UK-based science and technology investor IP Group has launched a $150m Climate Catalyst Fund with Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), marking a significant expansion of Australian superannuation backing for cleantech investments.
The fund, which has reached first close at AU$50m, will target Seed and Series A companies in hard-to-abate sectors including industrial decarbonisation, minerals processing, heavy transport, energy-efficient AI/data centres, and grid balancing technologies. Hostplus, one of Australia's top ten superannuation funds, has provided AU$435 million to IP Group, underpinning this new climate investment vehicle.
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Hostplus's backing through the IP Group Hostplus Innovation Fund has already supported breakthrough companies including Oxford Nanopore, Genomics, First Light Fusion, Oxa, and Hysata. This relationship demonstrates how Australian superannuation funds are increasingly directing capital toward decarbonisation technologies with global impact.
"This fund strengthens IP Group's ability to back the breakthrough technologies that will define the next era of decarbonisation," said Greg Smith, Chief Executive of IP Group. "The launch of the Climate Catalyst Fund with the CEFC, alongside the recently announced relationship with Aberdeen in the UK, is clear evidence that we are executing our strategy to grow institutional private capital under management."
The new fund has attracted cornerstone investors with IP Group contributing AU$30 million and CEFC AU$20 million. Fundraising is underway to bring additional third-party investors into the fund, which aims to scale Australian technologies capable of reducing emissions in sectors accounting for over 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"Targeting a USD30–50 trillion global decarbonisation opportunity by investing in Australian-emerging climate technologies," said Malcolm Thornton, CEFC head of Growth Capital. "Mobilising private capital directed at decarbonising industry is a huge part of what the CEFC is trying to achieve."
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