Persistent launches USD 70 million Persistent Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund

ARE Member Persistent has launched the USD 70 million Persistent Africa Climate Venture Fund (“Persistent ACV Fund”) with a first close of US$52 million and an additional initial USD 5 million Venture Building Facility.

The Persistent ACV Fund is an early-stage climate investment vehicle domiciled in Mauritius, focused on backing Africa’s most innovative and high-impact climate ventures. Beyond capital, the Fund leverages Persistent’s tailored Venture Building platform to accelerate the growth, operational maturation, and scale of its portfolio companies. The Fund aims to catalyse Africa’s Energy, Agriculture, and Resource Transitions. While its core strategy targets investments from pre-seed through Series A, the Fund retains the flexibility to provide later-stage follow-on capital to high-performing portfolio companies.

Structured with a blended finance model, the Fund offers private investors first-loss and priority return protection. Its investment approach is further strengthened by integrated, bespoke Venture Building support, underpinned by a USD 5 million contribution-based Venture Building Facility (VBF).

The Partners of Persistent stated: “Achieving the first close of the Persistent ACV Fund is a strong show of confidence in Persistent and the Fund’s strategy. The first close demonstrates that early-stage climate innovation in Africa is investable at scale and that it presents a compelling opportunity for investors. We are excited to move into the investment phase as we continue to back entrepreneurs building businesses across Africa’s Energy, Agriculture and Resource Transitions. We are thankful for the trust that all our LPs, the contributors to our Venture Building Facility, and especially the entrepreneurs we will invest in, are putting in us.  We believe that the growing alignment between catalytic and commercial capital is essential to closing Africa’s climate financing gap, and we look forward to translating that alignment into disciplined execution, impact and long-term value creation.”

The launch of the Fund comes against the backdrop of Africa facing a disproportionate share of climate risk while receiving only a small fraction of global climate financing. Early-stage climate businesses, in particular, struggle to access capital and operational support needed to scale and have substantial impact. The Persistent ACV Fund is designed to address this gap by combining equity investment with custom Venture Building services to enable climate ventures to move from early traction to scalable, impactful businesses. The Fund intends to achieve substantial climate, socio-economic, and gender impact in Africa over the lifetime of the Fund, targeting:

• Over 17 million tonnes of CO2/GHG mitigated
• Over 7 million overall beneficiaries (of which half will be female)
• Over 60,000 direct jobs created (of which half will be female)
• Over 400,000 people are economically impacted
• Over 420,000 households with new or improved electricity connections
• Over USD 450 million additional investment catalysed

The Persistent ACV Fund is managed by its General Partner, Persistent ACV GP Ltd., and advised by Persistent Energy Capital LLC, a U.S. venture capital firm with offices across Africa and Europe. The Fund was conceived by Persistent in collaboration with FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi), a specialist financial sector investor established by FSD Africa and the UK’s FCDO, and an Anchor Investor in the Fund. FSDAi invested $3 million in Persistent in 2022 and made an early pledge of a $10million anchor commitment to the Fund.  FSDAi’s initial investment was used to make investments in climate businesses that have been warehoused by Persistent for transfer to the Fund now that it is closed.

“Closing Africa’s climate financing gap requires more than capital. It requires the right fund managers, supported at the right moment, through structures that give other investors the confidence to follow,” said Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer of FSDAi. “Our anchor commitment to the Persistent Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund is built on that logic: identifying early-stage climate fund managers with genuine potential, providing the catalytic capital they need to establish a credible track record, and ensuring our investment is structured in a way that mobilises far greater resources into Africa’s energy and climate transition.”

Other Anchor Investors of the Fund are the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (AfDB SEFA).

Additional Investors include: the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), Impact Fund Denmark (IFDK), the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Cottier Donzé Foundation.

Satu Santala, Managing Director of NDF stated, “As a catalytic investor, NDF is pleased to support the Persistent ACV Fund, providing concessional capital to early-stage climate initiatives. NDF also supports the Persistent ACV Venture Building Facility in its work to expand the African start-up landscape and establish promising climate ventures with strong sustainability and impact potential. Persistent has a strong track record in supporting local innovation and ownership through their Venture Building model, which they are now scaling beyond energy into other climate-relevant sectors, bringing clear value to the market. The Persistent ACV Fund’s specific focus on gender equality and local innovation aligns closely with NDF’s mandate, while its ambition to drive decarbonisation, strengthen community resilience, and improve access to essential products and services for underserved and marginalised communities across Africa reflects the impact we seek to achieve.”

João Duarte Cunha, Manager of AfDB’s Renewable Energy Funds Division, stated, “Catalytic capital is essential to unlock Africa’s climate innovation potential. We are pleased to partner with Persistent to strengthen a growing ecosystem of early-stage African climate innovators—entrepreneurs who are expanding energy access and driving the clean energy transition.”

Shohei Hara, Senior Vice President of JICA stated, “The Persistent ACV Fund is the very first investment under the JICA Blended Finance Window, which was launched during the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in August 2025. We hope that this investment will showcase the mobilisation of private capital through catalytic investment. By investing into the Persistent ACV Fund and underlying climate entrepreneurs, we would like to show our commitment to support African development consistent with pathways towards a  low-carbon future as well our commitment to gender-lens investments as a 2x challenge member in accordance with our Sustainability Policy.” 

Georgia Levenson Keohane, CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, said “SEDF is proud to invest in Persistent’s Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund, which will help to scale early-stage climate solutions, unlock private capital, and build a resilient, climate-positive future for communities across the continent.”

“At Impact Fund Denmark, we work to mobilise capital where it can make a meaningful difference. With this investment, we are supporting entrepreneurs who are building solutions with real potential for both climate impact and long-term economic development in Africa.” says CEO Lars Bo Bertram, Impact Fund Denmark.

The USD 5 million contribution based Venture Building Facility (VBF) is funded by NDF and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. Through the VBF, Fund pipeline and portfolio companies can qualify to receive tailored company-building support in one or more areas, including finance, fundraising, strategy, ESG, technology, legal, and marketing. This support can be financed, in whole or in part, through the VBF.  VBF-supported Venture Building services will accelerate the building of successful businesses in which the Fund invests, deepen impact outcomes as well as reduce early-stage execution risk for the Fund.

Andrew Shaw, Manager, Market Creation – Financial Inclusion at FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank added, “At FMO, a core pillar of our market creation strategy is supporting pioneering fund managers who are expanding access to finance in underserved markets across Sub‑Saharan Africa. These managers are essential to building robust investment pipelines and strengthening the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. Persistent exemplifies this approach. By pairing early‑stage capital with hands‑on Venture Building, Persistent equips CleanTech companies across Africa to grow at their most critical stages. Through our Market Creation program, we are proud to back initiatives like this that broaden financial inclusion, accelerate climate‑positive innovation, and unlock sustainable economic opportunities across the continent.”

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