Sustainability-focused investment manager Mirova announced today that it has raised €211 million (USD$233 million) for Mirova Environment Acceleration Capital (MEAC), the firm’s first impact private equity fund.

Mirova launched the pan-European private equity fund in September 2021, aiming to invest in companies providing sustainable innovative solutions and technologies contributing to the environmental transition. The fund targets five main themes, including smart cities, natural resources, agri-agro technologies, circular economy and clean energy, investing in companies that directly address at least one of the targeted SDGs, with proven business models and mature innovative solutions and technologies.

According to Mirova, the Article 9 fund has invested over €80 million to  date in 10 European and North American companies, and completed one exit. Investments include Ombrea, a start-up specializing in the management and protection of crops against climatic hazards, AI-powered smart energy platform GridBeyond, and Nine Energy, an energy efficiency project developer using turbine technology to generate electricity from the waste heat of industrial processes.

The announcement follows the recent launch by Mirova of its second private equity fund, Mirova Impact Life Essentials (MILE), earlier this year, aimed at supporting companies contributing to the transition to a better society by addressing key sustainability challenges ranging from climate change to growing inequality. Mirova said that it intends to position MILE under SFDR Article 9 as well.

Marc Romano, Head of Impact Private Equity at Mirova, said:

“With this first private equity fund, we are proud to have delivered on our ambitions to invest in unlisted companies displaying a high environmental impact. We already completed ten investments in key sectors of the ecological transition, with the aim of achieving attractive financial returns. We remain convinced that positive impact and profitability go hand in hand, particularly when it comes to companies that are driven by fundamental trends designed to meet specific sustainable development objectives.”