New Fund Will Invest Over $430 Million in Later Stage Clean Energy and Sustainable Business Projects Nationwide

BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of a year of global and national changes in climate and energy policy, investment firm Vision Ridge Partners announced today that it has closed an investment fund that seeks to deliver competitive returns while meeting the growing demand for sustainable businesses and clean energy. At $430 million, the fund is one of the largest in this space to date and one of the few private investment portfolios focused on later stage clean energy companies and other sustainable assets.

"Our investments demonstrate that sustainable projects can make sense from a climate perspective as well as a financial perspective," said Reuben Munger, Managing Partner of Vision Ridge. "Critical policy developments in 2015, like the Clean Power Plan and the Paris climate agreement, demonstrate that opportunities in this sector are only going to grow in the short and long term. We believe that that there are real opportunities to make money when we invest to solve our generation's greatest challenge: climate change."

The Sustainable Asset Fund ("SAF"), launched by Vision Ridge in partnership with Capricorn Investment Group and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, aims to deliver market-leading returns and significant environmental benefits from asset-based investment in sectors ranging from renewable energy generation to sustainable agriculture. Investments include a company providing energy efficiency financing for commercial and industrial customers, an electric vehicle fleet provider, solar projects in Massachusetts, Florida, California, and Japan, an industrial energy efficiency project, assets turning food waste into renewable energy in the Northeast, and more.

"Preventing further damage from climate change requires major action and that means major investments," said Ion Yadigaroglu, Managing Director at Capricorn Investment Group. "The Sustainable Asset Fund is positioned to demonstrate that safeguarding the planet for future generations can be a successful financial endeavor."

In seeking to capitalize on the changing global field of energy and resource use, Vision Ridge Partners is working with a network of investment, energy, and other professionals who understand the changing landscape and know how to evaluate regulatory and policy developments. These professionals will help investors finance projects which advance the global transition toward a more responsible use of our natural resources with the additional potential of meeting financial goals.

SAF investments are located in California, Indiana, Massachusetts, and elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad and include:

• Clean Focus, a solar photovoltaic company developing and operating commercial and utility-scale solar energy projects in Massachusetts, California, Florida, and elsewhere.
• GSSG, a solar photovoltaic company developing and operating utility-scale solar energy projects in Japan.
• SparkFund, a fintech company that finances energy efficiency projects and enables OEMs and installers to sell equipment and products as a service.
• A partnership with Tulum Management and Vanguard Renewables, a waste to energy company operating facilities in the Northeast that convert organic waste to renewable electricity.
• Vision Fleet, an advanced transportation company enabling electric vehicle (EV) penetration into corporate and government fleets.
• And others, including an industrial energy efficiency project.

About Vision Ridge Partners: Launched in 2008 to invest in transformative growth companies within the sustainable energy sector, Vision Ridge Partners is an investment firm focused on the future. Our vision is to unleash capital markets to solve our generation's greatest challenge: the threat posed to our planet by climate change.

About Capricorn Investment Group: Capricorn Investment Group was born from a belief that values-based, sustainable investment practices can enhance return rates. Underlying that principled investment approach has always been a deep desire to demonstrate the huge investment potential that resides in breakthrough commercial solutions to the world's most pressing problems.

About the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: The Grantham Foundation supports strategic communications and collaboration in solving the world's most pressing environmental problems. We pursue this mission through traditional charitable giving as well as mission-related investing.

Contact: Molly Taft, [email protected], 202-800-8695

SOURCE Vision Ridge Partners