Cathay Smart Energy Fund completes 820m yuan fundraising round

Global investment platform Cathay Capital Group announced on Tuesday a joint energy fund it established with partners has completed its first fundraising, closing at 820 million yuan ($120 million).

The Cathay Smart Energy Fund is jointly established by Cathay Capital, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures and Hubei High Technology Investment Guiding Fund Management Co Ltd.

In addition to these cornerstone founding investors, participants in the investment also include Air Liquide, a world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health, French shipping giant CMA CGM Group and Wuhan Jingkai Industry Investment Fund Management Co Ltd.

Cathay Smart Energy Fund will invest single tickets, ranging from 30 million yuan to 100 million yuan, in new technologies and new business models in the Chinese energy sector, with a particular focus on energy internet, energy storage, energy efficiency, distributed energy, energy solutions for new energy vehicles including electric and hydrogen vehicles, renewable energy and low-carbon and carbon neutrality technologies.

Cai Mingpo, founder and chairman of Cathay Capital, said: "China's energy industry is undergoing profound changes triggered by digitalization. Standing at this historical point in time, Cathay's Smart Energy Fund will build and strengthen connections between the energy sector's superpowers and the smaller players developing technologies from the ground up."

"This requires a systematic assessment of the industrial landscape to identify companies with great potential but also a deep understanding of the local stakes and global trends, for instance the ecological prism, to select the best strategies. Cathay will leverage its capital, its industrial resources and international influence to accelerate the growth of its participation and partners, and China's transition towards a clean and digitized energy system," Cai said.

Cathay Capital Group is a global investment platform specializing in cross-border development with a focus on North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Founded in 2007, the group has completed over 140 buyouts, growth and venture capital investments and manages 3.5 billion Euros in assets, distributed across a range of investment strategies and vehicles.