The Radical Fund team (left to right): Alina Truhina (CEO & Managing Partner), Roo Rogers (Managing Partner), Zachary Lee (Senior Investment Principal), Tharani Prakash (Venture Partner, Climate), Natasha Ivison (Venture & Community Lead), and Paul Ark (Venture Partner)
The Radical Fund, an early stage venture capital firm investing in the climate tech sector, today announced that it has secured an undisclosed first close of its US$40 million fund. In a statement, the firm said that it is currently in conversations with family offices, corporates, foundations and institutional investors for its fund.
The fund is backed by regional family offices from the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, together with individual investors from the US and Europe.
It aims to invest in early stage startups in Southeast Asia (SEA) that are scaling solutions across climate adaptation and mitigation, which it believes will lead to a more resilient SEA.
It is targeting tech-enabled ventures in the pre-seed, seed, and Pre-Series A stages that are either based in SEA, and/or have operations and presence in the region. These startups should deliver scaled commercial returns and climate outcomes to local and regional populations.
In a press statement, The Radical Fund said that its investment “goes beyond traditional clean tech and climate tech verticals.”
“The fund also backs scalable ventures that may not look like traditional climate businesses and have -or may potentially have- climate impact as part of their model and ethos. This includes companies across agriculture, food, circular economy, financial, and mobility or logistics and other sub-sectors.”
The fund plans to invest in more than 30 companies at ticket sizes of US$250,000-US$800,000.
The Radical Fund also delivers operational and technical hands-on support alongside equity-based capital.
The firm consists of a six-person team based in Bangkok and Singapore, with global team members in London and it is hiring team members in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The Radical Fund is part of the Utopia Capital Management (UCM) group of investment vehicles, which have supported over 130 early stage ventures across multiple emerging markets.
With a team of over 55 full-time experts, UCM has networks across Africa, Europe, SEA, and the US. Other vehicles include Founders Factory Africa and its related funds in Africa, which Alina Truhina and Roo Rogers have co-founded.
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Image Credit: The Radical Fund
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