which has seen plenty of institutional investor traction.
Investors include the Washington State Investment Board, which set aside up to $400 million, for the new fund last year. Overall TPG’s climate fund reached its hard cap with capital collected from large institutional investor and global corporations. Representatives from 28 of the world’s leading corporations will convene at the first TPG Rise Climate Coalition meeting next month to share practical insights and progress on decarbonization strategies. The objective is to scale climate technologies across industries through investment, innovation, and action.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is executive chairman of TPG Rise Climate. “Our limited partners – both institutional investors and large multinational corporations — have joined us with a common purpose: to rapidly finance and scale climate solutions that meaningfully reduce or avert greenhouse gas emissions,” he said in a statement. “It is a privilege to be working with our investors and climate innovators around the world to build a new net-zero economy.”
The investment strategy launched last year and has already deployed capital though growth-stage investments in climate solutions. Investments include backing solar tracking company Nextracker, which is the result of the merger of Bluesource and Element Markets to create the largest marketer and originator of carbon and environmental credits in North America. Another partnership is with Tata Motors, which is focused on the electrification of passenger mobility in India.
TPG Rise Climate is part of the $14 billion TPG Rise global impact investing platform, which leverages the capabilities of Y Analytics, TPG’s public benefit LLC dedicated to understanding, valuing, and managing the social and environmental impact of its investments. By using research and evidence to establish a company’s potential carbon yield, the TPG Rise Climate team is able to estimate the tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions avoided per dollar it invests.
“We continue to be inspired by the climate innovation we are seeing across sectors and around the world,” said Jim Coulter, TPG founding partner and managing partner of TPG Rise Climate. “The climate crisis is accelerating and we are proud to be confronting it with substantial capital and action. As technology opens new markets and methods in everything from batteries to biogas and solar to sequestration, we are energized by the decarbonization opportunities ahead.”
TPG CEO Jon Winkelried added in a statement that the strategy demonstrates the resonance of the Rise model and that “meaningful positive impact can be achieved alongside strong returns.”
“The investments we make and the insights we gain through TPG Rise and TPG Rise Climate give us the opportunity to drive social and environmental impact at scale and enhance our ESG performance both at the firm level and within our portfolio,” he added.
Kirkland & Ellis served as fund counsel for TPG in relation to the fundraise.