Sustainable infrastructure investment firm Generate Capital has raised US$2 billion in funding to scale its support for sectors such as clean energy.
The San Francisco-based company builds, owns, operates and finances sustainable infrastructure, and in the last seven years has accumulated a portfolio of about US$2 billion of assets across the energy, waste, water and transport markets. The new equity will allow it to expand its reach into new sectors and regions.
The capital raise was led by pension fund AustralianSuper and Australian investment firm QIC, while existing investors in Generate such as AP2 of Sweden, Railways Pension of the UK and the Wellcome Trust also participated. New investors included Harbert Management Corporation, Aware Super and CBRE Caledon.
Describing itself as one-stop shop for companies and communities looking to meet their net zero goals with new infrastructure, Generate said its infrastructure-as-a-service model means its customers don’t need to make large capital commitments to meet their sustainability goals.
Generate’s asset base includes renewable power, community solar, energy efficiency, microgrids, energy storage, electric mobility and hydrogen. The firm earlier this year provided a debt facility to utility-scale renewables project developer Intersect Power.
To meet the growing opportunity in sustainable infrastructure, Generate has doubled its workforce in the past year and a geographic expansion beyond North America is now underway.
Scott Jacobs, chief executive and co-founder of Generate, said the funding will enable the firm’s next phase of growth, adding: “The urgent need to deploy proven climate solutions and get the world to a net zero pathway has never been greater.”
