Global real assets investor Patrizia has raised an initial €50m for a newly launched venture capital fund to target investments in technology companies that enable a more sustainable built environment.

Patrizia said the initial close for the Sustainable Future Ventures (SFV) fund was backed by investors including pension funds and family offices, as well as strategic real estate operators and investors.

SFV will focus on late-seed-to-series B technology companies globally, with a strong focus on Europe, Patrizia said, adding that fund has so far invested in building information modelling firm GBuilder and transport software company Liftango.

 “We are delighted to see the successful first close of our new VC fund product which will play an important role in real asset’s journey to net-zero, said Wolfgang Egger, CEO and founder of Patrizia.

“Reducing our carbon footprint in construction and real estate is the biggest challenge of our time, so funding the companies who are at the cutting edge of sustainable innovation is absolutely essential.

“Besides real estate and infrastructure, venture capital as a product offers our clients the potential for attractive investment returns and strategic advantages, particularly for investors with real estate portfolios.”

“We are already seeing investment opportunities sourced from PATRIZIA’s global team as well as opportunities to drive value for our portfolio in multiple geographies,” Conan Lauterpacht, partner at SFV said.

Matthew Chagan, a partner at SFV, said: “The movement towards carbon neutrality in our sector will demand a significant deployment of investment that we believe will fundamentally change the economics of the built environment and accelerate the adoption of technology solutions.

“It’s a very exciting time to be in this space and I hope we can make a significant contribution towards reaching sustainability targets through technology.”

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