Amidst an increase in clean-energy projects and interest from Wall Street in investments related to reducing emissions, a green infrastructure investment company Generate Capital announced on Monday that it has raised $2 billion in fresh funding
The new capital, which succeeds a $1 billion raise in February 2020, brings the San Francisco-based firm’s balance sheet to about $10 billion. Backers include pension funds from UK, Australia, and Sweden.
Generate Capital, which was Founded in 2014, sits at the intersection of two hot investing trends that are infrastructure and clean energy. Handling almost everything from financing to building and day-to-day management, the organization brings both operational knowledge and capital to the more than 2,000 assets it owns from around the world. Its clients include companies, cities, and schools.
CEO Scott Jacbos said “What sets Generate Capital apart is its willingness to fund projects that others might not be willing to, including small-scale deals and backing early-stage technologies that some might consider too risky. Additionally, Generate’s capital has no time restrictions, stating that the company is not incentivized to make decisions with short-term goals in mind.”
Jacobs said returns are competitive and he pointed to every funding round being oversubscribed, some by almost seven times, as evidence that sustainable investing does not have to come at the expense of performance.
“We have had great success attracting institutional investors because this is a very compelling investment return profile relative to the risk undertaken,” he said.
“Raising capital is just raising capital and it’s not that much to celebrate. But it says though that the model is working — that customers are benefitting, that the world is seeing great advantages from these sustainability solutions that we’ve been putting in place for seven years now,” he added.