A Sydney enterprise fund that co-led agtech startup Loam Bio’s big $105 million spherical, has raised $220 million in a Collection A.
Sydney-based Wollemi Capital, based in 2021, is the brainchild of former Macquarie Capital boss Tim Bishop and Boston Consulting Group’s Asian enterprise exec Paul Hunyor. The pair got down to increase $100 million, however upped the ante when the Commonwealth Financial institution got here on board as a strategic companion.
The fund ramped up final 12 months with RBA board member Carol Schwartz and her husband Alan backed the enterprise with a $50 million cornerstone funding by means of their household fund, Trawalla Group. Alan Schwartz joined the Wollemi board and the couple have pledged to speculate $100 million in carbon discount corporations.
Others backing the local weather change fund embody Sq. Peg’s Paul Bassat, the College of Sydney, Vincent Fairfax’s household workplace Cambooya, former Macquarie boss Nicholas Moore, and Caledonia Investments co-founder Mark Nelson.
Wollemi – named after the traditional conifer solely found within the Nineties in a distant a part of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney – invests in three key areas verticals: sustainable meals and agriculture, vitality transition, and local weather companies. It has places of work in Sydney, New York, Seattle and San Francisco.
Bishop, the agency’s managing director, mentioned the funds will allow additional scaling of Wollemi’s world group throughout each North America and Australia, continued funding from the stability sheet, and accelerated growth of a funds administration enterprise.
“We’re local weather specialists. We solely spend money on companies that cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions,” he mentioned.
“However a key level of distinction is our means to spend money on the rising elements of the local weather area. We try this by being hands-on companions to our portfolio corporations, bringing technical and operational experience matched with versatile and affected person capital.”
Alan Schwartz believes local weather tech is “the best business alternative we’ve got ever seen.”
“We concluded there was a market alternative for a pure-play local weather specialist with a very end-to- finish providing and an built-in technique,” he mentioned .
“Between Paul’s enterprise capital expertise and Tim’s distinctive profession at Macquarie, they’re uniquely effectively positioned to ship that built-in technique.”
CBA’s institutional banking & markets group exec Andrew Hinchliff mentioned the financial institution’s strategic funding in Wollemi is meant to speed up the innovation wanted to drive Australia’s transition throughout key sectors, in addition to develop carbon markets as an necessary transition instrument.
“It should considerably contribute to the event of CBA’s local weather, carbon and biodiversity experience and our means to play a management position in supporting investments in local weather linked companies as they scale their operations,” he mentioned.
“Wollemi’s extremely credentialed founders have robust networks and confirmed monitor information combining local weather impression, personal fairness and enterprise capital experience with expertise financing, constructing and scaling world enterprise throughout infrastructure, renewables and know-how.”
Alongside co-leading Loam Bio’s $105 million Collection B in February this 12 months, Wollemi capital most just lately backed US agtech Pluton Bio in a US$16.5m Collection A. Its first funding was nature-based carbon credit score platform Pachama, on a cap desk that features Invoice Gates’ Breakthrough Power Ventures, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Local weather Pledge Fund and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s Future Optimistic. Pachama makes use of AI, satellite tv for pc imagery, distant sensing and machine studying to measure the carbon saved in forests.
Tim Bishop mentioned they’re presently pursuing a pipeline of additional funding alternatives.
“We’ll use the proceeds from the elevating to proceed to spend money on the thematics that we imagine in,” he mentioned.
“We’re excited by the alternatives which might be quickly rising in meals, agriculture and pure capital, amongst others. We’re already world-class on pure capital and the decarbonisation of agriculture, in order that’s been an early focus for us.”