The fund has attracted public and private sector investment from Europe and Asia to support innovative firms whose activities help decarbonise the transport sector.
Shift4Good, a fund supporting the decarbonisation of the transport sector, has closed its first fund at €220m, having made 13 portfolio investments so far.
The fund has attracted investment from companies, institutional investors, and family offices in Europe, Asia and Australasia.
European-based investors include Renault Group, BNP Paribas Group, French public sector investor Bpifrance, the European Investment Fund, French payments service provider Edenred and Luxembourg-registered asset manager Candriam. Among Asian and Australasian investors are the Port of Singapore Authority’s PSA Ventures, Singapore-based transport group ComfortDelGro and Australian-based automotive sector cooperative Capricorn.
Shift4Good announced a first close at €100m in October 2022 and had a minimum target size of €200m – a level the fund said would be required to execute its investment thesis in full. Its maximum target size, stated at the time of the first close, was €300m.
The Article 9 fund, which is based in Paris and Singapore, was co-founded by French investors Matthieu de Chanville, Sébastien Guillaud, Yann Marteil and Thierry de Panafieu.
Decarbonisation focus
Investments are made in companies that decarbonise and improve the efficiency of transport with scalable, technology-based solutions across the rail, road, air, and maritime sectors. It has a focus on Series A and Series B investments with ticket sizes in the €4m-€20m range. The fund said each portfolio company works with its team to develop measurable KPIs monitored yearly to ensure they align with decarbonisation targets.
According to the fund, the ventures in which it invested were “ideally positioned to capture massive value in transitioning industries and establish themselves as global champions” by tackling regulatory shifts, cost pressures, and sustainability goals.
Luc Julia, chief scientific officer of Renault Group said the fund’s activities reinforced the vital role of collaboration between corporates and startups in driving sustainable innovation.
“By connecting bold entrepreneurs with industry leaders, Shift4Good exemplifies the power of impact-driven investment to create meaningful solutions to the climate challenge,” he said.
Shift4Good has invested in 13 companies in seven countries to date, covering areas such as fleet electrification, micromobility (small vehicles and bikes), battery recycling and reuse, hydrogen technologies, and AI-driven energy-saving software. It intends to expand this portfolio to 25-30 companies.
Firms in the existing portfolio include London-based Laka, which provides insurance for bicycles using contributions from a collective, Singapore-based battery recycler NEU Battery Materials, Helsinki-based Vapaus, which provides businesses and their employees with bicycles as a service, and Paris-based Shippeo, whose logistics platform helps improve supply chain efficiency and cut emissions.
Another portfolio company, Spanish-based Bound4blue, has developed a highly efficient type of sail that can be used in the maritime sector as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, engines. Bound4blue says its suction sail technology generates up to seven times more lift than conventional sails and can reduce fuel costs and CO2 emissions by around a third, given the right conditions.
Shift4Good’s focus on transportation, which accounts for roughly a quarter of global CO2 emissions, and the financing of sustainable and disruptive solutions would help transform the sector, according to Adeline Lemaire, executive director and head of funds investments at BPIfrance.
“The scale that the fund has achieved will allow the team to deploy efficiently their strategy and have real impact,” she said.
