100 million euros for tech startups

A new fund targets startups from Europe and the U.S. that want to develop technologies to combat the climate crisis or provide social justice.

Pirate Impact becomes Aenu and raises €100 million for the first closing of its fund. The Evergreen fund aims to raise over €500 million in capital by 2026 to invest in impact tech startups. The capital will be invested in the climate tech and social impact sectors.

"We invest in technologies that help solve the climate crisis or that lead to more social justice," says Ferry Heilemann, Aenu co-founder. He launched the fund together with Fabian Heilemann. The founders would use science-based sustainability criteria to decide on investments. The backers so far have been from the management team's circle. An investment in the fund was only possible by personal invitation. Investors include Hamburg-based family office E.R. Capital and Unicorn CEOs Lawrence Leuschner (Tier), Michael Wax (Forto) and Niklas Zenstrom (Skype/Atomico), as well as a number of German family offices.

The fund has so far invested in Heirloom (carbon capture), Labster (virtual reality for e-learning), Monta (electric vehicle charging technology), Next Gen Foods (alternative proteins) and XFuel (biofuels).