Aligned Climate Capital To Donate 3 Percent of Profit to Climate and Equity Organizations
Climate investment firm urges other impact fund managers to follow suit
New York, New York - September 25, 2023 Leading clean energy fund manager Aligned Climate Capital LLC (“Aligned”) announced today that it will donate 3% of the carried interest in its latest venture capital fund to three nonprofit organizations working to address the climate crisis: The Climate Equity Action Fund, (a sister organization to The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund), the Honnold Foundation, and Impact Capital Managers.
“Our mission is to make money for our investors by backing the best start-ups in clean energy and other climate solutions,” said Aligned Climate Capital CEO Peter Davidson. “While our investments have a clear impact on climate change, the market alone can’t solve the climate crisis. That’s why we are excited to support these fantastic organizations that are tackling critical issues like climate justice, energy access, and impact investing.”
Aligned is committed to providing its investors with a triple bottom line – strong financial performance, climate impact from its investments, and with today’s announcement, further climate impact through its support of nonprofits doing work to address the impacts of climate change that are not being addressed by the market. The firm believes this can be a model for other climate investors that are seeking to align their compensation with climate impact.
“If you say you are a climate investor, you need to put your money where your mouth is,” said Aligned Climate Capital COO Brendan Bell. “We want to take some of the profits from our successful investments and create a continuous funding cycle for impactful organizations tackling the climate crisis.”
Aligned is providing each of the following organizations 1% of the carried interest (the performance compensation for fund managers) in its latest venture capital fund to support their important work to address climate change.
The Climate Equity Action Fund provides grants to community-based organizations driving non-partisan civic engagement and climate policy solutions at the intersection of racial justice, gender equity, and climate equity. The Equity Action Fund and the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund (www.theequityfund.org/) support community-based partners in 13 states across the Nation.
"Creating an equitable clean energy future requires climate solutions that are responsive to community needs,” said Roger Kim, President of the Climate Equity Action Fund. “With their contribution, Aligned joins us in supporting some of the most impactful community-based organizations directly designing and implementing solutions that ensure clean energy investments create quality jobs, improve health, and benefit local communities.”
The Honnold Foundation (www.honnoldfoundation.org/), founded by professional rock climber Alex Honnold, provides grants to organizations that increase solar energy access worldwide to combat global energy poverty and assist marginalized communities in transitioning to renewable energy. The Foundation provides funding, capacity building, and storytelling support to local organizations in the U.S. and globally, with the goal of using solar energy solutions to catalyze socio-economic development and conservation in frontline communities.
“I’ve seen first hand how solar energy helps marginalized communities around the world invest more into education, health, and workforce development – a crucial part of ensuring a just transition to renewables”, said Honnold Foundation Founder, Alex Honnold. “I appreciate Aligned Climate going beyond a 1% commitment to climate philanthropy and invite others to join us.”
Impact Capital Managers (www.impactcapitalmanagers.com/) works to accelerate the performance of its members and to scale the private capital impact investing marketplace with integrity and authenticity. The organization accomplishes this through its membership association of private capital impact funds and through collaborating on field-building initiatives and research with the affiliated ICM Institute. As part of its commitment to grow the marketplace with integrity, association members must meet certain criteria including standards on impact measurement and management. The ICM Institute is a proud organizer of the Mosaic Fellowship and with Achieve Partners, producer of the Better Money, Better World podcast.
“Impact Capital Managers is all about innovative ways to drive mutual value creation by aligning incentives, so we are particularly excited about partnering with our member Aligned Climate Capital in this way,” said Impact Capital Managers (ICM) Executive Director Marieke Spence. “By contributing 1% of its carry in its new fund to ICM, Aligned is making a leadership commitment with the potential to significantly benefit our work on behalf of all our members, and our shared efforts to scale the industry with integrity. Stepping up in this way is both generous and meaningful.”
About Aligned Climate Capital
Aligned Climate Capital LLC is an asset manager with more than $2 billion of assets under management investing exclusively in the people, companies, and real assets that are decarbonizing the global economy. Founded in 2019, Aligned is a dynamic and mission-driven firm that believes solving climate change is a unique opportunity to generate strong financial returns while also achieving meaningful environmental and social impact. The team works at the intersection of finance, technology, and public policy. For more information, please visit www.AlignedClimateCapital.com.