Cathay Smart Energy Fund Completes First Closing to Fight Against Climate Change and Support Innovative Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions
July 16, 2020
Asia
Paris, June 9, 2020 – Cathay Smart Energy, a joint Fund established by Cathay Capital, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, and Hubei High Technology Investment Guiding Fund Management Co., Ltd., today announced the success of its first fundraising, closing at RMB 820 million (USD 120m / EUR 100m). Participants include cornerstone founding investors alongside other prestigious participants such as Air Liquide, a world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, French shipping giant CMA CGM Group, and Wuhan Jingkai Industry Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd.
Cathay Smart Energy Fund will invest single tickets ranging from RMB 30 million to RMB 100 million in new technologies and new business models in the Chinese energy sector, with a particular focus on energy Internet, energy storage, energy efficiency, distributed energy, energy solutions for new energy vehicles including electric and hydrogen vehicles, renewable energy and low-carbon and carbon neutrality technologies.
Energy is the essential foundation of development in all countries and Cathay expects demand to continue its rapid growth, especially since China, the largest energy consumer in the world, is still accelerating its industrialization and urbanization. However, a great paradigm shift toward a sustainable, decarbonized energy sector is taking place thanks to technological breakthroughs, changing economic models, and the rise of environmental awareness. To accompany this shift, China’s government is rolling its 13th “Five-Year Plan”, “Belt and Road Initiative”, “Made in China 2025” and ‘New Infrastructure’ strategies and establishing a friendly policy environment to facilitate the entrance of innovative enterprises and usher in a renewal of the energy industry.
Thanks to Cathay’s cross-border expertise and its longstanding focus on China, the investment team has already identified many innovative companies that are reshaping the energy sector with digital, chemical, storage, or distribution technologies and leveraging technological mergers to fuel progress towards a highly efficient and decarbonized energy landscape. Cathay Smart Energy Fund will rely on Cathay Capital’s global investment platform bridging four continents (Asia, Europe, America and Africa) to connect global energy leaders with outstanding local start-ups and industrial players.
The Fund has already carried out its first investment in ALLSENSE Technology, an innovative IoT solutions provider currently specialized in the digitization and optimization of China’s thermal power industry. Thanks to cutting-edge data collection tools integrated across the industrial ecosystem, ALLSENSE can create a digital twin and calculate in real time the most optimal parameters and direct processes accordingly, thus saving millions of RMB for its clients and contributing to cleaning China’s energy industry.
“Our investment in Cathay Smart New Energy Fund is in line with Total’s strategy to support innovative carbon neutral energy solutions”, stated Girish Nadkarni, CEO of Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures. “China has grown into the world’s leading clean and sustainable energy player and has become an obvious strategic focus for Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures.”
With a strong tradition in car manufacturing, Hubei Province has accumulated considerable technological know-how and grown a mature development network. Yuanchu LI, General Manager of Hubei Provincial High Technology Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd., said: “Hubei Province is actively promoting the transformation of its energy infrastructure. This cooperation with Cathay Capital and the partnership with Total, a world-class energy leader, is another step taken by the province towards a productive integration of foreign capital within Hubei Province. Through this strategic partnership, we will closely collaborate with all parties to serve the development of Hubei’s smart energy industry.”
Matthieu EYRIES, Managing Director, ALIAD – Air Liquide Venture Capital, said: “We are honored to be part of this partnership led by Cathay and gathering such world-class and engaged contributors to the energy transition in China and globally. Through this first fund investment in China, we intend to foster our innovation strategy with start-ups in one of the most active and fast-transforming innovation ecosystems. I am convinced that this collaboration will help bring to market the most promising technologies aiming at decarbonizing energy production, transportation, storage and usages.”
Mingpo CAI, the founder and chairman of Cathay Capital, concluded: “China’s energy industry is undergoing profound changes triggered by digitalization. Standing at this historical point in time, Cathay’s Smart Energy Fund will build and strengthen the connections between the energy sector’s superpowers and the smaller players developing technologies from the ground up. This requires a systematic assessment of the industrial landscape to identify companies with great potential but also a deep understanding of the local stakes and global trends, for instance the ecological prism, to select the best strategies. Cathay will leverage its capital, its industrial resources and international influence to accelerate the growth of its participation and partners, and China’s transition towards a clean and digitized energy system.”
About Cathay Capital Group
Cathay Capital Group is a global investment platform specialized in cross-border development with a focus on Northern America, Asia, Europe and Africa. The group identifies investment opportunities with the potential to impact the world and accompanies portfolio companies in their international expansion through its ecosystem of partners and the local expertise of its close to 100 employees based in Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, San Francisco, Munich, Tel Aviv and Singapore. Founded in 2007, the Group has completed over 140 buyouts, growth and venture capital investments and manages €3.5 billion in assets, distributed in a range of investment strategies and vehicles.
For more information, please visit www.cathay.fr
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About ALIAD
Created in 2013, ALIAD (Air Liquide Venture Capital) aims to take minority stakes in innovative technology start-ups in three sectors: energy transition, health and digital. ALIAD positions itself on the technologies of the future by supporting the development of start-ups, through its industrial and technological experience and its knowledge of customers around the world. These investments are accompanied by the implementation of technological and/or business agreements between these new companies and the entities of the Air Liquide Group.
Twitter @airliquidegroup
About Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures
Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures is the venture capital arm of Total.
As part of Total’s commitment to a better energy future, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures is focused on finding, funding and fostering high-potential start-ups which will contribute to creating a low carbon future.
Current areas of interest include Renewables, Distributed Energy, New Mobility, Energy Access, Energy Storage, Bio-Plastics & Recycling, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT.
About Hubei High tech
Hubei High Technology Investment Guiding Fund Management Co., Ltd., which was established in July 2016, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Hubei Provincial High Technology Industry Investment Co., Ltd. It is mainly responsible for guiding the operations and management of funds entrusted by the local government. The Company today manages 3 guiding funds, representing RMB 5.8 Billion in AUM and had created nearly 30 sub-funds as of December 2017, representing a scale of over RMB 12 Billion. Over 150 investments have been made with these sub-funds, mainly to upgrade traditional, strategic and emerging industries but also modern and pension services, in order to amplify the key role of financial funds and to drive the development of key industries in the Hubei Province.
Contact Media Cathay Capital
Yoann Besse
Tel: +33 (0)6 63 03 84 91