CDPQ and Energize Ventures Announce Partnership to Invest in Clean Energy Technologies

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Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Apr 01, 2021, 08:01 ET

CDPQ to co-invest up to $125 million in sustainable solutions

CHICAGO and MONTRÉAL, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Energize Ventures, a leading global alternative investment manager, and Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group, announced today the beginning of a new co-investment partnership under which CDPQ will invest up to US$125 million over the next three years in ventures that aim to accelerate the digital transformation of energy and sustainable industry sectors.

CDPQ selected Energize as a partner after a full market review and diligence of potential co-investment opportunities. The co-investment agreement expands CDPQ's existing relationship with Energize Ventures: CDPQ is a Limited Partner in Energize Ventures I, and an anchor Limited Partner in Energize Ventures II. Both organizations agreed CDPQ's institutional investment platform and global infrastructure portfolio fit well with Energize's goal of delivering premier financial returns while also accelerating the sustainable energy and industrial transition.

As part of this agreement, Energize and CDPQ will share industry knowledge with respect to climate and sustainable investments, emphasizing digital innovations that advance the energy transition. Examples of aligned investment focus areas include technologies aimed at addressing climate change, electrifying mobility, accelerating the deployment and adoption of renewable energy, and more.

"The energy transition is accelerating even faster than our predictions," said John Tough, managing partner of Energize Ventures. "With this change comes a tremendous opportunity for innovative companies serving critical infrastructure, mobility, renewables and other sustainable industries to emerge and capture outsized market share. As a leading institutional investor with deep expertise and reach in the sustainability space, CDPQ is the ideal partner to invest alongside us in digital solutions that accelerate this critical transformation."

"As part of its long-standing commitment to invest in solutions that address climate change, CDPQ is leveraging opportunities with strategic partners to direct more capital towards innovative investments and sustainability initiatives," said Mario Therrien, Head of Investment Funds and External Management at CDPQ. "We selected Energize as our partner because they have demonstrated an ability to identify leading energy investments while also supporting a cleaner and durable future."

Since 2017, CDPQ has committed to reducing its portfolio's carbon footprint by 25 percent per dollar invested by 2025. By doing so, CDPQ became the first institutional investor in North America to set a greenhouse gas intensity reduction target covering all its asset classes. Climate is now factored into all its investment decisions, affording it an essential position to make its portfolio more sustainable. Over the last two years, CDPQ's portfolio of low-carbon assets has increased 95 percent, to reach US$34 billion.

Energize Ventures invests in digital technologies that accelerate the sustainable transition of energy and industry, with a focus on software and business model innovations. Energize Fund I has invested nearly $200 million across 14 companies to date. Investments include Volta Charging, Aurora Solar, Jupiter Intelligence, Fast Radius and DroneDeploy.

About Energize Ventures
Energize Ventures is a leading global alternative investment manager focused on accelerating digital transformation in energy and sustainable industry. Founded in 2016, Energize has funded 14 companies to-date and is backed by strategic and institutional LPs including CDPQ, Invenergy, Schneider Electric, General Electric, Caterpillar, and more. With an unmatched depth and breadth of industry and operational expertise, Energize works in partnership with its portfolio companies to realize their full potential from early commercialization to growth scaling and into the public markets. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc.

About CDPQ
At Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), we invest constructively to generate sustainable returns over the long term. As a global investment group managing funds for public retirement and insurance plans, we work alongside our partners to build enterprises that drive performance and progress. We are active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. As at December 31, 2020, CDPQ's net assets total CAD 365.5 billion. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.

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