Switzerland-based impact investor responsAbility Investments AG has marked the third close of its Asia-focused climate fund after securing commitments from German development bank KfW and other investors.
KfW, which committed €20 million ($20.57 million at current exchange rates), was among a group of investors who added $100 million to the vehicle’s third closing, taking its total mobilization so far to more than $350 million.
ResponsAbility said in a release that it was on target to achieving the target of raising $500 million by this year for climate investments in Asia.
The third close comes a little over six months after the Asia-focused climate fund clocked its second close, after securing a commitment from parent M&G plc. In August, M&G had committed $100 million to the fund, taking its total corpus by then to $200 million.
This is the second round in which KfW has backed the fund. In November 2023, the fund had raised money from KfW and Dutch development bank FMO, marking its first close.
In March last year, VCCircle reported that International Finance Corporation planned to commit up to $100 million to the fund.
Since the launch of the fund, responAbility has already invested in ride-hailing company BluSmart, Amp Energy and Farmart.
Separately, responsAbility has also backed Indian financial non-bank lenders such as Clix Capital, Electronica Finance, Annapurna Finance and Kinara Capital, among others.
“This achievement brings total private sector commitments to over $200 million - more than half of the strategy’s total volume - while public and development finance institution contributions amount to $154 million,” responsAbility said.
ResponsAbility says that its Asia climate strategy focuses on sectors with significant carbon emissions reduction potential, including renewable energy, battery storage and e-mobility, energy efficiency, and the circular economy. The strategy, it says, aims to achieve total carbon dioxide savings of 16 million tons over the lifetime of its assets.
“Our strategy and blended finance structure provides institutional investors with access to attractive, risk-adjusted investment opportunities that also contribute significantly to decarbonizing the region,” Stephanie Bilo, Chief Client & Investment Solutions Officer at responsAbility, said.
Since its inception in 2003, responsAbility has deployed over $16.3 billion in impact investments. With over 270 employees spread across seven offices, as of the end of December 2024, the company manages $5.4 billion in assets across about 300 portfolio companies in around 70 countries. Since 2022, responsAbility has been part of M&G plc.