Dutch pension fund APG has made a further €500m commitment to the Smart City Infrastructure Fund (SCIF).
APG and infrastructure manager Whitehelm Capital said SCIF has closed its second funding round, bringing its total fund size to €750m.
The companies said the global fund has fully committed the initial €250m of capital APG invested in 2018. APG is investing on behalf of its pension fund client ABP.
The fund targets investments that enable the implementation of a wide range of smart city infrastructure solutions, allowing cities to more efficiently allocate resources and improve the lived environment.
Since the first close, SCIF has committed to four smart city investments. The initial investments have focused on the US, where SCIF is working with its joint venture partner SiFi Networks to roll out fibre networks in medium-sized cities.
The companies said the fund has a pipeline of attractive opportunities globally, with a particular focus on diversifying across a broad range of technologies and infrastructure sectors.
Graham Matthews, Whitehelm Capital’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with APG and entering the next phase of growth of the Smart City Infrastructure Fund. We believe that Smart City solutions will play a key role in improving the efficiency and sustainability of the world’s cities.
“SCIF provides a funding model for these essential projects. Ultimately Smart Cities will improve the daily lives of citizens across the world, and we are excited to be playing a key role in enabling these projects.”
Carlo Maddalena, senior portfolio manager at APG, said: “The increase in our investment in the Smart City Infrastructure Fund is a testament to our commitment to invest in long-term sustainable and resilient infrastructure projects that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our pension fund clients.
“The urbanisation trend is steadily accelerating globally and is reshaping the urban city firsthand. Alongside our partners, we will continue to develop projects that entail the roll-out of next-generation information and communications technologies to address these challenges and provide tools for city officials to build, run and manage cities in a better and more sustainable way for the years to come.”
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