Climate VC World Fund Adds PwC As Anchor LP to $365 Million Fund

• World Fund has added PwC Germany as an “anchor LP” to its 350 million euros, or $365 million, fund.
• The Berlin-based investor aims to create the largest climate-tech fund in Europe.
• We got an exclusive look at the 17-slide pitch deck World Fund used to lure in the multinational.

The venture-capital firm created by the founder of Ecosia —tree-planting search engine — has secured investment from PwC for what is set to be the largest climate-tech fund in Europe.

Berlin-based World Fund — which Ecosia’s Christian Kroll founded in 2021 — is raising 350 million euros, or $365 million, to back startups in the sector from the seed to Series B stage. World Fund, which has invested in alternative-protein company Juicy Marbles and food supply-chain startup Freshflow, writes checks for amounts between €1 and €10 million.

PwC Germany has joined Ecosia as an “anchor” limited partner in the fund, World Fund said. The German investor did not disclose the size of PwC’s investment, but said that it came ahead of the fund’s first close, which is due to happen soon. World Fund expects to reach final close by the beginning of next year, confirming its previously announced timeline. 

“Despite the market sell-off, we have not seen any slowdown in LP or investor interest over the last three months or so,” Danijel Višević, the cofounder and managing partner of World Fund, told Insider.

“If anything, LP interest is stronger than ever as LPs are looking for safe harbors in the economic storm, and climate tech is most certainly a safe harbor,” he said.

The climate crisis provides a massive opportunity for startups, with the market for carbon tech valued at $5.91 trillion a year, according to Carbon180, an environmentally focused think tank. Investors have piled in on the maturing asset class, handing over $39.2 billion to climate-tech startups in 2021.

Each of World Fund’s investments must have the potential to save at least 100 metric tons of CO2 or equivalent emissions per year. The firm will take advantage of PwC Germany’s network, data insights, and due-diligence capabilities — which Višević said was “some of the best counsel any climate-tech VC could have access to.”

The addition of PwC Germany to the fund was a “huge vote of confidence” for potential LPs that are still in discussions with World Fund, Višević said.  The multinational company has entered as a founding investor after “comprehensive due diligence,” Višević added. This sends out a strong signal to institutional investors who are set to invest in the fund’s first closing.

The fund’s existing LPs include FIFA World Cup-winning footballer Mario Götze, and VCs and operators from Europe’s startup ecosystem.

World Fund has set itself a target of saving 2 gigatons of emissions by 2040 — the equivalent to 4% of all global emissions. PwC has committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030.

Check out the 17-slide LP deck below: