Generation Investment Management Launches Largest-Ever Sustainable Solutions Fund

Generation Investment Management, a public and private equity firm focusing on sustainability, has launched its largest-ever growth fund. The $1.7 billion in funds will support the growth-stage companies.

Generation, which manages $36 billion in assets, invests the majority of its money in publicly traded companies. The new investment vehicle, dubbed Sustainable Solutions Fund IV, is still a big deal, with a 70 per cent increase in size over the firm's last growth fund.

Partner and growth equity head, Lila Preston, said: "This time around, Generation aims to plow between $50 million and $150 million into 15 to 18 “high-growth” businesses that advance environmental and social goals, such as mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, tackling inequality in finance and making healthcare more accessible. Ideally, Generation’s investment targets are “driving the transition to the sustainable future” while pulling in somewhere between $30 million and $300 million in annual revenue."

“From the very beginning Generation put sustainability research at the core of its investment process, because we thought it helped us find the very best businesses and management teams that we could back over the long term. You can’t have a healthy life on a sick planet,” and “you certainly can’t have a net-zero future without inclusion."

Generation, based in London and San Francisco, publishes an annual report on its sustainability research, but it is less forthcoming about its investors. The firm refused to name certain limited partners but said they are mostly from North America and Europe and include pension funds, investment banks, and wealthy individuals.

Source: TechCrunch