The funding gap for African climate initiatives is vast: currently, public finance covers only 10% of the continent’s requirements. To help bridge this divide, London-headquartered Helios Investment Partners has secured a second close for its Helios Climate Fund, bringing total commitments to approximately $250m.
The latest backer is Proparco, the private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency (AFD). While the specific size of Proparco’s contribution to this fund was not disclosed, the commitment follows a $20m investment the DFI made into Helios’s sports and entertainment vehicle in 2024.
The Lowdown
Helios Climate is a dedicated vehicle designed to scale African companies focused on the low-carbon transition. Unlike generalist private equity funds, this vehicle targets specific decarbonization themes across the continent.
- Ticket Size: The fund plans to write checks between $20m and $50m.
- Strategy: A mix of significant minority and majority stakes.
- Sectors: 15 sub-themes including renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green mobility.
- Geography: Pan-African.
The Investors
Helios has successfully crowded in a heavy-hitting group of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and institutional players. The second close includes:
- European DFIs: EIB (EU), FMO (Netherlands), BII (UK), SIFEM (Switzerland), Swedfund (Sweden), and BIO (Belgium).
- Institutional/Private: Standard Bank, InfraCo, and the Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund (EMCAF).
The Context
Africa is disproportionately affected by climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions. However, private capital has historically been slow to enter the space due to perceived risks. By securing $250m, Helios is positioning itself as one of the few large-scale private equity players capable of executing “large-cap” climate deals on the continent.
Helios Investment Partners is already a dominant force in African PE. The firm has invested over $2.5bn across 39 companies in 35 African countries. This climate-specific fund represents a shift toward specialized impact, moving beyond the traditional infrastructure and telecom deals that have historically defined large-scale African investment.
For the African tech and growth ecosystem, this is a signal that “climate tech” is moving out of the purely venture-led, early-stage bracket and into the private equity growth phase.
With ticket sizes up to $50m, Helios isn’t looking at “garage-stage” startups; they are looking for established companies in sectors like green mobility and agritech that need capital to dominate regional markets. The challenge will be finding enough “investment-ready” companies at this valuation to deploy $250m effectively without overpaying in a relatively thin market.