
Portugal’s Indico Capital Companions launches €50M Ocean tech ‘Blue economic system’ fund – TechCrunch
Lisbon VC Indico Capital Companions is launching a local weather tech fund – dubbed the Indico Blue Fund. The €50 million VC and development fairness fund will goal ‘Blue Financial system’ (expertise to help the oceans) startups and SMEs working out of Portugal. To this point €36 million has been raised with the €50 million goal anticipated later this 12 months. Greater than half of the LPs are from outdoors Portugal, notably from america.
The fund will make investments from pre-seed to development levels, investing between €100,000 and €5 million per firm, in tech that may have a constructive measurable contribution in direction of the UN’s Sustainable Improvement Targets (SDGs), particularly SDG 14 aimed toward “Life underwater”.
For pretty apparent causes (being a coastal state, and having a protracted maritime historical past), Portugual has a extremely developed maritime ecosystem consisting of universities, analysis facilities, incubators and firms. Indico Blue Fund will use its fund to scale up options popping out of that ecosystem throughout ocean-related value-chains.
Stephan Morais, Managing Common Accomplice of Indico Capital stated: “With the present urgency in addressing local weather change the time is correct for Indico to broaden its dedication in direction of sustainability with the Blue Fund, whereas on the similar time instantly supporting such an progressive and dynamic, in addition to necessary financial sector for Portugal and Europe.”
Verticals for the fund will embody Sustainable Aquaculture and Fisheries, Blue BioTech, Digital Ocean, Waste and Round Financial system, Inexperienced delivery, Ocean Renewable Vitality and different sectors. Indico Accomplice Andre de Almeida Santos will lead the Blue Fund.
Based by Stephan Morais, Ricardo Torgal and Cristina Fonseca, Indico Capital Companions was the primary personal institutional early-stage enterprise capital fund setup in Portugal. It now manages over €102 million euros throughout three funds. It’s invested €33 million since 2019, in 28 firms, which have collectively raised over €1.1 billion Euros.
This traction has enabled Indico to lift the preliminary €36 million euros (of the entire €50 million goal) for the Blue Fund within the second half of 2021. Indico can be the companion of Google for Startups in Portugal.