A number of institutional investors, including AustralianSuper, QIC, Aware Super and Sweden’s AP2 have backed sustainable infrastructure firm Generate Capital to raise $2bn (€1.7bn)
San-Francisco-based Generate said the latest fundraising round was led by existing investors AustralianSuper and QIC, with new investment from Harbert Management Corporation, Aware Super, and CBRE Caledon.
The largest investor is the A$230bn (€143bn) AustralianSuper, which has committed a total of US$1bn to the US firm’s two rounds of capital raising. Aware Super’s commitment is understood to be “around a third of the AustralianSuper’s commitments”.
Capital commitments were also received from other pension funds and institutional investors from Australia, the US, and Europe, including additional commitments from existing investors AP2, the UK’s Railways Pension Scheme and The Wellcome Trust, Generate said without disclosing details of each investor’s contribution.
Generate said the capital raised will help the business continue its expansion into “new sectors and regions to meet rising demand for sustainable infrastructure”.
A spokesman for AustralianSuper told IPE Real Assets: “Generate runs a number of funds, and our investment would be spread across those vehicles.”
He said the US firm operated a range of renewable energy projects, including wind and solar farms.
“We are investing into the US market because it is a mature market and offers the best scale,” he said, pointing out that AustralianSuper had just opened an office in New York precisely to tap into opportunities such as that offered by Generate.
Nik Kemp, AustralianSuper’s head of infrastructure, said: “Investing in Generate provides both an attractive investment return for our members and fosters the development of new sustainability-focused technology which is making a real impact on the global transition to clean energy.”
Scott Jacobs, CEO and co-founder of Generate, said: “Generate is purpose-built to deploy sustainable infrastructure at scale and we are thrilled to reach this milestone that builds on our strong track record and enables our next phase of growth.
“Successful infrastructure projects require a long time horizon, dedicated operational expertise and a commitment to deliver returns for all of the many stakeholders involved in infrastructure. The urgent need to deploy proven climate solutions and get the world to a Net Zero pathway has never been greater.”
Ross Israel, the head of global infrastructure at QIC, said: “We are very pleased to continue partnering with Generate as it grows its sustainable infrastructure platform across power, mobility, waste, and water.
“This follow-on investment reinforces QIC’s sector-centric, thematic-based investment strategy across energy transition, decarbonisation, and distributed infrastructure.”
Mark Hector, a senior portfolio manager, infrastructure and real assets at Aware Super, said: “As one of Australia’s largest pension funds, we have committed to achieving net zero by 2050 and have ambitious targets to invest in renewables and sustainable technologies to help us achieve this goal.
“This new partnership with Generate supports our growing portfolio of sustainable infrastructure assets in the US and globally.”
Helena Olin, the head of infrastructure and real assets at AP2, said: “In infrastructure, stakeholder alignment is extremely challenging when you consider all of the various needs customers, communities, investors, regulators, suppliers and developers have. Generate has pioneered approaches that meet all of those needs, while solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.”
Claude Estes, co-head of investments at Harbert Infrastructure, said: “ Harbert believes that Generate will continue to execute on their vision and will benefit from durable energy transition tailwinds for the foreseeable future.”
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