London-based A/O PropTech has recently closed the first round of its €250 million fund, marking a significant step forward after the successful launch of its initial fund in 2020 with €250 million.
The primary focus of the fund is to provide support to startups in the seed to Series B stages from the UK, Continental Europe, and North America. Funding allocations are anticipated to range from €3 million to €8 million, with provisions set aside for follow-on investments.
A/O PropTech aims to tailor its investment strategy, allocating smaller amounts to seed and late seed rounds, while earmarking larger sums for Series B stages. The distribution of reserves will reflect this distinction, with early-stage investments receiving a higher percentage of reserves compared to Series B rounds.
The fund’s investment scope spans various sectors within the built environment, including supply chain optimization, innovative materials, AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) technologies, building operations, and management solutions. Emphasis is placed on driving decarbonization, enhancing climate resilience, promoting electrification and energy transition, fostering digitization, automation, and effective big data management. This comprehensive approach encompasses a blend of software, hardware, deeptech, and AI solutions.
While the exact number of investments from the second fund remains undisclosed, the inaugural fund supported 22 startups, including notable names like Satellite Vu and Plentific.
Gregory Dewerpe, the founder and CIO of A/O PropTech, underscores the urgency of addressing climate change with impactful measures, stating, “A lot of the attention on climate change appears to remain somewhat misdirected, creating a false impression that we can solve climate change simply with meatless burgers or paper straws or carbon credits. We can’t. That doesn’t mean those initiatives are not important, but rather that they are, in our view, not decisive or impactful enough, at a time of great urgency when we are potentially years away from being caught irreversibly offside. We must focus our time, resources, and attention on what truly moves the needle now. Onwards and upwards.”
By Proptechbuzz
By Ravi Kumar