A Bill Gates–backed venture capital fund with multiple Massachusetts cleantech companies in its portfolio is raising a third investment fund.
The third fund was identified as “Breakthrough Energy Ventures III LP” in a federal regulatory filing by Breakthrough Energy Ventures Management, which listed its address as 250 Summer St. in Boston.
Rodi Guidero, executive director of Breakthrough Energy and managing partner of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, was listed as the executive contact on the SEC filing. Breakthrough Energy Ventures is a collection of funds and a division of Breakthrough Energy, which is the organization that encompasses Gates’ climate and energy work.
In a statement, Breakthrough Energy Ventures confirmed it recently completed a Form D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for “BEVIII.”
“The investment focus for the fund will be similar to BEVI and BEVII, encompassing climate innovations in five key investment areas: Electricity, transportation, manufacturing, buildings, and food and agriculture. The timing and size of the fund are not yet disclosed,” according to Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
The regulatory filing for Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ third fund said the first sale has yet to occur and listed the total offering amount as “indefinite.”
Breakthrough Energy Ventures announced its first fund of $1 billion in 2016. The firm’s second fund reached $1.25 billion and was made public in 2021. In 2019, Breakthrough Energy Ventures also announced a €100 million fund to support clean energy investments in Europe.
The firm invests in companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the global economy. Breakthrough Energy’s website says the venture fund has invested in more than 90 companies to date.
Those companies include investments in CubicPV Inc., a Bedford-based solar tech company; VEIR, a Woburn-based startup developing a new way to cool superconducting materials; Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Devens company building a commercially viable fusion power plant; and Motif FoodWorks, a Boston food technology company.
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