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Contrarian Ventures secures €25M from EIF

Megan Hernbroth
Illustration of a small plant growing in a pot with the EU flag on the front

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Contrarian Ventures, a European climate tech fund, secured €25 million (~$26.5 million) from the European Investment Fund, the group tells Axios.

Why it matters: The EIF commitment is double the size of Contrarian's first fund, an indication of EIF's confidence in both the fund and the sector.

Driving the news: EIF's €25 million commitment represents one fourth of Contrarian's second fund, which has a hard cap of €100 million. It expects to close the fund in the second half of 2023.

  • Contrarian Ventures currently counts 65 organizations among its LP base, including PFR, Korys, Molten and Grantham Foundation.
  • That's up from its first fund, vintage 2017, which clocked in at just €12.5 million.

Context: Contrarian is an early-stage firm that is often the first outside money into a startup.

  • Its first fund invested in carbon ratings startup BeZero Carbon, e-bike maker Zoomo, satellite-based thermal emissions tracking company Satellite Vu, solar startup PVCase and software company Choose.
  • EIF, which is part of the European Investment Bank Group, has acted as an anchor LP in other climate-focused venture funds and credit providers.
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