General Atlantic closed its inaugural BeyondNetZero fund with executives reporting roughly $3.5 billion in capital at the ready to invest in climate solutions.
The inaugural BeyondNetZero fund is structured as a companion fund to General Atlantic’s core global growth equity program. The $73 billion private equity firm’s core program will generally contribute 25% of capital to each climate investment that meets this mandate.
“We believe strongly in the power of technology to accelerate the transition to net zero,” said Bill Ford, General Atlantic’s chairman and CEO. “We look forward to supporting passionate entrepreneurs who are delivering innovative climate solutions while creating durable growth businesses.”
The BeyondNetZero team has already deployed $826 million in five companies with the technological, engineering and operational capabilities to go beyond net zero by helping their customers — whether they’re individuals, small businesses or multi-national corporations — to reduce emissions. The companies they have invested in so far are: 80 Acres Farms, a sustainable vertical farming company; RoadRunner Recycling a technology-enabled marketplace for commercial recycling and waste removal; o9 Solutions, a SaaS provider that helps companies to streamline their supply chains; Sun King, a provider of solar energy products in Africa and Asia; EcoVadis, a provider of sustainability ratings.
General Atlantic launched the BeyondNetZero platform in July 2021 as the firm’s dedicated climate investment effort with a focus on growth equity.
“In the next three years alone, 90% of the carbon abatement needed could come from technologies that are currently mature or in the early stages of adoption — which means there will be a very significant opportunity for growth equity to support and scale high-quality climate solutions in the years ahead,” said Lance Uggla, CEO of BeyondNetZero. “I am immensely proud of what the BeyondNetZero team has achieved since launch, and I look forward to capturing our fast-growing opportunity set.”
Prior to joining BeyondNetZero this year, Uggla was Chairman and CEO at IHS Markit prior to its merger with S&P Global. He founded the information company Markit in 2003.
With an institutional investor focus, the new General Atlantic division has chosen to operate as an Article 9 fund as defined under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The investment focus will remain on investments that aim to accelerate the net zero transition under this designation as the team plans to hold itself to a high ESG commitment and transparency standard.
