22 May 2023
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), is investing €68m in two leading international decarbonisation funds, as part of its €1bn 5-year climate action investment programme.
The funds are managed by Energy Impact Partners LP (EIP), a New York-headquartered investment firm with over $3bn in assets under management, focused on investing in the energy transition by bringing together over 60 forward-thinking industrials and climate innovators to help decarbonise the global economy.
Through ISIF’s investment, EIP plans to invest in emerging Ireland-based decarbonisation and energy technology companies. It will also establish an office in Dublin, with experienced climate investor and entrepreneur Arthur Pierse as its first representative based on the ground in Ireland.
ISIF is making the investment because:
- It aims to direct more international capital to the Irish decarbonisation sector.
- It aligns with ISIF’s Climate Strategy of developing partnerships with best-in-class investors and networks, and enhancing access to opportunities to position Ireland to deliver on its Climate Action Plan.
- It brings additional best-in-class international investors to Ireland to support emerging Irish businesses in the climate space and international businesses establishing a presence in Ireland.
- It builds on approximately €500m of committed investments by ISIF in climate action as ISIF continues its €1bn investment programme in this sector.
Paul Saunders, Head of Climate, ISIF said:
“This investment demonstrates clear intent around the strength and scope of ISIF’s climate investment plans.
It shows how we can leverage our investment capability to build a deeper, stronger network with climate investors from all over the world - and ultimately attract more international capital to Ireland while supporting emerging Irish businesses in this space.
EIP boasts a strong track record and an unrivalled network of investors and industrial partners; we are harnessing that for the benefit of Irish based companies and entrepreneurs as we navigate the green transition.
The combination of early-stage technology with support for growth stage businesses offered by the two funds in which we are investing, is a unique proposition that will be of real benefit to new climate businesses in Ireland.”
Hans Kobler, Founder & Managing Partner, EIP said:
“Ireland is an important market on the road to Net Zero. We are thrilled to partner with ISIF to help accelerate the innovations in Ireland tackling climate change.
Our model of bringing together brilliant entrepreneurs with key industrials across all sectors of the economy, will make it easier for Irish technologies to scale in both Europe and North America.”
ISIF is investing across two of EIP’s funds, the European Fund at €34m which primarily focuses on €10m-€25m growth equity and late-stage investments and the Deep Decarbonisation Frontier Fund at $35m (€34m) which focuses on investing in revolutionary early-stage companies that have the potential to fully decarbonise the global economy. These represent investments in two complementary climate tech funds focused on the energy transition and decarbonisation.
Target segments will include energy supply decarbonisation (e.g. hydrogen), the electrification of industrial processes and tech-enabled infrastructure (e.g. distributed energy generation).
The investment by the National Treasury Management Agency (as controller and manager of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund) in EIP Deep Decarbonisation Frontier Fund I LP is made under Section 49A(4) of the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014 (as amended by the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018).