100×100 establishes $100 M fund to establish 50 new climate-related businesses in SEA and India
100×100, a venture capital fund and climate firm builder based in Singapore, announced the launch of its second fund (Fund II), which aims to raise $100 million.
According to a statement, the fund established by the group that co-founded Wavemaker Impact will use this money to establish and build 50 more high-impact, high-growth businesses that are intended to tackle the world’s most urgent emissions problems.
It is observed that growing demand, resource limitations, geopolitical fragmentation, and the requirement for national self-sufficiency are reshaping the energy, food, materials, and supply chains.
The goal of 100×100 is to bridge the gap between low-emissions technology maturity and widespread commercial deployment.
Instead of financing already-existing startups, 100×100 collaborates with seasoned business owners in Southeast Asia and India to create businesses from the ground up.
“We believe that solving the world’s most pressing emissions challenges also represents a significant economic opportunity,
“Our name reflects our conviction that profit and carbon reduction are not a trade-off, but a multiplier. With Fund II, we are doubling down on a demonstrated strategy with a platform that is ready-to-go,” said Marie Cheong, Founding Partner, 100×100.
It stated that each 100×100-square-meter business could generate $100 million in revenue and reduce 100 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), British International Investment (BII), Triple Jump, Qarlbo Energy, JG Digital Equity Ventures, Kajima Corporation, and Beacon Ventures were among the institutional, strategic, and family office investors who supported the company’s first fund, which reached its hard cap at $60 million in 2023.
Since then, the company has maintained a portfolio survival rate that is almost twice as high as the median venture capital norm while co-founding 27 businesses in eight different countries.
Tight operational alignment is the driving force behind this commercial resilience; Fund I is on course for top-quartile performance since 100×100 has substantially larger equity interests than traditional venture capital, and its portfolio firms operate at 1.5 times greater capital efficiency.
According to the company, a disciplined venture-building process is used in its unique operating model to find “white spaces” in industries with high emissions.
Every business is purposefully designed to obtain a “green discount,” which reduces emissions while providing cost or economic benefits.
In order to carry this out, the company conducts annual interviews with more than 1,000 seasoned founders in order to find business owners who possess the knowledge and experience necessary to establish and grow companies from the ground up.
