Climate change investment firm Wollemi Capital has attracted the Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) as a strategic investor in its $220 million Series A capital raising round.
Sydney-based Wollemi was set up last year by former global head of Macquarie Capital Tim Bishop and former head of Boston Consulting Group’s green investing arm Paul Hunyor.
The firm is named after the ancient tree species which was threatened by bushfires not long after being discovered in remote bushland west of Sydney.
The global investor focuses on impact investing in the areas of food and agriculture, energy transition and climate services.
Bishop has more than 30 years of investment experience in climate, renewables, infrastructure and technology with a track record of founding, building and scaling global businesses. As global head of Macquarie Capital, Macquarie’s principal investments group, he led the firm’s early push into green energy, including offshore wind, solar and battery resources.
Hunyor has more than 20 years of experience as an investor and operator in climate impact, private equity and venture capital. As head of Asia Pacific and Australia for BCG Digital Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of the Boston Consulting group, Hunyor co-founded BCG Green Ventures.
CBA has not disclosed the size of its investment in Wollemi but expects the relationship with the fund manager will help it develop expertise around emerging technologies to support the economy’s transition towards net zero.
Trawalla Group, the family office of Carol and Alan Schwartz, made a $US35 million cornerstone investment in Wollemi and Alan Schwartz has joined the firm’s board. Other investors include the Vincent Fairfax family office Cambooya and the investment office of the University of Sydney. Individual investors include former Macquarie chief executive Nicholas Moore, Square Peg Capital co-founder Paul Bassat and Caledonia Investments co-founder Mark Nelson.
Wollemi has already built up a team of more than 20 people in Australia and the US and plans to further expand the team as it develops a series of funds. The firm expects to fund growth stage projects, beyond venture capital funding but too small to attract funding from conventional infrastructure funds.
Wollemi has made three investments so far. US-based Pachama uses technology including satellite monitoring to verify natural reforestation projects supported by the issue of carbon credits. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures is also an investor in Pachama. The other investments are in two companies that use microbes to improve soil and increase its capacity to store carbon. US company Pluton Biosciences is seeking to identify microbes that can best help remediate soil, increase its productivity and its ability to sequester carbon. Australia-founded Loam (formerly Loambio) has developed a microbial coating for seeds which supercharges growth of plants and their ability to increase storage of carbon in the soil around their roots.
CBA group executive for institutional banking and markets Andrew Hinchcliff said the investment in Wollemi would help develop the bank’s climate, carbon and biodiversity expertise.
CBA and Wollemi will be able to work together on carbon opportunities and on ways to connect CBA customers with emerging climate technology companies that will be able to help them reduce their carbon footprints.
Image: The ancient Wollemi pine.