Australia climate investor Wollemi Capital raises $147m

It is believed to be the largest Series A round ever completed in Australia, with Wollemi exceeding its AUD 100m target. The proceeds will be used to scale the team across North America and Australia, support balance sheet investments, and accelerate the development of a funds management business.

In addition to CBA – which has also established a strategic alliance with Wollemi – the firm’s backers include Trawalla Group, University of Sydney, family office Cambooya, and numerous unnamed Australian private equity and venture capital investors.

Trawalla, which made a cornerstone commitment of AUD 35m last year, is an investment vehicle controlled by Alan Schwartz and Carol Schwartz, who previously established legal publishing and software business Anstat Group and then sold it to SAI Global in 2005. Cambooya serves descendants of the founder of Fairfax Media.

Wollemi was founded in 2021 by Tim Bishop, formerly global head of Macquarie Capital, and Paul Hunyor, who previously led the Asia corporate venture capital unit at BCG. A team of 16 based in Sydney, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco looks for projects that support the global transition to net-zero carbon emissions across food and agriculture, natural capital, energy transition, and climate services.

The firm has a corporate rather than a fund structure, raising capital for through new share issuance. This positioning is intended to facilitate investments of long duration and maximum flexibility.

“We are not private equity, venture capital, or infrastructure, and there is no closed-end nature to our vehicles, we are permanent capital,” Hunyor told AVCJ in February. “We want to work with these businesses, de-risk them, and turn them into an investable asset class. They can be like the wind and solar of the future – heavily de-risked and well understood.”

His remarks followed Wollemi taking the lead – alongside US-based Lowercarbon Capital – in a AUD 105m Series B round for Loam Bio, an Australian agricultural technology start-up that uses microbes to sequester carbon in farm soils. Wollemi believes Loam can become one of several global leaders in the microbial field; it also expects soil carbon sequestration to become as a sub-class of infrastructure.

There have been two other investments to date: Pachama, a US-based carbon credit platform that uses artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, remote sensing, and machine learning technology to measure the carbon stored in forests; and Pluton Bio, which uses microbes not only in carbon sequestration, but also to improve soil fertility and pest and disease control.

Bishop said in a statement that Wollemi’s key differentiator as a sector specialist is its ability to invest in the emerging parts of the climate space. This is achieved by taking a hands-on approach to portfolio oversight, including the implementation of technical and operational expertise. Hunyor added that the CBA tie-up underlines corporate and customer interest in the pursuit of net zero.

“Our strategic investment in Wollemi is intended to accelerate the innovation needed to drive Australia’s transition across key sectors, as well as develop carbon markets as an important transition tool,” said Andrew Hinchliff, group executive for institutional banking and markets at CBA.

“It will significantly contribute to the development of CBA’s climate, carbon and biodiversity expertise and our ability to play a leadership role in supporting investments in climate-linked businesses as they scale their operations.”

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Early-stage
• GPs
• Cleantech
• LPs
• Australia
• Cleantech
• Wollemi Capital
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)
• Trawalla Group
• Cambooya