Contrarian Ventures, founded by ex-London bankers Rokas Peciulaitis and Tomas Kemtys, has launched a €100m (£84m) fund to invest in climate tech startups and establish a UK presence.
The VC is looking to close the funding gap for climate tech startups and will make early-stage investments.
“Climate technology will be one of the most lucrative and important investment opportunities in the next 30 years, but entrepreneurs in Europe are still very underfunded and underrepresented at the seed stage,” said Contrarian Ventures co-founder , Rokas Peciulaitis.
“That’s why we’re launching today’s fund with the goal of closing this funding gap for future climate tech founders and mobilizing the resources needed for climate action while continuing to build a company that becomes the best choice for climate tech entrepreneurs.”
Currently based in Lithuania, Contrarian Ventures has also announced plans to open the company’s new head office in London. The VC cited the maturity of the city’s tech sector, the fund’s limited partners based in the capital and the majority of its UK portfolio as reasons for the move.
LPs contributing to Contrarian’s second fund include Korys Investments, Molten Ventures and the Grantham Foundation.
“With a direct focus on the climate sector at the seed stage, together with its impressive team in an exciting territory, Contrarian enjoys a unique perspective on the market and its opportunities,” said Mohadeseh Abdullahi, investor at Molten Ventures.
“He has built a strong reputation in this space and developed a deep and brilliant network of technical experts and advisors. We are delighted to welcome Contrarian to our Fund of Funds program.”
The environmental technology sector has seen a huge boost in corporate interest in 2022, leading to a number of high value funds.
Kiko Ventures launched a £375m environmental tech fund in June, while in July there was a £128m climate fund from Climentum and a £59m fund from Systemiq Capital.
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