Exclusive: Climentum Capital nears first close of €100m fund amid 'tight' LP market

Climentum Capital is inching towards the €60m first close of its second Article 9 climate fund, which aims for €100m at final close.

The Copenhagen-based firm has already lined up more than €50m, leaving what co-founder Stefan Mård calls “single-digit millions” still to raise. He’s targeting the end of Q1 2026 for the first close – if the last LPs fall into place.

The capital comes largely from sovereign wealth investors, with EIF and Denmark’s EIFO anchoring the fund. Family offices and returning private LPs from Fund I are also participating, although Mård declined to name names.

Climentum invests in climate ‘hard tech’ – its portfolio includes the likes of industrial heat pump startup Enerin and Novatron, a Stockholm-based company building fusion reactors.

‘Tighter’ LP environment

Climentum closed its first fund – a €150m vehicle – in 2022, but the second fund has proven tougher to raise.

“We have over €50 million already lined up… and somehow it’s not easy getting the last few million,” Mård said. “In most other historical circumstances that would have been fairly easy.”

He attributes the difficulty partly to LP caution around a potential AI valuation bubble, plus broader macro and geopolitical uncertainty pushing capital into “gold, cash, Swiss francs, even crypto.” As a result, he said, only the most “sophisticated and calm” LPs are increasing their exposure to venture capital.

Nevertheless, Mård believes Climentum is “one of the lucky ones” in a far “tighter” LP environment. “It’s been slower than expected but I know there are many funds that are far worse off,” he said. “Generally, though, people tend to keep quiet when they’re struggling.”

A subtle shift towards ‘resilience’

Like other European climate funds, Climentum has added “resilience” language to its pitch this year – though Mård insists the change is mostly cosmetic.

“Let’s just say the word resilience was not in our pitch deck four years ago. It is in our pitch deck now,” he said with a laugh. “But everything else in the deck is pretty much the same.”

Mård said the firm has always focused on sustainable industrialisation, European supply-chain control, and climate hard tech, and will continue to do so going into Fund II. Those themes, he says, fit firmly into resilience, a term which, unlike some investors, he doesn't associate with dual-use applications or defence.