Clean energy start-ups are set for a major boost, thanks to the government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corporation spinning out a specialist venture capital fund that is raising $200 million.Kristin Vaughan and Ben Gust will lead the newly created Virescent Ventures.
“We’ve loved the last five years with the CEFC, building its innovation fund portfolio ... and this gives us the opportunity to open it up to Australian private capital, and bring them in alongside the CEFC,” Mr Gust said. “We’ve discussed the concept with some potential investors ... and it’s been received very warmly. Part of the thinking behind launching Virescent was that we had been approached by people while in the CEFC wondering if the innovation fund was open to the private sector ... but it wasn’t structurally possible.
To date, each dollar of investment from the CEFC’s innovation fund has attracted an additional $3.07 in private sector investment. Companies in its portfolio include electric vehicle charging company JET Charge, chemical transportation tank manufacturer Omni Tanker,
We will get quicker and cheaper to net zero if we invested more in R&D in home developed technologies than subsidies to foreign manufacturers.