It would appear the environment and society remain relevant, whatever you might hear in some other quarters. At least, that’s one conclusion to be drawn from the news that European specialist VC Revent has closed a €100 million ($109 million) Fund II to invest in “planetary and societal health” startups.
Launched out of Berlin in 2021 by Otto Birnbaum and Lauren Lentz, Revent’s thesis was (and remains) that the most ambitious entrepreneurs want to build companies that drive societal progress, and this might, therefore, become highly valuable. High-minded stuff.
Admittedly, geopolitics have moved in such a way as to suggest “progress” might look quite different to the views of 2021. But with all that said, the pair has assembled a significant array of LPs to back the new fund.
These include the German retail giant the Otto Group, Goldbeck, Wepa, Oetker, Beiersdorf, and Hymer, as well as a number of European tech founders. The European Investment Fund has also increased its commitment in Revent’s second fund.
Lentz told TechCrunch that the fund is looking for startups in energy transition, industrial decarbonization, healthcare, climate, economic empowerment, and reskilling, among others.
Since launch, it’s invested in 26 companies. “Many in climate tech, some in health tech, some in empowerment. And overall, things have gone really well. We’ve had a number of companies that were picked up by tier-one general funds,” she said.
Lentz said the fund has always tried to position itself in the third category, “as a performance-focused fund, investing in planetary and societal health, in terms of long-term value creation. In the early days, there were some folks who were skeptical and didn’t understand why we were not just calling ourselves impact or climate. But now, I think, in this current macro environment, his positioning makes quite a bit of sense for a lot of people, and allows us to really use the language of driving value by investing in long-term essential transitions.”
Revent’s LPs are very long-term oriented, she said. “I think they are not afraid of what’s happening in the U.S. right now. I think they, in fact, believe that it’s important to continue investing in these spaces despite what’s happening in the US. And I think there’s this idea of Europe, kind of standing up and punching back and figuring out what values it stands for, and investing heavily in these spaces.”
She sees more capital going toward so-called re-industrialization, European sovereignty, and defense, and “would not be surprised” if now there is a proliferation of new emerging specialist funds. “I think Europe now needs to figure out what it stands for … tech and innovation as part of that, and I think capital will flow to some extent that direction.”
The team is now split across Berlin, London, Paris, and now has a venture partner in San Francisco.