BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) announced today that it has raised €150 million (USD$166 million) for its BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund (BNPP SIVF), focused on investing in innovative cleantech startups with positive environmental impact and that support the acceleration of ecological transition.

Founded in 2021 through an exclusive partnership between Bertrand Picard’s Solar Impulse Foundation, the SFDR Article 9 fund aims to make 15 – 20 investments in European and North American startups, targeting sectors including the energy transition, sustainable agriculture and food, the circular economy, water and ocean management, smart cities, sustainable mobility, and industrial innovation.

BNP Paribas provided an initial €75 million commitment at the launch of the fund, and the strategy has since opened to third party capital, with Limited Partners including a mix of institutional, corporate and family office investors. The fund has a hard cap of €200 million.

David Bouchoucha, Head of Private Assets at BNP Paribas AM said :

“BNPP SIVF’s successful closing is evidence of the strong interest of our client investors to actively contribute to tackling climate change, fully aligned with the long-standing commitment of BNP Paribas to support young and innovative cleantech companies. We will continue, along with the Solar Impulse Foundation, to identify and support game-changer companies for the ecological transition.”

To date, the fund has made five investments, including biodiversity measurement and monitoring solution provider NatureMetrics, circular economy scale-up Phenix, bio-solutions start-up Axioma, energy renovation company Hello Watt, and GenAI-powered battery design company Chemix.

BNPP AM said that it anticipates the final closing of the fund before the end of the year.

Yann Lagalaye, Managing Partner of the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, said :

“Supporting best climate tech companies to accelerate ecological transition is our mandate and the team is eager to grow this activity within BNP Paribas Asset Management in the coming years, building bridges between our strong network and entrepreneurs, with the objective of accelerating their development and significantly changing their scale.”