Courtesy of the Mulberry Green Fund, early stage green tech startups in the UK will now have access to a £20 million venture capital investment fund. The Mulberry Green Fund is a joint venture between the Adapt Low Carbon Group at the University of East Anglia and Cocoon Networks, and seeks to solve China’s environmental problems by scaling innovative UK tech solutions in the country.
It specifically targets the growing Green-tech market by providing investment for early stage technologies in the Green-tech sphere. Mulberry Green is backed by private capital from Chinese and UK investors, with this £20 million marking its first close.
Through its UK-China partnership, the Mulberry Green Fund identifies and invests in UK-based technologies and companies with a potential market and scalability in China and provides the network and expertise for companies to achieve this growth in the Chinese market. The Fund’s links with academia and research offers a unique opportunity to access and invest in the development of cutting edge green technologies at an early stage.
The fund’s launch follows from a recent government report by Chinese president Xi, which pledged to address the country’s environmental issues as he stated that “tackling climate change is a shared mission for mankind”. Announced today at the China-UK Hi! Technology Festival, held today in London, the fund will focus on a wide range of verticals within green tech, including water and soil management.
Speaking at the launch, John French, CEO of Adapt Low Carbon Group, said:
The fund sends out a strong message that the UK is open for business and offers a great opportunity for us work with the Chinese to support their aim of reducing their carbon footprint.
Our mission is to demonstrate the role that technology has to play in reducing pressure on the planet’s finite resources by improving the efficiency of buildings and transport, reducing the amount of resources used in manufacturing, increasing recycling and helping farmers to grow more with less.
The news follows from Cocoon Networks announcing the launch of a staggering £500m London-based venture capital fund to invest in technology companies across the UK and Europe.
