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Cleantech Fund

More with less

Cackleberry Cleantech Fund

Cackleberry Cleantech Fund invests in European innovative growth companies in a broad range of cleantech areas. Within our cleantech practice we use the following formal definition:

Cleantech embraces a diverse range of products, services and processes that:
harness renewable materials and energy sources,
dramatically reduce and optimise the use of natural resources,
or cut or eliminate pollution and toxic wastes
and add economic value by significantly lowering cost and improving profitability."

We do however keep a broad view on the cleantech investment category. Cleantech is not something completely new but more a regrouping of investment themes that are and will remain important for the years to come. You can compare our cleantech investment scope with ‘greentech’ or ‘eco-innovation’. The shortest definition is ‘More with Less’.

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  • We currently make investments in companies:

    • having an outstanding management team that focus on large international markets
    • having a business model that combines a credible growth strategy with the potential to become a market leader in their
      sector
    • owning defendable intellectual property
    • having a proven technology base, as minimally evidenced by the existence of a proof of concept and by a fully
      understood mode of action
    • being privately held
    • and having their core activity located in Europe (or having a strong European link)

  • We look for investments with the following profile:

    • equity investments resulting in a significant minority stake
    • initial investment (typically € 0.25 – 2.5 million) in the first or second VC rounds
    • we occasionally do seed deals but our main focus is on early stage companies typically requiring funding for
      product/technology development
    • allow for an exit strategy via IPO and/or trade sale within a period of 3 to 7 years after initial investment
    • the fund will keep a reserve for follow-on investments

    If your project meets these criteria, we would like to review it with you. The fact that your venture may still be in a
    conceptual stage, your team is not yet complete or that your business plan is not yet completely finished, should not
    keep you from contacting us, because we will help you in improving jointly the investment opportunity if we find it
    with merit.

    Since the quality of the management team is one of our most important investment criteria, we prefer to be in contact
    directly (or soon after an initial contact) with the entrepreneurs themselves.

  • Investment process

    The investment selection process at Cackleberry Cleantech Fund is designed to sieve out companies that do not meet
    our investment criteria, cycling through successive review steps by the investment team. After the completion of each
    step we will provide you - if time constraints allow- with a quick feedback on the status of your project.

    Our preferred way of working can be subdivided in the following steps:

    • a first contact by phone, fax or e-mail (preferably) by the entrepreneur, or by his advisor. Please contact us at our
      dedicated e-mail address for investment proposals: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    • an executive summary as a key document to capture our interest
    • presentation of the business plan to our investment team
    • discussions on the project with different members of your team including one or more full-day visits to the company
    • a term sheet summarizing the main terms and conditions of a potential investment
    • due diligence process
    • final closing requiring a shareholders and subscription agreement and eventual amendments of the articles of
      association

    The process from first contact to closing will typically take between one to three months depending on the stage of your
    preparation.

    Cackleberry Cleantech Fund is prepared to take the lead in or to co-lead investments. In most cases we do prefer a
    syndication in order to be able to provide enough additional financial resources if required.