ArcTern Ventures expands global outreach with Oslo office

Benefiting from strong European partners, a thriving start-up ecosystem and ongoing political support for a Green Economy, ArcTern continues to target above-market returns and positive impact on the planet through our Europe expansion.

TORONTO, June 16, 2020 /CNW/ - ArcTern Ventures' Fund II closed at CAD $200M earlier this year, positioning the Canadian fund among the world's largest cleantech funds. Today, ArcTern is pleased to announce an expansion of our global reach with our first European hire. Kristin Aamodt will join the ArcTern team working out of Oslo, Norway. Kristin has a strong background within the venture investments and energy industries and was previously Managing Director of Equinor Technology Ventures.

ArcTern has long considered Europe an attractive region for investing in sustainability focused companies, and the Oslo office extends existing relationships with LP's Nynsø and Equinor. In late 2019, the EU added to a strong foundation of climate action with the Green Deal – an ambitious plan to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and to decouple economic activity from environmental harm. These efforts have recently been confirmed and placed at the center of post-COVID economic recovery plan, and governments across Europe are following. This establishes strong market uptake for cleantech startups capable of driving environmental and economic performance – two critical pillars of ArcTern's investment thesis.

As a leading North American fund, ArcTern sees an opportunity to not only financially support emerging companies in Europe, but to assist them with their North American expansion plans. Critical subsectors like mobility, circular economy, sustainable food supply, and decarbonization of energy systems are all targets of European entrepreneurial efforts and set the stage in sourcing opportunities for Fund II. 

"We're excited to establish our European head office in Norway, as the country shares many values with Canada. Both countries are strategic in their approach to the economic opportunities enabled by cleantech and both are working to transition from historical strengths in oil & gas to a low carbon economy", said Managing Partner Tom Rand. "We're extremely pleased we've been able to recruit a strong leader for the office that will enable us to quickly build our presence in the European ecosystem", added Murray McCaig, also Managing Partner.

"ArcTern Ventures brings world-class investor competence and capital to Norway and Europe – and we look forward to working with Kristin as she joins ArcTern from Oslo. The time to ramp up investments for a cleaner, greener future is now – and ArcTern's presence will undoubtedly strengthen the global expansion of technologies that solve climate change" says Siri Kalvig, CEO at Nysnø Climate Investments.

About ArcTern Ventures ArcTern Ventures is a Toronto-based venture capital firm investing globally in breakthrough clean technology growth companies addressing climate change and sustainability. ArcTern was founded by Murray McCaig and Tom Rand around the belief that the accelerating transition to a greener economy will disrupt all industries and present a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for both outsized financial returns and positive environmental impact.  For more information, please visit www.arcternventures.com

SOURCE ArcTern Partners Inc.

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