S2G Ventures, an investment firm focusing on climate change, human health, and planet health, has launched a USD 300 million (EUR 276 million) “special opportunities fund,” to provide flexible financing for companies working to create a positive long-term social and environmental impact.
S2G now has more than USD 2 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) under management, to be dedicated to investments in the food, agriculture, ocean, and clean energy markets, and has made more than 90 investments. In 2020, it established an oceans and seafood investment team with USD 100 million (EUR 84.7 million) in funding. That team has thus far made 11 investments – ReelData, ViAqua, Moleaer, Brillian Planet, Know Seafood, Matter, Ocean Aero, Sofar, Mind Blown Plant Based Seafood, Unseenlabs, Wildtype, and Avant Meats.
S2G's Special Opportunities fund “has flexibility around risk profile, tenor, and structure and enables the firm to invest across the capital spectrum via debt, equity, or hybrid investments with a focus on businesses with assets, cashflows, contracts, or leases to provide downside protection.”
“Additionally, the Special Opportunities fund allows S2G to support more mature companies in their scaling journey, providing them with a lower cost of capital that is aligned with their risk profile,” it said in a press release.”
S2G Ventures Senior Management Director and Chief Investment Officer Sanjeev Krishnan said the fund will be used to expand on S2G’s mission of advancing industry thinking both in how it uses technology and in how it approaches sustainability issues.
"The transition to a more-resilient and -efficient economy will require significant investments in capital-intensive and asset-oriented businesses. Instead of a friction to scale, we see this as an opportunity to ringfence risk, create value for investors, and provide a solution the market increasingly needs," Krishnan said. "The Special Opportunities fund expands our toolkit, builds on the subject matter expertise of our sector funds, and enables S2G to work with companies across the broader climate tech market."
S2G has completed six investments out of the fund, most recently in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based Circulus, a low-density polyethylene recycler that converts plastic waste into post-consumer resins for use in commercial and industrial applications, enabling the circular economy and making CPGs' supply chains more environmentally responsible. It has also invested in financial home comfort technology, innovation, and training firm Service 1st Financial and organic grain start-up Clear Frontier.
"There is a need for a different type of capital in the climate tech market to complement venture capital and private equity," S2G Special Opportunities Fund Principal Andrea Woodside said. "The Special Opportunities fund is grounded in helping companies with creative financing solutions to support them in scaling as efficiently as possible."
In January 2022, S2G Ventures Ocean and Seafood Managing Director Kate Danaher told SeafoodSource the fund remains committed to targeting innovations in seafood, alternative protein sources, aquaculture, supply chain innovations, traceability and transparency, algae or seaweed products, and ecosystem services.
Photo courtesy of S2G Ventures
