The Radical Fund, a Bangkok-based early-stage investor in climate change, has completed the first close of a US $40 million fund to assist climate-focused startups based in or operating in the area.
It is a member of the Utopia Capital Management (UCM) group, which has backed more than 130 early-stage startups in different emerging markets.
Family offices in Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as private investors from the US and Europe, have so far supported the Radical Fund.
“Southeast Asia is one of the most adversely affected regions of the world when it comes to climate change, and yet investments are still predominantly going toward US and Europe ventures,” Alina Truhina, CEO and managing partner of The Radical Fund, said in a statement.
Pre-seed, seed, and pre-series A stage startups are the focus of the fund. It seeks out solutions that address climate change by both mitigating and adapting to it.
It will also invest in non-climate tech startups whose business models address environmental issues, such as businesses in the food, finance, mobility, agriculture, and logistics industries. Additionally, technical and operational support will be provided to portfolio companies.
A recent study by Bain and Company, Temasek, GenZero, and Amazon Web Services found that green investments in the region would decline by 7% to US $5.2 billion in 2022.
A six-person team from The Radical Fund is based in Thailand and Singapore, and there are members of the global team in the UK. Additionally, it is hiring in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
